“Simple does not mean easy.” (I don’t know who to credit, so I’m going to credit my dad!) On paper, leadership is straightforward: it’s about influencing a group of people to accomplish a shared goal (Northouse, 2019). But every leader knows there’s a wide chasm between being able to define leadership and actually leading people. Effective leaders are constantly learning more about leadership, then jumping over the chasm betwen knowledge and application like Evil Knievel to improve our actual leadership. (Evil Knievel inspired me as a kid!) But like Evel Knievel, we keep getting back up and making the next jump, because that’s how growth happens.
Leaders lose influence on a group when they overlook the value of the individual. As leaders, it’s easy to get swept up in the many aspects of leadership and ignore the importance of the individual follower. Bernard Bass (2008) referred to this leadership component as Individual Consideration (IC). IC can be summarized as developing people and focusing on individuals. Bass and Avolio argued it was impossible to understand leadership apart from understanding individual followers (Bass & Avolio, 1999). Likewise, in Leading Change, John Kotter (2012) emphasized the importance of developing individuals for action (Kotter, 2012). More recent research has used terms like Developmental Leadership and Supportive Leadership. Regardless of how we label this component of leadership, effective leadership cannot lose sight of the importance of individual followers.
In this article we’ll unpack the importance of IC, while also examining a few practical characteristics of this important leadership component. As we’ll see, many of these characteristics are like threads in a larger tapestry woven together with other leadership threads. You will be challenged to consider how these threads connect in your own leadership context.
My Surprising Discovery About Leadership
My research, which examined the correlation between transformational leadership and follower satisfaction, produced a surprising finding. First, I was not surprised to discover a strong correlation between transformational leadership and follower satisfaction. However, a deeper dive into the data unveiled how each leadership component influenced follower satisfaction among my research participants. The results of this deeper dive into the research data surprised me.
Going into the research, I expected vision casting, good communication, or modeling the way would have the greatest impact on follower satisfaction. Each of these leadership components did show a strong correlation to follower satisfaction. However, to my surprise, individual consideration (IC) had the greatest statistical influence on my participant’s satisfaction. Simply put, my research participants communicated through individual surveys how leadership that seeks to know their dreams and aspirations, learns their strengths and weaknesses, provides training and coaching, and treats them as an individual had the greatest impact on their satisfaction. This surprise discovery simply reinforced an often forgotten leadership principle. Leaders who truly know and support their people spark the drive to achieve great things together.
What is Individual Consideration?
Earlier, I compared Individual Consideration (IC) to pulling on a thread of a tapestry—you tug on one, and it’s connected to many others. In this post, I’ll highlight three major characteristics of IC with a brief explanation. Each deserves deeper exploration, which we’ll unpack in future articles. As a leader, you need to explore how these threads are attached in your organization. But, here’s a starting point to get us started.
1. Learn the dreams and aspirations of your followers.
This step seems obvious, but it often gets overlooked. Some leaders see it as a waste of time. Yet, it is the foundation for followers to know that someone cares about them as an individual. What are their aspirations within the organization? What are their dreams in life?
Someone should know the dreams and motivations of every member of your organization. The size of your organization does not matter! Don’t fall for the easy excuse that your organization is too large for someone to know about someone else. As a leader, you have a limited capacity to learn and know about people. Set the example by learning important details about your direct reports, then teach them to do the same for those they lead. (You can already see where pulling on one thread leads to another thread of duplicating yourself and multiplying leaders.)
2. Equip/Coach people to do what they are expected to do.
I could camp out for a long time on this important topic. (I’ll write more on it in the future.) Few things drain motivation faster than feeling unequipped. Followers without the tools or training they need quickly slide into frustration. Conversely, equipped followers are motivated and feel their role is important. Creating a development path for a follower to advance within an organization communicates the importance of the mission and how the individual is a key part for accomplishing the mission.
