Good to Great…not the book
What competencies and skills are required to lead really well?
John Maxwell said that if you have talent, and you work hard in both preperation and continuous improvement, that you can be great. He further explained that if you have a lot of talent, and yet fail to prepare or focus on improvement you’ll be good at best. Mid-range talent and hard work will make you good. This is interesting to think about, because there is at least a moment of recognizing our greatest gifts and talents that afford us the ability to do things with minimal effort. I have been gifted by God at communication, I can talk to an audience or a camera with tremendous comfort and do a really good job with almost no effort.
Two days ago, I walked into the video studio to record a video highlighting trips our teams took this summer. I somewhat incorrectly thought the videographer had a line of questions for me, and that it was going to be an interview format. He turned the cameras on, and said “ok”, and I quickly realized that he was depending on me, and I started talking. About ninety seconds later I stopped, and he said “wow, did you script that out?” I explained that I had no idea what I was going to say or do until he had said okay. He was generally impressed, and I had done a good job God given talent but zero preparation.
As I reflected on that, I realized that this weekend thousands of people see that video, and I could have done a great job. A twenty-minute investment in preparation could have elevated my good to great, and that honestly could have a real impact on the response that people have in viewing it. Now I have embraced Maxwell’s focus on improving and have watched the video multiple times, and see where scripting my content could have improved my communication and delivery by at least a few percentages.
As a leader, how much do I depend on my gifts and talents and give my people good, where great is possible. Preparation and continuous improvement can take someone talented and make them great. Skipping preparation and improvement will stall us as good at best. These last few years I have broken leadership down into the compitiencies of: Knowing Self, Knowing Others, Managing Self, Managing Relationships, Developing People, Building Teams, and Solving Problems. I have identified several skills that build each competency and exploring the preperation and improvement aspects of each.
I want to be great for my people, and the call on me from God. Good isn’t good enough in the most important things.