Read Winning: The Answers: Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions in Business Today for Free Online

success is all about growing others. It’s about making the people who work for you smarter, bigger, and bolder. Nothing you do anymore as an individual matters except how you nurture and support your team and help its members increase their self-confidence. Yes, you will get your share of attention from above—but only inasmuch as your team wins. Put another way: your success as a leader will come not from what you do every day, but from the reflected glory of your team’s performance.
    Now, that’s a big transition—and no question, it’s hard. Being a leader basically requires a whole new mind-set, one that is constantly not thinking, “How can I stand out?” but is thinking, “How can I help my people do their jobs better?” Sometimes that mind-set requires undoing a couple of decades of momentum! After all, you have probably spent your entire life—starting in grade school and continuing through your last job—as an individual contributor, excelling at “raising your hand.” But the good news is, you were probably promoted because someone above you in the organization believes you have the stuff to make the leap from star player to successful coach.
    But what does that leap actually involve? First and foremost, actively mentoring your people. Give feedback at every opportunity—not just at annual or semiannual performance reviews. Talk to your people about their performance after meetings, presentations, or visits to clients. Make every significant event a teaching moment, discussing with them what you like about what they are doing and ways they can improve. And there’s no need to sugarcoat your exchanges! Use total candor, which happens incidentally to be one of the defining characteristics of effective leaders.
    Getting into the skin of your people is another way of growing others. Exude positive energy about life and the work that you are doing together, show optimism about the future, and care. Care passionately about each person’s performance and progress. Your energy will energize those around you.
    And through it all, never forget—you’re a leader now. It’s not about you anymore. It’s about them.

TOUGH GUYS FINISH FIRST
     
 
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    Do tough bosses really get more out of their people? Of course they get short-term results—but do they really help a company win in the long run?
     
    — MILAN, ITALY
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    Y es and yes. But what a loaded question!
    Loaded because how you define tough matters a lot to the answer. And loaded too because how tough a boss seems may very well depend on your own performance.
    Look, tough is a multilayered term that is open to discussion. But there can be little debate that top performers with great results tend to worry and complain a lot less about “tough” bosses than people struggling to meet expectations. That may sound tough itself, but it’s reality.
    Let’s talk about the meaning of tough first.
    Without doubt, there are tough bosses who are nothing more than bullying, power-drunk jerks, and they’re brutal to work for. They callously push their people, take credit when things go right, point fingers when they don’t, and generally go very stingy on praise and rewards. They can also be moody, political, manipulative, secretive, or outright mean, or all of the above. Now, as you say, sometimes these tough bosses get good results. But it’s rarely for long. At any decent company, they are removed or they self-destruct, whichever comes first.
    But bosses exist along a spectrum, and the tough, destroyer types we just described are at one far extreme. At the other end—and equally damaging to the business—are the “Is everyone happy?” variety. Yes, they may be enjoyable to work for—getting paid was never so easy!—but their spinelessness typically translates into mediocre results. Why? At least three basic sins are at work: these “nice” bosses treat everyone with the same gentle, loving wimpiness; they explain away misses without