Welcome to the Courage of a Leader podcast. This is where you hear real life stories of top leaders achieving extraordinary results, and you get practical advice and techniques you can immediately apply for your own success. This is where you will get inspired and take bold, courageous action. I'm so glad you can join us. I'm your host. Amy Riley, now are you ready to step into the full power of your leadership and achieve the results you care about most. Let's ignite the courage of a leader.

Hi everyone. Welcome to the Courage of a Leader podcast. I'm your host. Amy Riley, normally, I have a guest with me, but today I'm flying solo to dive into a topic that I'm hearing from more and more leaders across all industries, and they're asking, How do I get my team operating at full potential? You've probably asked yourself a version of that question. We all want teams full of team members that are energized, fully engaged, productive, bringing their best every day. But in our fast paced, complex, ambiguous world, that can feel like a pipe dream, I'm here to tell you, it's not. I've seen it happen. I've worked with leaders who have unlocked the full talent and engagement of their teams, and today I'll walk you through how you can do the same. The formula is simple yet powerful. Leverage, strengths plus be flexible equals full potential. Leverage, strengths plus be flexible. Let's explore what this means in real life, in action.

So let's start with strengths. The Gallup organization found that employees who learn to use their strengths every day are 7.8% more productive immediately. Now, if you can get your whole team to a place where they all can strongly agree that they use their strengths every day, your team is 38% more productive, and their customers, whether these are internal or external, are 44% more likely to report satisfaction. These are significant numbers. So it's not just theory, it's in the results. So how do you get there? You start by really knowing your people. What do they do? Well, what lights them up, what energizes them? Strengths are where our energy lives. When we focus our work around strengths, we become more creative. This means more ideas, better ideas. Everybody's more interested in continuously improving what they do when we're leveraging our strengths, we become more resilient. We have more energy, and that allows for more persistence, more curiosity. We become more willing to go the extra mile when someone's doing something they enjoy, and they're great at Time flies. They get into the flow. They own the work they lean in your role as a leader is to notice, ask, observe, where does each person come alive? What parts of their work do they talk most positively about and you're aligning the work to where people shine, and this creates momentum.

Too many leaders default to their own vision for the right way. But when you make space, you invite your team's best ideas and energy. Let go of the how, hold fast to the why and the what. Be flexible with the how. So leverage strengths plus be flexible. Now let's also talk about relationships. Engagement starts and continues with connection. You've got to know people, and you've got to let them know. You think about the iceberg model. What we can see behavior is above the surface of the water. Underneath the surface is everything that drives that behavior, our experiences, our values, our upbringing, what we've been exposed to, motivations, beliefs, misalignment happens when we guess at what's under the surface. So how do we lower the water line? First learn about them. Observe what energizes and excites them. Ask about what matters. Pay attention to where they lean in and where they don't, where they get disengaged. Keep notes. Track what you learn. I'm often talking to leaders about having a chart. There's a column for each team member. Track what you learn about them. Check in. I noticed you were really engaged in that conversation. What was interesting you do? You want to do more of that, and second, let them learn about you. And to do that, you need to know what's under your own water line. That's where your leadership legacy lives.

Your leadership legacy is the purpose of your leadership, your why, how you want to be known, or what you want to create. It's your through line in every project, relationship and interaction. It's your purpose. It's your unique gift. It is grounded in your strengths and what brings you energy and when you lead from that place others sense your clarity, your purpose, your integrity, letting them learn about you. Also requires a willingness to be vulnerable. Vulnerability invites trust and connection and deeper engagement. Here are some tangible ways to show vulnerability. As I say, these notice which ones you do and which ones you do not regularly engage in say what you don't know, admit mistakes, trust others to lead or make decisions. Share when you need help. Be transparent. What was the process? What was the rationale? What was the decision making? Reveal what you're feeling. Share your story, ask for and really consider others input, change your mind when new information emerges, be willing to be transparent about that. Vulnerability is powerful. It makes you real. It builds trust. People feel connected to you, and all of that matters to today's employees.

As Christina Sloan, CEO at Image Makers, once said, you can't process your way into engagement, vulnerability is the shortcut. I've seen leaders like Nancy Rizzuto and Barbara best do just that. They built their company, CAP STRAT on a legacy of trust and transparency, transforming the investment services business model to one where practitioners offer holistic support and only answer to their clients. They didn't know all of the answers when they started, but they were clear on that purpose. They weren't following ego. They were following legacy. If you'd like to read more examples of powerful leaders courageously living their leadership legacies, you can find numerous examples in my book The courage of a leader. It's super inspiring to discover what these leaders are committed to. When you lead this way, when you're leading from your leadership legacy, people aren't following you. They're aligning with the shared journey. They bring their best ideas energy. And creativity, not because they have to, but because they want to. They're inspired by their leader who has a bigger picture commitment to recap, to maximize retention and engagement, leverage strengths, be flexible, lower the waterline, lower yours, lower your team members, lead from your leadership legacy. Show real, grounded vulnerability.

This week, I invite you to observe your team. Where do they light up? What strengths are you seeing? Then reflect on how you might better align the work to their strengths and give them more flexibility on the how. Also take one moment to show purposeful vulnerability, ask for input, share a moment of uncertainty, open a door. If this episode sparked an idea or a question, please reach out. I'd love to hear from you. Stay committed leaders. Stay curious, stay in the game. Show us that you've got the courage of a leader.

Thank you for listening to the Courage of a Leader podcast. If you'd like to further explore this episode's topic, please reach out to me through the courage of a leader website at www.courageofaleader.com I'd love to hear from you. Please take the time to leave a review on iTunes that helps us expand our reach and get more people fully stepping into their leadership potential. Until next time, be bold and be brave, because you've got the Courage of a Leader.