Leadership for Managers

Leadership is a skill. Some people are born with a gift for it, they aren’t perfect but for whatever, due to their upbringings they are naturally inclined to be a leader. For some of us, we weren’t born with any leadership skills or traits at all and everything we know about leading was learned.

It doesn’t matter which camp you were born into, both can get better by learning, experience, trial and error, etc.

When we hire anyone for any position, we walk them through an “Intro” to leadership. We teach them some of the basics about leadership, communication, etc.

Here, in this training, the goal is to teach you from our experiences as leaders the things you will need to know to lead a team well. To think that after this you’ll have “it” and know what leadership is, how to do it, that you don’t need more leadership training, etc. is ignorant.

You can never master the art and skill or leadership. In the pursuit of learning the art and skill of leadership, you’ll realize there is more that you don’t know than that which you do know.

Before you jump in, it’s worth going over again, here is the link to Cert 1.1 “Intro to Leadership”. Before jumping into the Leadership for Management training, it may be best to circle back to that and learn the basics again.

Before We Jump In…

It’s worth repeating the Value 0 of Leadership and what is at the start of Cert 1.1.

“LEADING BY EXAMPLE ISN’T A WAY TO LEAD, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEAD!”

There is only one way. There is only one path to leadership and that is leading by example. There is no other way. As a leader of people, you must set the example. You must BE the example of what to strive for and where the bar is.

Will you do this perfect all the time? Absolutely not. There is no perfection.

As leaders, we are human. We slip up. We fall down. We make mistakes. We are not perfect.

What sets us apart from others though? What sets us apart from the non-leaders? Simple. When we slip, when we fall, when we make mistakes, etc. We get back up. We dust off. We admit out faults to our fellows blaming no one but ourselves for the wrongs we’ve done, the mistakes we’ve made and we pull the lessons from it. We then teach others the lessons we learned and then we move on making sure to not repeat the same mistake twice.

Part of making mistakes IS owning them. It IS owning up to them and showing others that you are a human.

While this training is designed to teach you some of the more “manager” specific types of leadership and uses real-life examples, the basis for all of this is LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

So, with that being said, let’s jump in…

What’s the difference between Leadership and Management?

Both are important and both are combined and linked at the hip in a way. So what’s the difference?

Leadership is the process of inspiring and guiding people to achieve a common vision or purpose. It involves creating a sense of direction and purpose, communicating that vision to others, and empowering and motivating people to work towards it. Leaders are responsible for creating change, pursuing new opportunities, and driving innovation and growth.

Management is the process of overseeing and controlling & overseeing resources, processes, and systems to achieve specific goals and objectives. It involves organizing people, setting up systems and procedures, and ensuring that tasks are completed on time and within budget. Managers are responsible for maintaining stability, ensuring efficiency, and keeping the organization running smoothly.

Overall, management is focused on maintaining stability and efficiency, while leadership is focused on creating change and driving growth. While both are important for the success of an organization, they require different skills, approaches, and orientations.

The specific goal of this training is to teach you to lead well… as a manager. We aim to teach you the principles necessary to create change, cast vision for where we’re headed, empower and motivate people towards the goals we’re after.

From Jocko Willink…

Over the years, I have spent lots of time and money learning the skill of leadership (and all it entails) through events, books, podcasts, courses, etc.

Out of all the information I have gathered over the years, the person who makes it the most simple and easy to understand and retain is Jocko Willink.

He is a former Navy Seal officer, prominent speaker, business owner, CEO, podcaster and consultant on leadership. He has written books such as "Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win", "The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win" and "Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual".

I have read every book he’s written on leadership and listened to a number of his podcasts and learned a LOT from him. And since I have learned so much from him, I’m gonna pass off to you what he has taught me in hopes it’ll impact you the same way it did me.

Jocko Leadership Principles

1) Leading by Example

Just like we have this as our Priority 0 and ground work for leadership, it is one of Jocko’s big one’s too. There is extensive writing about this in the Cert 1.1 section and a bit above, but Jocko argues that this is how you set the tone and expectations for your team through their own actions and behavior.

What does this look like practically? Modeling the values and principles (cultural tendencies) of the organization. As well as doing what you expect others to do and demonsrating a strong work ethic and commitment to excellence.

2) Extreme Ownership

This is Jocko’s number ONE principle for leadership. It’s literally the title of the first book he ever wrote on the subject. Extreme Ownership is basically Value 5 in Jocko’s language (fun fact, Value 5 actually used to be called Extreme Ownership). This simply means that as a leader, you take complete and 100% responsibility and ownership for the performance and results of your team.

In simple language, this means you don’t blame others but rather focus on finding solutions to problems and taking action to improve. And then working to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

3) Prioritize and Execute

Make a list. Prioritize the list. Do the list. Simple. Jocko makes this one really simple and it’s important that as a leader you set clear priorities and taking action to execute them. You need to be able to asses the situation, determine the highest priority tasks, and then focus your efforts on executing those tasks effectively. (And delegate when necessary. More on that later!)

4) Decentralized Command

Empower others to make decisions and calls. Easy. Your goal as a leader is to present the objective, give out the info needed to the team (if you have it), and empower them to work and get the job done. In other scenarios, this may mean literally just empowering people to make a decision and take action. The goal here is to build trust, increase initiative by your team and build efficiency into the biz. (Remember in Cert 1.1 that Trust = Speed!)

5) Cover and Move

This principle emphasizes the importance of teamwork and coordination. Just like in a military operation where one team provides covering fire while another moves forward, you should encourage your team members to work together and support each other in achieving their goals and the goals of the organization.

Where Do We Go From Here?

There could be more added to to this training, there is no denying that. There are rows and rows at book store with books on leadership. They are probably all helpful and will teach you something. There is no way you can ever learn all there is to learn about leadership. It is a skillset you can spend your whole life chasing and you will never 100% have it.

Those five principles, when properly executed, can make you a world class leader. Seriously. Just those 5 alone. Most other stuff you learn about leadership will fit in one of those 5 principles. There could be chapter upon chapter written about the 5 principles written above.

In the subsequent sections, you’ll learns principles, such strategies, tactics, etc. that we have learned from experience and after many mistakes made. Let’s jump in!