35 Ways to Become a “Beyond You” Leader

This action plan will help you serve and empower your organization’s people so you can increase employee engagement and drive stronger performance.

Complete the following action items to put “beyond you” leadership into practice today. Then share this action plan with your team to continue your leadership growth.

1. Schedule mentorship meetings.

Choose at least one person you feel has extraordinary potential. Schedule your first mentor meeting with them today.

2. Share tips and encouragement.

Send three emails this week to team members sharing tips, recommended books, or encouragement. Note the kind of response you get and pay attention to how it feels.

3. Learn from people who inspire you.

Is there someone who inspires you, just by being around them? List the things this person communicates, through words, actions or personality, that make you feel strong and motivated. Use this the next time you are issuing a challenge to your team.

4. Assess your strengths.

Make a list of three areas about which you feel you have some knowledge you can share. Then, ask a partner, friend or trusted colleague to review the list and share any other strengths they see in you.

5. Choose your motivation.

What is one challenge that you’re facing now — either personally or within your community? Write down (with clarity) the “what” and the “why” behind that challenge to keep yourself motivated.

6. Learn from your last project.

Sit down with the members of the last team you worked with and review the project you accomplished together. Ask them what helped them stay motivated, and whether they faced certain doubts along the way.

7. Align with your organization.

What is your organization’s purpose? Reflect on what that purpose means to you. How does being part of this organization align with your personal purpose?

8. See if your team is clear on your organization’s vision.

What is your organization’s vision? Ask others on your team to answer this question and see if they have clarity on the organization’s vision, too.

9. See if your team is clear on your organization’s mission.

What is your organization’s mission? Write it down and ask a few of your colleagues to do the same. Did everyone have the same mission statement?

10. Ask your team how you can help them.

Tell your immediate team that you want them to think of a few important ways you could help them from your position. Give them a week to think about it, then ask them to present these ideas to you in a meeting.

11. Meet with team members you know least, or who are struggling.

Schedule one-on-one meetings with the team members you know least, or those who seem to be struggling. Ask them what you can do to help them do their job. Listen and take notes, then follow up.

12. Make a list of what your team needs.

In your conversations with your team over the next week, make a list of resources your team members need. Write your name next to those items you are equipped to help with. Write others’ names if you are not the best person to help.

13. Practice generosity.

Carve out time to practice at least one act of generosity this week. Block the time required on your calendar.

14. Reflect on your generous experience.

After you complete your act of generosity, take a few minutes to reflect on the experience and write down how you feel.

15. Challenge team leaders with the generosity exercise.

Call your fellow managers together for a meeting and share this concept with them. Challenge everyone to complete a leadership act of generosity over the next month, then come back together to report the results.

16. Ask team members how trusted they feel.

Invite your team members to give you their perceptions on how well you currently trust them.

17. Get feedback on how well you trust others.

Ask a trusted friend, family member, or colleague to tell you honestly an area where they see you reacting emotionally instead of trusting.

18. Identify how you can show appreciation.

Name one way you could show appreciation to a specific person on your team?

19. Learn how to lead with trust.

Choose a leader you admire for their ability to lead with trust. Request a coffee meeting with them to ask for advice on how to consciously choose trust.

20. Plan a difficult conversation.

Name one difficult conversation you need to have immediately. Make a plan to do this quickly and fairly and ask for the facts first.

21. Study what makes teams successful.

Make a list of the characteristics and behaviors that make teams successful and commit to taking on one of the characteristics personally or within your team.

22. Hold a succession planning meeting.

Schedule a meeting with your leadership team today that will establish a process for evaluating the mechanics of your succession.

23. Schedule quarterly succession planning meetings.

Schedule quarterly meetings with your leadership team to implement your succession evaluation process.

24. Assign your team to plan a big project.

Think about a big project you need to complete. At your next team meeting, practice empowerment and announce that you want team members to come up with a plan and present it to you.

25. Identify a coming change.

What change is on the horizon or underway in your organization? Make a list and decide on the top two.

26. Collect reasons to empower your team.

Find at least one reason every day for the next two weeks to tell a team member, “you decide.”

27. Find behaviors that need to change.

What behaviors are most evident in your organizational culture? Which of these would need to change in order to support team alignment?

28. Find systems that need to change.

What systems are in place that support your organization’s current vision and mission? How would these systems need to change to create or support the right behaviors of your people?

29. Make clients feel welcome.

How do our clients feel when they are first greeted in our company? Make a list of things you can do to ensure everyone who walks in the building is made to feel warm and welcome.

30. Create an environment for team interaction.

What is the everyday experience like for your staff? Where do people meet and how do we communicate with each other? Is there a forum for group discussion?

31. Grow professional development programs.

What programs can we put in place to encourage development throughout the group? Our focus is that we value all members of the team to get involved and to take on new challenges, adding value and growing yourself.

32. Establish feedback processes.

Clear, consistent and meaningful feedback is important for all of us and the organization to grow. What processes can be put in place to provide the best feedback and then what can we do in response to this feedback and improve our communication?

33. Create exciting social experiences.

What do people want from a social experience? What format do we set to create the best platform for social interaction? Think outside the box, it is more than a social night out!

34. Find where you can make a difference in your community.

What do we want to be known for in our community? What are some of the most important aspects of our community? Where can we make a difference?

35. Plan for the future.

Where are we in 12 months, 2 years and beyond? What does it look like and how does it fit our organization, our people and our key growth strategies?