It should not be a surprise that research consistently shows a strong relationship between coaching leadership and subordinate career success. Likewise, followers who have coaches or official mentors are much more motivated and are more likely to thrive. Leaders who have a coaching mentality inspire others to achieve success, help others understand they have an ally and demonstrate that leadership is much more than power.
Coaching is not about providing answers, but helping followers ask the right questions. Questions are the language of coaching. Rather than provide answers, coaches use questions to help followers discover new and better questions (Hicks, 2018).
3. Care for people as indiviuals.
Wise leaders recognize that newcomers often feel like just another cog in the machine. The harder truth is that many long-time followers feel the same way, shaped by their lived experience. Great leaders care for their people and ensure this culture filters down through every level of the organization. At the end of day, great leaders don’t just lead crowds, they develop people!
Excuses for Not Investing in People
One of the most common excuses leaders give for neglecting Individual Consideration (IC) is organization size.Ironically, the larger the organization, the more likely employees/followers are to feel unknown or overlooked. Good leaders will equip, coach and care for their direct reports and intentionally ensure this same culture is being multiplied throughout the whole organization. This multiplying effect ensures that people are being developed, thus leading to more motivated followers. Ultimately, motivated followers leads to more organizational success.
A second excuse for not investing in individuals is lack of time. This excuse is usually packaged in the tyranny of the urgent. Leaders and organizations often move from one crisis to the next. However, Eisenhower famously stated, “What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important”. Stephen Covey later developed Eisenhower’s concept by creating his Urgent/Important Matrix, that emphasized effective leaders spend more time on important but not urgent tasks to achieve greater success (Covey, 2013). Regardless of circumstances, today is best day to begin investing in individuals.
Action Steps
Consider taking the following action steps this week.
- Prioritize time on your calendar to truly learn about your direct followers.
- Schedule time for one on one meetings.
- Have your questions prepared in advance. Don’t “wing it”!
- Create expections for your direct reports to prioritize time for people they lead in the organization.
- Learn about your direct reports.
- Utilize some of the great tools to learn about your followers.
- DiSK profiles, Myers Briggs, and StrengthsFinder are just a few tools to help you learn about people.
- Conduct a leadership assessment to discover the leadership strengths and weaknesses of your direct reports. The MLQ-5X is a helpful tool that will create clarity for future coaching. The assessment helps individuals discover how they measure up in their own eyes and in the eyes of those with whom they work.
- Utilize some of the great tools to learn about your followers.
- Ask your direct followers to assess your personal leadership and encourage them to be honest.
- This can be completed anonymously by providing them the MLQ-5X or another leadership assessment tool. Most tools provide an electronic option or a paper survey.
- This scares many leaders because they feel like they’re opening themselves up for ridicule. Effective leaders who assess others must also be willing to let their own leadership be assessed by those they lead.
- Determine areas where you can provide personal coaching to your direct reports. Likewise, identify areas where you need to incorporate other people to provide coaching to your team.
- Be intentional about regularly showing your team that they matter and that you genuninely care.
- Put it on your calendar.
- Be creative.
- Make sure it helps the team member.
Personal Reflection
- Who had/is having the greatest influence on your leadership journey, and why?
- What actions do you plan to take this week to discover more about your direct followers?
- How much time do you need to allocate each week to coaching others?
- What tools do you need to coach your followers?
- What steps will you take this week to ensure your followers know you care about them as an individual?
References
Bass, B. M., & Bass, R. (2008). The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE5NjUzNjZfX0FO0?sid=55e02082-f760-4c47-9fbfa6051d14353f@redis&vid=0&format=EK&lpid=i173&rid=0
Covey, S. R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Simon & Schuster.
Hicks, R. (2018). Get Transformative for Optimal Results. Physician Leadership Journal, 5(1), 62–64. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=buh&AN=128015311&site=ehost-live&custid=s8501869&scope=site
Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business Review Press.
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (Eighth Edition). SAGE Publications.