When I was 31 years old, a General Manager (whom I was supporting as a Human Resource Business Partner) gave me an unforgettable piece of advice.
He said to me:
"If you hold someone's hand every step of the way, you are not teaching them to be a leader.".
When he said that, I had a lightbulb moment.💡
We were working together to design a comprehensive leadership program for senior engineers, and I was still very new to the role. It was daunting for me to work closely with General Managers (GM) and Directors, especially since no one had taught me how to interact with them or add value.
It was also a 360-degree career change for me; I had been a graphic and web designer for 8 years, and my best friend at work was the computer. :)
At the start of building the leadership program, I made a lot of mistakes:
I didn't listen to my key partners (the GMs and Directors) about how the program should run. (Me = 0 leadership experience. Them = Decades of leadership experience).
I made sure the participants had all their needs met, running it like an event instead of a leadership program.
I tried to run all the operations by myself (big mistake!). The first lesson of being a leader is delegation.
I wanted to engage an external coach or trainer to teach leadership to the participants. However, this would increase cost as we had over 300 participants.
I assumed that we would be giving the participants a checklist or template titled 'How to be Leader'. The GMs wanted a program with grey areas, offering minimal instructions to allow participants to develop their own leadership skills.
Moving forward, I was thankful to be given the space to correct all the above mistakes. As a result, the program thrived for three years and continues to be highly regarded by its participants
What was the best piece of advice you've received? Share and comment below :)