Episode 066: Patrick Lencioni and Kim Simios on The Motive

TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST

Character Leading Yourself Supervising People

You were encouraged to become a leader. You believe that leadership is the reward for all your hard work. However, now that you’ve attained the title, you find parts of the job to be really difficult—and you find yourself saying, “I didn’t sign up for this!” Patrick Lencioni suggests that you should examine your motive for becoming a leader in the first place. He says that leadership is not a reward. Instead, leadership is a responsibility and a burden worth bearing for others. You are not going to want to miss this convicting and insightful conversation drawing practical application from Pat’s newly-released book, The Motive.

On This Podcast

Patrick Lencioni

The Table Group, Inc.

Patrick Lencioni is the author of eleven best-selling books with more than five million copies sold, including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Dedicated to providing organizations with ideas, products and services that improve teamwork, clarity and employee engagement, his leadership models serve a diverse base from Fortune 500 companies to professional sports organizations to churches.

Kim Simios

Ernst & Young

Kim is a 30+ year veteran at Ernst & Young. Over the course of her career she has held various leadership roles, including 5 years as the Managing Partner for Ernst & Young’s Chicago office and as a global coordinating partner serving a broad spectrum of priority clients. Kim is Vice-chair of the Global Leadership Network board and serves as a board member trustee of the Shedd Aquarium and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She also previously served on the boards of World Business Chicago and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. Her diversity of experience gives her a broad network and unique perspective into matters that can impact organizations, including navigating changes in structure and culture, the regulatory landscape, and talent management.

Show Notes

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SUMMARY:

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Too many people see leadership as a reward for their hard work.
Leadership is not a reward; leadership is a responsibility and a burden worth bearing for others.
Being a great leader means you’re willing to do the hard things in your organization that nobody else can do.
Most people fall into rewards-centered leadership unintentionally.
Revisit your intentions and motives for being a leader. Are you doing this because you want something out of it or because you want to serve others?
The omissions are essential elements of the leadership job that rewards-centered leaders may neglect to do.
- Omission #1: Uncomfortable Conversations. It’s an act of negligence to avoid having difficult conversations when you are the person with the most influence.
- Omission #2: The Work of Management. Every person on the planet needs to be managed. Rewards-centered leaders often excuse themselves by saying they don’t want to “micro-manage” or that they “trust” their people.
- Omission #3: Preparing and Running Meetings. Meetings are the most important activity in an organization. It’s the leader’s job is to make them better.
- Omission #4: Team-Building. If you are signing up to be a leader, you are the chief team-building officer.
- Omission #5: Repeating Themselves. Leaders need to be chief reminding officers. The very best leaders constantly reinforce the same message over time, over years.
If you’re job is all fun and you are not being burdened, your probably not doing all the things that are required of you. That’s especially true when you are a leader.
Leadership requires doing things when and how other people need them. It’s a privilege but also a burden.
Just because someone is good at their job, doesn’t mean they should be a leader.
Leadership should not be a noun—something you acquire. It should be a verb—something you do.
When you decide you are willing to be burdened for your organization, everything gets easier and better.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. In this conversation, Patrick Lencioni discussed five omissions that rewards-centered leaders often neglect to do. These are the parts of the leadership job where you might be tempted to say, “I didn’t sign up for this.” Think about your own leadership. Which of the omissions are the most tempting for you to neglect? Check all the boxes that apply.

 Omission #1: Difficult Conversations
 Omission #2: The Work of Management
 Omission #3: Preparing and Running Meetings
 Omission #4: Team-Building
 Omission #5: Repeating Themselves

2. Look at all the boxes you checked. If you are being completely honest with yourself, do your responses indicate that you may not be leading for the right reason? Have you fallen into the trap of rewards-centered leadership?

3. What would it look like if you could shift your perspective on the omissions you checked—and look at them as your leadership privilege and burden? How would your attitude change? How would your schedule change?

4. Commit to reflecting on your motives for leadership and making adjustments if necessary.