This month I wanted to offer insight into some challenges that every leader faces at some point in their lives. So I am sharing some powerful tools on how you can intentionally become the influential and engaging leader you were meant to be.
My top coaching certification is through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). iPEC is one of the leading coach training institutions that train coaches for accreditation through both the International Coaching Federation (since 2002) and the Center for Credentialing and Education. One of the ways I honed my leadership skills was through their Energy Leadership Master Practitioner Certification. (That’s what the ELI-MP in my title stands for if you were wondering) iPEC defines leadership as “the ability to inspire and motivate others, as well as yourself, to take life-changing action to create extraordinary results that last.”
According to iPEC’s definition, every one of us is a leader. How well you lead depends on your level of consciousness or energy. Higher levels of anabolic energy are associated with more effective leadership. Anabolic energy is building energy, and whether in the workplace or at home, great leaders build relationships, teams, families, and businesses. On the other hand, catabolic energy is destructive. And catabolic leaders destroy and break down everything around them.
In the next few issues of the Living Your Desired Life newsletter, we’ll take a look at the characteristics of anabolic and catabolic leaders to show you how you can become the leader that you want to be.
So how can I tell if I am a catabolic or anabolic leader?
That is probably the question you have right now. To answer that we need to explore a few things first.
What defines the overall style of the catabolic leader?
A catabolic leader manages. The definition of “manage” is “to handle, direct, govern, or control in action or use,” and “to dominate or influence.” Catabolic leaders control others. They tell others what to do and how to do it. The catabolic leader tries to control, by keeping the other people in the relationship in a non-powerful position - and then most likely complains to everyone around saying, “I can’t find good help,” and “no one does things as well as I do.”
Two of the key behaviors catabolic leaders show are over delegating and telling or demanding something of others. We will explore both of these in a moment.
What about an anabolic leader?
An anabolic leader, on the other hand, leads. The definition of “lead” is – “to go before or with to show the way,” and “to guide in direction, course, and action” sounds supportive and empowering, and it is. The anabolic leader doesn’t control and doesn’t push people, but instead, inspires them by words, action, and by personal example.
One of iPEC’s foundation principles states that “Each of us is greater and wiser than we appear to be.” Anabolic leaders realize this, and thus, don’t feel the need to tell people what to do, as they understand that everyone has their own answers and gifts.
Two of the key behaviors of an anabolic leader is they participate, and they request that someone does something.
How does each leadership style affect those around them?
Being an effective leader isn't all internal! It's half mindset and half consciously creating a team dynamic to support the collective initiatives.
The differences between telling and requesting something of someone
When a catabolic leader TELLS or DEMANDS that someone does something, most likely, they will respond catabolically by saying something like – “I won’t,” “I have to,” or “I need to.” When an anabolic leader REQUESTS that someone does something or ASKS for someone’s input on a project, they’re much more likely to receive an anabolic response like - “I want to” or “I choose to.” The more anabolic the leader, the higher the probability of success in the task.
Allowing those around us to have choices and input in the tasks we ask them to perform will enable them to embrace the job and use their strengths to accomplish the goal. Most often than not, when we do this, they outperform our expectations.
Delegation vs. participation
According to Webster’s dictionary, the word delegate means “to entrust to the care or management of another; to transfer; to assign; to commit. And the word participate means to partake of; to share in; to receive a part of.”
Most of us have been taught that delegating is something that we need to do to be effective leaders and to get things done. And in fact, that is true, yet anabolic leaders take it a step further. When a catabolic leader delegates a task to someone else, they are in effect, wiping their hands of the task. When an anabolic leader participates in the task with another person, the other person knows they are supported and valued while doing the work.
Participation certainly doesn’t mean that the leader needs to do all, most, or even any of the work – it implies being available to other people without hesitation. It means that employees know that the leader is willing to personally do anything that he or she asks them to do.
Let’s take a look at an example of this. Imagine the following scenario. A small business owner is expanding from two retail locations to three. The owner of the company assigns tasks to the key staff.
· In Catabolic Company A, the owner gets occasional progress reports but remains out of the picture until everything is complete. At this point, the staff is either praised or reprimanded based on what they’ve accomplished.
· In Anabolic Company B, the owner not only follows up frequently with the staff but is also on hand to pitch in and work alongside them, letting everyone know that he is part of the team and willing to do whatever he asks them to do. Both the staff and owner know where everyone is at during each stage of the project because the leader has been “in the trenches” with them.
In which company are the workers more likely to be engaged and want to do a good job? Which leader is more likely to command respect and loyalty, and inspire greatness in others?
This month, as you interact with those around you, think about how much more of an anabolic leader, you could be if you led and participated, instead of managing and delegating.
Special announcement!
This month to help you increase your anabolic leadership skills, I am offering the Energy Leadership Index assessment and debrief for $249 through the end of July! The assessment is designed to give you the tools you need to take your life and leadership skills from “fine” to “fantastic.”
The ELI allows people to literally re-write the rules that they live their lives by. For more information, or to sign up click here: Energy Leadership Information
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