Good leaders often believe more in their team members than they believe in themselves.
That’s because exceptional leaders choose to see people in terms of their potential. By observing the skills and talents they bring to their work and their interaction with their colleagues, good leaders develop a view of what they are capable of.
They know that those team members who show strong initiative, volunteer for tough assignments, generate original ideas, and have a deep commitment to learning can do anything they set their mind to.
So, they act as a catalyst, pushing them to erase their perceived doubts and think about what is possible.
The vision team members have for themselves, and their ability to learn, grow, and develop, defines who they become. The best leaders know they are limited in their accomplishments and success less by their skills and talents than by their own sense of who they are and how they might apply themselves.
How they see the possibilities of who they can become and what they can accomplish is largely self-fulfilling. Team members who reach for the stars see themselves as astronauts.
Leaders who help team members craft a larger vision for themselves tell them why they have potential and push them to create a self-image full of possibilities and bold accomplishments.
They make suggestions about what they are capable of, offer advice about how they can reach even higher, and create opportunities for team members to experience new possibilities and challenges.
But most of all, they elevate the personal and professional goals those team members have, helping them to craft the highest vision they can have for themselves.
When a leader they respect suggests they can do even more and reach greater heights, it gives people the stepping stones to jump higher and higher.
Team members will do anything for a leader who believes in them more than they believe in themselves. They become highly motivated to meet and exceed the expectations that the leader has for them.
Great leaders are dreamers, more for those they lead than for themselves.
