Last week, I shared lessons in leadership learned from working with a great conductor. Chief among the lessons to be learned from great conductors is that great leaders enable the work, they don’t do the work.

Think about it…have you ever seen a conductor jump down off the podium and run back to ring a chime or blow a horn or play a run on the violin? Of course not. Their place is on the podium, baton in hand. The job of the conductor, like the job of the leader, is to keep everyone focused.

I have another secret to share with you. I am a former Cubmaster. As in Cub Scouts. I was the Cubmaster for a pack of 150+ boys. And we even took them all camping (with their families) 6 times a year. On my very first campout as Cub Master, I tried to jump off the platform.

The trailer we pulled that had our camp kitchen supplies and food in it was a little late arriving on Friday night. As soon as the trailer was in place, I immediately jumped into action. We had to get cooking so people could eat!

I was on and off that trailer probably a dozen or more times in about a 15 minute span when one of the den leaders grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me in the eye and said, “Matt! You are the one who knows where everything is and who has to make decisions. Stop doing the work. Stand out there and tell us what needs to be done!” And he was correct.

Everybody values a leader who leads by example, who will never ask you to do something they are unwilling to do for themselves. And that behavior certainly has its place. But most of the time, the most important thing a leader can do is lead. A leader who steps into their role and fully embodies that role, enables everyone else to to get the work done and to get it done well.

I still remember the first rehearsal with Wes Noble at the North Carolina Intercollegiate Honors Chorus. We were in a church in downtown Winston-Salem (home to Wake Forest University and the Reynolds Aluminum company). I remember him walking in and instantly commanding the attention of every person. And he held that attention.

He gave instructions, inspiration, and set clear expectations. Never once did he try to do the job of the choir. It was our job to perform. To deliver the music as written, correctly. Mr. Noble enabled us to do that by being present, being confident, and being consistent. His vision was clear from the beginning. He worked with each part, each section until the technical aspects of the singing were correct. He was aware of everything happening and he never once doubted (at least towards us) that we would pull it all together.

As a leader, your job is to enable others to get the work done. Here are three ways to do that.

First, be clear about what you want. Don’t leave people guessing about what’s expected of them. Not only the “what” of the job, but the “how” of the job as well. How do you want them to treat others, to deliver the work, what are the parameters for the assignment or task? If you don’t tell people what you expect, they are sure to disappoint you every time.

Second, trust your team to do what they do. I can’t tell you how many leaders I have known (and some I’ve worked for) who were great at telling you what they expected but terrible at letting you do it. It is a certainty, as a leader, that you will fail if you get in people’s way. Trust them to do what you have clearly communicated you expect them to do. Check in. Monitor. Verify. Offer course correction as needed. But ultimately, let them do their job.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, champion your team. Always. There is a great scene in the movie, The Blind Side where Michael Oher is playing in his first football game. He’s having a rough time figuring out what to do and the defender on the opposing team keeps blasting past him. To top it off, the referees are targeting him because of race. When his coach finally has enough and loses it on the ref, Michael realizes his coach is for him. And it makes all the difference.

On the very next play, Michael not only blocks the defender, but pushes him all the way to the opposing end zone and over the fence. People can rise to any challenge if they know you have their back. That is why championing your team is so critical.

Check out the scene here

There is a favorite quote of mine from Karen Kimsey-House that says, “Championing someone is an absolute act of belief.” When you champion your team – defend them, remove barriers to their success, and let them shine – they will amaze you with what they can do. When your team knows you believe in them and their abilities, they will kill themselves not to disappoint you.

And people will be lined up trying to grab a spot on that team.

And your reputation and influence as a leader will grow.

And you will deliver success.

After enabling others to do the work, you want them to perform at the highest levels. Next time, we discuss pulling the best work from your team.

Think about a leader you have worked with or worked for who was really good at enabling your success. What did he or she do to make that happen?