Trellis Usher (www.TRE-Group.com) offers her thoughts on what makes a great leader

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders not more followers."  Ralph Nader

Great leaders beget other great leaders.  One of the core competencies that you will find in most leadership competency models has something to do with developing other leaders as well as creating high performing teams.  All too often, when things aren't going in that direction, it becomes easier to look for subordinates to throw under the proverbial "bus" rather than step up ones' leadership game.  I can't tell you how many organizations I've been apart of that reward this very behavior.  Now I'm all for employee's taking accountability for their own performance or lack of performance but as a person who has worked most of my career helping to uncover barriers to peak performance, I know that it's rarely just one thing.

The question begging to be addressed is how can an employee who was once a star performer (under one leader) now be fledgling under another leader?  I hear your defenses going up! The first thing most of us want to say, especially if we feel slightly convicted because we know that our own leadership may be questionable, is that "my expectations are higher.  That other person didn't really know what they were doing."  That could be partly true.  But I'd suggest that being a great leader is less about technical competence in a particular discipline and more about how you motivate, inspire, coach and develop others to be their best.  Even if a former leader was not as smart as you are but he or she was able to inspire commitment and hard work from members of the team then you could stand to learn a few things.

As hard as we try, we can't separate the effectiveness of a leader from the performance of those he leads.  They are interwoven.  The measuring stick for what defines a good leader has to include his or her ability to successfully develop the next group of leaders.  Throwing people under the bus or off the boat is rarely the answer.  Not only might it be a missed opportunity for you as a leader but those that remain will find it difficult to be loyal to a leader who holds this philosophy.  Those that we find most difficult to lead probably are offering us the greatest gift in our leadership journey.  Don't miss the gift!

As a leader what lessons have you learned from employees that you found difficult to lead or manage?

Corporate Functions Need Strong Business Partnering Skills

As I consult with leaders of corporate or enabling business functions, there continue to be a few recurring themes -- "we want and need a seat and a voice at the table and for our operational peers to see us as strong business partners and not just a pair of hands." The other thing I consistently hear from CIO's, CHRO's and CFO's is that their leaders need to see themselves as "business" leaders who happen to also have deep specialization in IT, HR or Finance.

This is the age-old question of generalist or specialist. The answer depends on what's going on in your organization. For example you might decide to build broad internal expertise around functional domains and outsource or insource the highly specialized areas (leadership programs, instructional design, payroll and benefits administration, contract/legal reviews, annual report creation, etc.).

As a person who has spent most of my career as a specialist, I'm hired specifically for my subject-matter expertise. The clients that I work with count on my ability to quickly understand their unique challenges and apply highly specialized practices and processes to help them achieve their goals. Those interactions helped me realize that I was learning as much as I was teaching. I set a goal to ensure that I learned at least two new facts about their specific area of the business. I scheduled "ride-alongs" or shadow days so that I could get a sense of what the leaders typical day involved and ask questions.

My point is that functional specialists have to be first in line with a desire to broaden their skills. We must see each interaction with our business partners as an opportunity to learn and build business acumen. As you do, you'll find that your seat at the table becomes "Reserved".