Building Your Support Team

More from our leadership series: Bill George’s 4th element of your development plan to Authentic Leadership

At some point, most workers must make a decision about their career: do they continue as a technical independent contributor or move into management and eventually leadership. Most people crave the perceived income, perks, and benefits of leadership. Not all people want the responsibilities, pressures, and changes accompanying leadership positions. It is ok not to desire them.

If however, you decide that your career path leads to leadership, you want to ensure that you prepare for leadership and provide authentic leadership—leadership that rings true to your nature. Bill George and Peter Sims authored True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership to help leaders discover or maintain their authentic leadership.

Previous posts analyzed the foundations of authentic leadership (including why leaders lose their way) and the first three areas of self-development. I’ve shared a number of quotes from the book. I don’t have the space to share the wonderful stories the authors include in the book. As always I urgently suggest you read the book for yourself. Today we examine the…

Fourth Area of Self-Development: Build Your Support Team

1. Self-Awareness: What is my story? What are my strengths and developmental needs?
2. Values: When are my most deeply held values? What principles guide my leadership?
3. Motivations: What motivates me? How do I balance external and internal motivations?
4. Support Team: Who are the people I can count on to guide & support me along the way?
• “The Most Important Person to Your Leadership: Your support team starts with having at least one person in your life with whom you can be completely vulnerable and open, warts and all, and still be loved unconditionally. Often that person is the only person who can tell you the honest truth. Most leaders have their closest relationships with their spouses, although some development bonds with other family members, a close friend or a trusted mentor.”
• “Families: Most leaders find comfort in being with their families. Younger leaders maintain close connections with their families of origin, seeking out opportunities to share high quality time with siblings, parents, and grandparents. In knowing their parents at a deeper level and learning more about their past, they wind up understanding themselves better.”
• “Mentors: Many authentic leaders have had a mentor who has changed their lives by helping them develop the skills to become better leaders and the confidence to lead authentically. But what some people fail to recognize, especially aspiring leaders is the importance of the two-way relationship with their mentors. Lasting relationships must flow both ways. The best mentoring interaction spark mutual learning, exploration of similar values, and share enjoyment…To have great mentors, Warren Bennis tells young leaders, they have to recruit them. He likens this to a dance where the two engage in mutual learning…Mentors are not necessarily people who make you feel good about yourself or tell you that you can do anything you want to do. Sometimes the best mentors provide tough love by being critical as a means of teaching.”
• “Close Friends: Growing Redwood Trees: Having a close network of friends on whom they can call when in doubt or in need of help has proven to be extremely important for many authentic leaders…Close friends provide reinforcement when leaders feel discouraged and need a boost. They shake them from blind overconfidence when they are arrogant….It is during the most turbulent moments of their lives that leaders find out who their real friends are.”
• “Your Personal Support Group: Personal support groups are one of the most powerful ways of gaining wisdom and advice that will help you grow as a leaders. The more effective groups are made up of peers who meet on a regular basis and talk about what is important in their lives…A carefully conceived structure causes members of the group to probe their beliefs and relationships and to describe the challenges they face.”
• “Your Personal Board of Directors: CEO’s look to members of their board of directors for advice at crucial points, so why not have your own personal board of directors? Your board might include several highly trusted personal and professional advisers, people you respect for their professional expertise, insights, and wisdom, and for their commitment to your personal well-being.”
5. Integrated Life: How can I integrate all aspects of my life and find fulfillment?

I personally benefit (note present tense) from my support team: my wife, my family, the many mentors who nurtured me, by close friends, the non-meeting group (our name for my support group), and my mastermind team (board of directors). I recognize the multitude of course corrections they helped me make to stay on course with my leadership. I strongly encourage you to study and implement this essential section of True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership.

Wednesday we conclude our examination of authentic leadership with the integrated life