On The Creator’s Roulette, I strive to discuss and showcase ideas that my guests and I are passionate about. Recently, a number of these features have come out of my non-fiction reads, and today is no different! I have Mike McHargue, author of Rookie Mistakes : Advice from Top Executives on Five Critical Leadership Errors with me today to quench my curiosities around leadership. I posted the review of his book yesterday (you can check it out here) and have also had him for a guest post to share about leadership in everyday life (see here).
Mike is a champion for organizational health and is devoted to helping your team make lasting improvements and achieve success. He brings passion, enthusiasm, and intense focus to everything he does, and with 20+ years of outside sales and customer service experience at startups and tech companies, he calls upon first-hand knowledge and expertise during his time with clients. With a direct and intentional approach, Mike’s consulting program helps teams improve their performance as well as their overall organizational health.
- What does ‘leadership’ mean to you?
Leaders have such a profound effect on people’s lives. The core purpose of my work is to make organizations stronger and work life more fulfilling for people and that all starts with the leaders. When I work with executive leaders and their teams I often ask them to think about the best leaders they have ever worked with or for, and to share the qualities that make those leaders so great. The positive emotional reaction is both immediate and strong as they speak about their best leaders and the effect those leaders have had on their lives. (The qualities that are most often shared and shared first are humility, honesty, trust, care about their people personally and clarity of vision, purpose and goals.
- How has connecting with other leaders and thinkers helped you grow in your leadership role? Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader?
I started out as a truly terrible leader, part of the reason I wrote this book. I got better, though, by doing two things. The first was asking leaders who I knew were great leaders to coach me, mentor me and give me regular feedback. The second was by reading books, as many as I could find, on leading teams and people. The ones that resonated most with me most over 30 years of leading people and teams were the leadership fables by Patrick Lencioni. His books show that simple principles, applied in a disciplined way, can have great impact on leaders, teams and organizations.
- How important is the desire to learn in leadership?
The very last story in my book is about a leader receiving feedback. That is perhaps the most important way a leader can learn. By asking for feedback and learning what he/she can do better and then acting on it, a leader not only improves, but sends a message to the organization that everyone should do the same. And that raises up the entire organization.
- A lot of times, people don’t plan to be in leadership roles. However, when they find something, they are passionate about, they end up taking the lead. How important is it to take this leap?
I don’t think everyone should be a leader of people. I’ve seen firsthand the damage bad leaders can do. There are many people who should stay away from leading people and focus on their areas of expertise rather than lead people and teams. If a subject matter expert really cares about developing and supporting people and thinks about others and the team more than him/herself, they can be a great leader. Patrick Lencioni’s most recent fable The Motive speaks to this.
- Your book, Rookie Mistakes, focuses on organizations and lessons from executives. A lot of these lessons apply to everyday life and the endeavors that people pursue outside of their day jobs. That was one of the reasons I enjoyed it a lot. In your mind, how does leadership manifest in everyday situations?
My book is as much about humility as it is about mistakes. The fact that 25 senior executives would share their mistakes with me and the whole world, is both amazing and are great examples of humility. Great leaders are humble, honest, transparent and vulnerable and that shows up in everyday situations whether at work or home or in their communities.
- What are some of your favorite books to read for inspiration? What are a few resources you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader?
Patrick Lencioni and his books had such a profound effect on my and the teams and organizations I was leading, that I started my own business and joined Table Group, aligning to Patrick’s ideas and approach to making organizations healthier. While his books The Five Dysfunctions and The Advantage are amazing and are the best sellers, The Ideal Team Player and Death By Meeting are two others I’d highly recommend for new leaders.
- What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Be humble, ask for help, ask for feedback and act upon it.
Good leaders ask for and then act upon that feedback. Do you seek feedback from your people regularly and then act upon it?
Hope you enjoyed this interview about leadership with Mike. Connect with him on LinkedIn and his website.
Banner Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash
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