Leadership with a Production Focus

“No leader, however great, can long continue unless he wins victories,” said Bernard Law Montgomery.

Quoted by John C. Maxwell in his book, “The 5 Levels of Leadership,” Montgomery’s words highlight the point of the third level of leadership: Production.

The idea behind Production is that people follow you because of what you have done for the company or organization. They see you are getting results and making an impact. The leader is actually doing stuff, and typically, a team will follow that example.

Maxwell quotes Colin Powell to further his point: “You can issue all the memos and give all the motivational speeches you want, but if the rest of the people in your organization don’t see you putting forth your very best effort every single day, they won’t either.”

Maxwell gives six steps on “how to make the most of production in leadership:”

1. Understand How Your Personal Giftedness Contributes to the Vision: What are you good at? Work in your strengths more than your weaknesses.
2. Cast Vision for What Needs to be Accomplished: Help your team define, commit and experience the success of the vision.
3. Begin to Develop Your People into a Team: Team members should complement one another, understand their mission, receive feedback, and work in a growth and inspiration-oriented environment.
4. Prioritize the Things that Yield High Return: You and your team should work in your strengths 80 percent of the time.
5. Be Willing and Ready to be a Change Agent: Progress requires change, writes Maxwell. And, “any leader who wants to make changes is tempted to point out difference and try to convince others why change is needed.”
6. Never Lose Sight of the Fact That Results Are Your Goal: If you succeed, don’t stop there. You can accomplish even greater things if you keep going.

Now, you know as a leader of your business, of your Box, you need to produce results. But, you can’t let that override what I’ve talked about previously in the Permission level of leadership, where people follow you because they want to. It’s finding a balance between producing results and building relationships with your team. No one wants a leader who drives them to the breaking point just to see results!

However, it’s essential to remember that your business cannot remain static. It has to move and change and grow. Look at Norcal CrossFit and Brick CrossFit. Both Boxes have embraced change in various ways, allowing them to grow and expand to new markets.

So, the first question you should ask is are you producing change and making an impact in your business? Then, you need to ask if you are inspiring the rest of your team to do the same.