Stop Managing "Resources”. How to Start Leading Humans
The Alchemy of Leadership: Lifting While You Lead
Occasionally—no, rarely—I get to sit down and read a tiny bit of the plethora of books filling my home office. This morning, while enjoying my second cup of tea, I was deep into Hype Women by Erin Gallagher. In Chapter 11, "The Alchemist," I read something that hit hard:
“Did these teachers tell me that I was a good writer because I had talent? Or did I have talent because they told me I was a good writer? I would bet all my money on the latter being the leader.”
Gallagher notes that their support sparked a confidence that made her better. The power of someone believing in you, telling you that you are exceptional, can be the difference between abandoning a dream and making it a reality.
I’ve always been an advocate for raising up others. I mentor, I coach, and I lead security teams. Every one-on-one meeting is an opportunity to highlight the good I see in my people. Guidance is easy if you wrap it in the positive; a leader doesn't just give answers but shows others how to use their inherent strengths for optimal outcomes.
This realization took me back many years to when I served as a school board chair. I was meeting with high school teachers for lunch. Even in a well-funded district, teaching is a tough job, but our district was under-funded and faced the extra challenges of being a hub for community services. On that day, the teachers carried a heavy emotional load into the room; you could see the weight of it in their body language.
I knew they needed to hear something they couldn’t see in the moment. I posited that a teacher who serves until retirement reaches roughly 2,000 students. That represents 2,000 engagements where a student learns about the world and begins to cement who they will be as adults. Those students venture forth, fall in love, and start families of their own. The knowledge they carry shapes those families, and over time, entire generations are influenced.
Math being math, the impact of a teacher is amplified and grows broadly. Teachers influence nations, change music, discover planets, and move economies. I paused and watched the room consider this. I smiled as the point set in, and then, me being me, I said:
“That’s a big, fucking deal!”
The room erupted into a roar of laughter and a few tears. I tell this story because I’ve realized it doesn’t just apply to teachers; it applies to leaders. We touch lives. That is heavy.
As much as I am driven to be a servant-leader, I realize now how easily we overlook the ripples we create. What damage is being done by those who look at staff as “resources” to be depleted? It’s something to ponder: what we say as we lead our teams is every bit as vital as what we do.
The mantle of leadership is broad and runs deep. Yet all too often, we see the “bosses” who choose to tear down instead of support, the ones who see success only as a reflection of themselves. They exclude the very people they should be elevating, asking for “initiative” while simultaneously stripping the oars from the boat.
Don’t lament a dearth of talent or the performance of your team if you have spent your tenure putting them down instead of lifting them up. You cannot be surprised when highly-skilled professionals leave the field if you have consistently threatened their livelihood rather than nurturing their potential.
You have a choice. You can be the leader who sees a “resource,” or you can be the Alchemist who sees a future for generations of a family. Stop looking for talent in a spreadsheet and start building it in the room. The next time you sit down for a one-on-one, remember: your belief in them isn't just a nice gesture…
…it's a big, fucking deal.
