The Leadership Mindset to Have All Stellar Staff

What would a teacher be able to offer a manager to radically improve staff performance in just about any business/industry? Of everything that is available out there on the grand topic of management and mindset, it’s very clear to see that as soon as you scratch the surface of mindset as a sub-topic, big changes at work can be made. Those big changes at work have an impact on organizational culture and how well your employees can perform independently of everything else.

If you are in management, why read this?

This article will describe one small mindset shift in a managerial context that leads straight to an organization full of titans, which I define as people enabled to max out on their performance and be happy and healthy doing so. The source: lessons learned from a teacher.

While I would like to see more published (both online and in print) in the field of beliefs teachers have about their students, I have learned that one of those teacher beliefs has massive potential when carried over into just about any organization/business.

There is no law that says a manager needs to be a good manager…unless you want good people to stick around.

Thank you Captain Obvious, but let’s suppose you, the reader, are a member of an organization (either staff or management). There are people working around you, which means you have a general belief about them (in addition to any personal ones). What does a good teacher have to say about this?

If a teacher believes they have terrible students, not only is it going to be a rough ride through the semester or year for the teacher, but that negativity will rub off on the students, too. Bad deal all around.

In contrast, if a teacher believes they have amazing students, not only will that positivity rub off on the students, but the teacher will also be motivated to design lessons and activities that are tailored to bring out the best in their students and very likely enjoy the semester or year. Good deal all around.

How does this translate into a workplace setting?

When students are afraid of their teacher in class, what do they typically do? Feel tiny and want to be invisible so as to never be in their teacher’s crosshairs. Translation: When employees are afraid of their boss at work, they feel…yup, the same: tiny and wanting to be invisible to stay out of their boss’ crosshairs.

We’ve all had good teachers and mentors. They are MASSIVE, including the impact they have on us. Instilling totalitarian fear as a primary context-setter in a classroom…a teacher does not need to do that. I would even go so far to say that such a teacher small, although still psychologically larger than cowering, tiny students. Ditto in a workplace where fear and having a culture where employees are often or constantly sensitive to blame and expecting heads to roll all time. Such managers are bigger than their staff, but I would argue such managers are small when they could be much larger.

How do I get my staff to be titans while being realistic?

Let’s distinguish teachers and managers from employees and students because there is one root need that differentiates them.

Students and employees need tools from pencils to whiteboards to laptops to certain software to a desk, etc. to do what they need to do. The only other things students or employees need are showing up and doing a little something. They don’t need any other root items because other things simply magnify those two root needs in a certain direction.

No teacher or manager worth their salt will equate presenteeism to performance, let alone tolerate it. But hang on a sec.

Managers and teachers also need tools from pencils to whiteboards to laptops to certain software to a desk, etc. to do what they need to do. No question there. So what’s the diff? A manager has staff whereas an employee doesn’t (unless they take up an informal leadership role, in which case this article applies to them, too).

Employees need to show up and have what they need to do a little something. A manager/leader needs that plus a belief about their staff.

Examples of beliefs can range from ‘the staff are all untrustworthy’ or ‘the staff are only here for the money so I have to make them work for it’ or ‘the staff are superstars that make this organization/business rock’.

Employees Have Zero Impact on Defining Your Belief about them

Many managers make the mistake of jumping in analytics to determine the optimal belief. Certain things are happening, some optimal things might be this, so my belief is going to be X. Skip all that nonsense. Belief is something already deep within that comes out (AKA manifestation or expression, not calculation or derivation).

The interesting thing about belief is, you as the manager/leader have absolute control over what that belief is. It’s a belief. By definition it can be anything you want it to be and it kicks in the second you start fostering/holding/applying it when you look at things. In other words, perspective starts before you engage the world, not after.

First, pick your belief and then you go from there.

As a current employee and budding leader who has worked in several private schools in several countries over the years, I will just come out and ask you one question. Why would you have any other belief than your employees/students having something amazing to contribute to all the work that needs to be done? With that as your starting point, your view of internal systems is going to center on making the most of the best parts of your staff, just like a good teacher does with their students (for some tips, check out this article).

People make mistakes, so how would such a belief stack up against that? Well…read this article and then analyse. What were the enabling factors? What were the not-amazing parts of their personality and workstyle that still managed to ooze out? What can be implemented or how can things be organized to mitigate that in future?

Simply hold the belief that your staff are amazing – and hold that belief.

If you find yourself asking the questions below, that’s a sign that you believe your employees as far less than amazing:

• Who were the enabling people?
• Why did [whoever] choose to do this to me?
• Who was managing the system that resulted in this mistake?
• Why do I have staff that make problems my priority? (If you find yourself here, perhaps start with this article.)

It is your belief of your staff as a manager that can set a radically different tone instantly and as a teacher I know this, I have seen this happen time and time again. How is your belief impacting your organization? If you could pick any belief where you could hold the picture of a great workplace and team, what would that belief be? Pick it and roll with that belief (like Steve Jobs did in this article) instead of making heads roll.

If I could recommend in-depth follow-up reading, it would be any or all of the following:

• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by J.C. Maxwell
• Dear Boss by R. McFarland
• Leadership by D.A. Bramlett & C.B. Whelden

If you found this article thought-inspiring, do check out the other articles I have written.