Want to make a difference in anything you do? That’s the mindset and attitude of a leader. Leadership is the ultimate difference-maker in groups, teams, organizations, and businesses. There is no shortage of training, seminars, talks, books, courses, and articles; still, great leadership is rare. The industrial era command and control model still reigns supreme, and businesses feel like employees are there to serve the business owner(s).

Before I dig into this blog post, let me define what I mean by great leadership:

• Imagines a better future and sets out to create it;
• Is a learning machine;
• Leads by example;
• Sets and raises standards;
• Bold thinking and action;
• Clear thinking;
• Listens and learns;
• Collaborates;
• Brings out the best in others;
• Creates great leaders;
• Creates the environment for others to be great;
• Owns it.

Great!

We’ve all had an experience working with someone, or someone who works for us, that you can put into any role and they’ll raise the bar. These people are rare, and you want more of them. They’re easy to spot because they want more responsibility and step up when needed. Most businesses have a leadership deficit because they don’t empower these people, nor do they attract them, whether they accept it or not. Some organizations are over-managed and under-led. And, some organizations are both under-managed and under-led; you can spot them right away by how they operate.

I’ve consulted for businesses who want to solve problems by throwing more people into a problem or creating more processes; this is a lack of leadership problem. One great leader can make all the difference, no matter the circumstance.

That said, I was running operations for a large manufacturing company in Mexico last year. We had a series of challenges, one was logistics. Our lead time was very short, so it caused friction with our customers. I made a series of moves to fix this problem. My final move was to give one person the opportunity to fix our logistics problem, I gave him a clean slate to work with. I told him, “Do whatever you have to do to build from scratch. You have my full support.”

We developed a strategy and plan, and this person stepped up and solved our challenge within 6 weeks! The result is our lead time increased to 1 day, my goal was 2 days, our customer satisfaction increased, and our efficiency improved dramatically.

So, what’s the point of my story?

Whether or not a business, a team, or an organization thrives or dies is largely determined by great leadership. My teammate wanted to fix the problem and owned the outcome.

As a leader, you have to look out for people on your team who want to:

• Make a difference;
• Be useful;
• Help others.

Find these people, and give them responsibilities and challenges to solve.

Bottom line: We need more leaders. The lesson for you is the people you have on your team matter. Who you surround yourself with matters. The job of a leader is to develop other leaders and be a leader amongst leaders.