Evaluating Leaders by Evaluating Their Followers

POINT OF THE POST...

When was the last time you tried to evaluate your leadership? Or the leadership of a peer or direct report? Perhaps you were conducting an annual review. Or maybe it was a leadership development conversation. Or, maybe you felt the need to improve your leadership team and couldn't decide who to add. Evaluating people is complex. It's not like a math test. With math, it's evident if a solution is right or wrong. 1 + 1 always equals 2. Unless you're doing calculus. I don't understand calculus. Math solutions are black and white. Evaluating people is often as gray as gray can be. One failsafe evaluation criteria for leadership success is the quality of the leadership they attract. You've heard the phrase, "Birds of a feather flock together." This is always true. People tend to attract those like themselves. If you hire a strong leader, they will attract strong leaders. People more relationally driven tend to attract and be drawn toward others who prioritize people over projects. Task people attract fellow getter-doners. One of my first church staff hires was a production technician. He was a magician in the technical production of a fully portable church. He was exactly what we needed at that moment. Our struggling church was meeting in a school. We weren't allowed to leave so much as an extension cord in the building when we left every Sunday afternoon. This hire was a God-send for our team and me. Two years later, we were meeting in a semi-permanent space. The management of portable church was giving way to the leadership of a rapidly growing church. Our team needed strong leaders, not executors, and I found myself in a challenging situation. Our former production stand-out was not the leader we needed in this new season. This reality became apparent when I looked at those whom he attracted -- fellow technicians and executors. There is nothing wrong with being a technician or executor, but when you need vision and leadership, you need vision and leadership. Looking around this staff member, he had attracted people like him, which was insufficient for our future and this position. People of a feather. If you struggle to evaluate and define those on your team, look at the people around them. Who do they attract? Strong leaders attract strong leaders.

When was the last time you tried to evaluate your leadership? Or the leadership of a peer or direct report?

Perhaps you were conducting an annual review. Or maybe it was a leadership development conversation. Or, maybe you felt the need to improve your leadership team and couldn’t decide who to add.

Evaluating leaders is complex.

It’s not like a math test. With math, it’s evident if a solution is right or wrong. 1 + 1 always equals 2. Unless you’re doing calculus. I don’t understand calculus.

Math solutions are black and white. Evaluating people is often as gray as gray can be.

One failsafe evaluation criteria for leadership success is the quality of the leadership they attract. You’ve heard the phrase, “Birds of a feather flock together.” This is always true.

People tend to attract those like themselves.

If you hire a strong leader, they will attract strong leaders. People more relationally driven tend to attract and be drawn toward others who prioritize people over projects. Task people attract fellow getter-doners.

Evaluating a staff member I hired.

One of my first church staff hires was a production technician. He was a magician in the technical production of a fully portable church. He was exactly what we needed at that moment. Our struggling church was meeting in a school. We weren’t allowed to leave so much as an extension cord in the building when we left every Sunday afternoon. This hire was a God-send for our team and me.

Two years later, we were meeting in a semi-permanent space. The management of portable church was giving way to the leadership of a rapidly growing church. Our team needed strong leaders, not executors, and I found myself in a challenging situation. Our former production stand-out was not the leader we needed in this new season.

This reality became apparent when I looked at those whom he attracted — fellow technicians and executors. There is nothing wrong with being a technician or executor, but when you need vision and leadership, you need vision and leadership. Looking around this staff member, he had attracted people like him, which was insufficient for our future and this position.

People of a feather.

If you struggle to evaluate and define those on your team, look at the people around them. Who do they attract?

Strong leaders attract strong leaders.

For extra credit, look at who you’ve attracted…

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