Can leadership be a passion project?  I believe so!

I often get asked about the keys to leadership and building teams when meeting with peers and team members. What I can tell you is that leadership to me is truly a passion project.

What do I mean by that? I am not driven to lead so I can build a big team or control resources—it is the exact opposite. I want to use coaching and sharing to enable others to be leaders and experience the sheer enjoyment of building something that makes them proud!

When framing the mission of leadership, it’s fundamentally important to harvest the ideas of your team and help them see the bigger picture. That will allow them to rally around the purpose of what needs to be accomplished. It is the harvesting of ideas that inspires the broader group to make the sacrifices that are required to succeed.

When something is a passion project, it is never considered work but a chance to share with others the discoveries you make while you are on the journey. In the blog today, I wanted to share with you a few resources that can stimulate your learning and help facilitate your journey to lead others:

Team Building:

• Who: The Method for Hiringby Geoff Smart and Randy Street This is a great reference guide for helping you build processes to hire great teams.
• Topgrading: The Proven Hiring and Promoting Method That Turbocharges Company Performance by Bradford D. Smart, PHD This the de facto standard and resource guide for hiring.

Expert Insights:

• The Hard Thing About Hard Thingsby Ben Horowitz This is a must-read and a great story about leadership and building A-player teams.
• Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organizationby John Wooden Old school and such a great read!

Being a Coach versus a Manager:

• Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions: A Tactical Playbook for Managers and Executivesby Keith Rosen This is not just for coaching salespeople—it’s applicable to all aspects of your life and all teams. Reground your thinking and re-frame your communications with others to engage them and entice them into action.

There is so much more to share about leadership as a passion project, and I look forward to next month’s blog where I’ll dive into how to build leadership skills and ignite the passion to lead.