Are Leaders Valuable?

A client of mine is struggling to value his leadership contribution to the team (and himself) now that he isn’t producing tangible/visible work.

He asked for a book to help solve this conundrum.

So I went digging.

I have many books on how to actually make this shift from doer to leader. But nothing on how to feel good about it.

So I’m going to share the coaching questions I plan to ask him when we connect again.

These questions all lead to this point:

The most meaningful source of validation is internal. We must first value ourselves and our contributions.

To value leadership, we have to truly understand the purpose of leadership both in theory and in the real context of your current environment.

So when we coach next time, we will ask these questions:

1. What are the 3 most important things the business is working on?

As a leader, how do you contribute to these?

2. Are you working on these things daily?

3. How can you measure if you are successful? How will others know if you are successful?

4. What kind of relationship do you want to have with your people now?

How do you want to be seen?

5. Does something feel wrong about moving up to leadership?

I think #5 is the big one. Promotions feel strange when we get out of our comfort zone.

We have not become the leader yet. We are just trying to be a leader.

But that’s the way life works. We are just trying our hand at most things, most of the time. It’s always a moving target.

I’m looking forward to working through these questions with my client.

And if anyone does have a book recommendation…..I’ll happily take it.