Transcript:
Hi there. Russell Stratton Leadership Champion of Bluegem Learning. I work with organizations just like yours to transform average bosses into exceptional leaders, and help improve individual and team performance within your organization.
So, I was having a conversation the other day with a new leader who had just taken up post in their organization, and they were talking a little bit about, “Well what tips would you give me, if you had a leadership model that you’d share with me, what would it be?”
And I said to him, “Well basically I work around the Vision EXCITE model, and if you follow that you’re not going to go too far wrong.”
So he said, “Go on, enlighten me. What is it?”
Vision EXCITE is basically this. First of all, do you have a vision for your team? Whether this is your immediate team or the wider organization, do you have a vision about what you want that team to achieve? And be really clear about what success looks like.
What’s the EXCITE part? Well, really first of all, are you able to engage your team? Do you get them involved with what your vision is so they understand it, and they know how to put it into practice?
The second part there, do you challenge people? So are you setting the bar for them high, so they can achieve it but they have to stretch to achieve it. People like a challenge as long as they know they’ve got a reasonable opportunity to actually be successful.
Are you going to inspire people? So are you somebody who could inspire people around your vision that they’re going to want to buy into it? Does it make it something that’s exciting for them?
Do you trust them? Some managers work on the basis that I don’t trust you until you’ve earned my trust. I try and flip that on its head. I’m going to trust you until you give me reason not to. There’s a powerful difference when you say to somebody that you trust them as against you tell them that you don’t trust them.
And finally, do you empower people? Do you empower people to try things that are new, to look to bring their ideas to the table, and to give things a go?
Now, those of you who have been following along with the EXCITE acronym will say, “Well Russ, where’s the x?” Well, that to me is always the x-factor that you bring to the table. What is it about you and your personality that makes you different to other managers, that makes you human, that gives that empathy that people can relate to?
So if anyone talk about the EXCITE model, that’s what I’m talking about. He thought that was quite interesting and has taken it away, and I’m interested to see how he gets on with his new team.
Again, give me your thoughts. Do you like that? Do you agree, disagree? Put your comments below. And if you’re interested in some of the work that I do, connect with me on BluegemLearning.com.