A post from Paul Woods – Managing Director
Being a leader is a privilege, but it is also a massive responsibility that I take very seriously.
I had my first leadership role at 18 years of age and too be honest I was not ready for it.
I got the role based on my hard work ethic and being good at my job, but it did not make me a good leader, far from it in fact.
Virtually all of the team I led were significantly older than little old me.
Being a young lad with a real baby face some of them tried to mother me, some of them were unhappy about me being in a role they coveted.
I flunked it.
Over the years I have become a real student of leadership.
I have read lots of books on the subject.
I went on the Lancaster University backed lead course back in 2010/2011 which was wonderful.
I watch You Tube clips, Listen to podcasts, I immerse myself in the subject of leadership.
Now as a leader I know my main purpose:
I and my leadership team look to create more leaders in the business.
We also have an upside-down organisational structure with me at the bottom, serving my management team and them serving the team that interact directly with customers.
With customers at the top of course because without them we would not have a business.
I now have a business that in the main runs without me.
The downside of this is that:
Sometimes I feel lazy
Sometimes I feel I am shirking my responsibilities.
I am interested does anyone else feel like this?
Then I remember I hired bright people, brighter than me to free myself up
I have a business that truly runs without me sticking my nose into every situation.
The best thing about it by far is that I watch my team grow.
I love this, and for me it is the best thing about being a business owner.
I still have lots to learn on the subject of leadership, and I am far from perfect.
However, learning more about a subject where you can really make a positive difference to people’s lives really gets me out of bed every morning.
Recently I have been interacting with Paul McVeigh, M.Sc. a former premier league footballer now leadership expert, and I am very much looking forward to reading his book that I ordered yesterday called:
It’s not about you
The Psychology of leadership.
This will be read and then placed on my bookshelf alongside books like
Good to great by Jim Collins
The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey
How to make a billion by Sir Richard Harpin
The road less stupid by Keith Cunningham
Winners by Alastair Campbell
The learning journey goes on
Hopefully as a result I can continue to create more leaders in my business, help people grow and as result and accept this as a trade off for feeling lazy at times.
I am always interested in new leadership content whether that be a book, podcast or some other media
So any recommendations would be much appreciated.