PLANADVISER - Fall 2023 - 38

Viewpoints
From Managing to Leading
A look in the mirror can be a healthy 1st step in any transition
YOU'VE BEEN successful at gaining clients
and growing a stellar team while also functioning
as head of human resources, chief
revenue officer, head of client services and
team lead. Your growth has positively affected
your clients' and your own financial health.
But there comes a time when it's impossible to
do everything by yourself, and you must transition
from managing everything to leading.
What Does That Mean to You?
I think of management as managing resources,
as coordinating schedules, tasks and processes.
You keep the balls rolling, focusing on the operations
of the day ahead. I think of leadership
as tapping into others' motivations to mobilize
those people to create change. Leading means
having a vision, purpose and strategic goals. A
leader thinks about the future.
It's exciting to lead a business, and yet this
mindset and behavioral transition is hard for
many business owners to accept. My client
Angela wanted to create a big change in her
business when she expanded into a new region.
She was excited about new partnerships, new
speaking engagements and new collaborations.
Yet she resisted letting go of the details, which
she'd been in for decades. She'd always been
great at execution. If she let go of the details,
she wondered, how would she show her value?
When the business of my client Liz started
to burst at the seams, she realized she needed
to unify her team and get out of the weeds.
But she felt unprepared to share her vision,
because she didn't have words for it yet. She
was in the rut of doing what was right in front
of her, rather than stepping back so she could
see the big picture and understand, strategically,
the best use of her time.
There are a million reasons why you might
want to lead, but do it all yourself, anyway. You
know you can count on yourself. You can meet
your high standards. Your clients count on you.
Other people are messy and unpredictable, so
why ruin things by relying more on others?
That's a question for you to really contemplate.
Why lead? Why not lead? What's at
stake? What might you lose? What might you
gain? What might change when you empower
more people? I'm always interested in hearing
about a client's willingness to create internal
change that aligns to behavioral change.
Often, we want a change, but we don't want
to change, ourselves. Many internal and
external roadblocks will appear, but if you
have a willingness to create change, then
you're more open to learning, adapting and
seeking new growth, even when it's hard.
First, I encourage you to be truthful about
the changes you want in your business-and
the changes you don't want to make, and why.
Surfacing all the reasons why you, personally,
don't want to give up the reins, is the first
step to empowering yourself and others. For
instance, you might want control of everything
because that feels safe. You might not trust
others' skills. Or, worse, others might perform
well, which makes you question your value.
Getting clear on your resistance will give
it less power. You might become aware of
your resistance five seconds before you were
going to reject an associate's offer to work on
something, and then maybe you'll take the
contrary action. Awareness is the first step
to making a change.
Then, put words to your purpose. Think
about it: What does leading your business and
your people mean to you? Often, this is about
whom you impact, and what changes you
create in the lives of those you serve. When
you share the purpose of your business, you
align yourself and your people to that purpose.
That creates collective buy-in for the work
you're doing. It can also lead to more effective
delegation, healthy feedback, willingness to
meet expectations, and higher performance.
Next, I encourage you to share with your
team that you're going to be leading more and
relying on them more. You might say, " I'm
working on empowering the team to do work
I normally would take on, and on creating a
culture that's more collaborative. If you see me
reverting to old ways, please speak up. " This
transparency shifts you from operating like an
" I " to a " we. " Teams are interdependent. How is
your team interdependent? -Jessica Powers
Holding a Master of Organizational Psychology from Columbia University,
Jessica Powers has helped various organizations create an enriched world
through work. She is an executive coach, facilitator, culture and engagement
enthusiast, and learning strategist whose work transforms organizations.
" I think of
leadership
as tapping
into others'
motivations
to mobilize
those people
to create
change. "
38 planadviser.com | Fall 2023 | Practice Management
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PLANADVISER - Fall 2023

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