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Welcome to the No Bullshit Leadership

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Podcast. In a world where knowledge

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has become a commodity, this podcast is

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designed to give you something more. Access

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to the experience of a successful CEO

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who has already walked the path. So

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join your host, Martin Moore, who

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will unlock and bring to life

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your own leadership experiences and accelerate

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your journey to leadership excellence. Welcome

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to Moments with Marty, your short, sharp shot

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of leadership insight to help you stay on

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track between our weekly episodes of No Bullshit

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Leadership. Being

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right isn't everything. It's

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just a good start. I

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came up with this expression many years ago when

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I worked with an incredibly intelligent executive who

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struggled to get the outcome she should have

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been able to easily achieve. She

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just couldn't get buy-in from the people

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she led. Many

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leaders like to position themselves as the

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smartest person in the room. And

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there's a lot to be said for being smart. But

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you have to know how to use your intellect

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to get the best possible outcomes from your people.

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That's what leadership is. You

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have to go way beyond your

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pure intellectual horsepower and enter

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into the nebulous world of

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emotional intelligence and human connection.

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Now there are pros and cons with being the smartest person

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in the room. On

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the positive side, there's something

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compelling about really solid logic,

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especially if you can communicate it effectively.

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Astute judgment

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is critical in decision making. And if you make

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great decisions, your team is way more likely to

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be successful. If

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you have the competence that comes

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from high order intellect, it forms

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the foundation for building people's confidence

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and respect. And

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it makes communication easier. If

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you've ever tried to explain something that doesn't make

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sense, you'll know exactly what I mean. But

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there are also some drawbacks. No

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one likes a know-it-all. If

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you're always right, people will

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eventually stop questioning. It

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puts pressure on you to always come up with the

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answer. And

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if you beat people down with your own logic, they

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may begrudgingly agree, but they'll

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never be motivated to deliver for you.

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People want autonomy, so often they'll look for other

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means of getting their own way, and

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those means aren't always entirely positive. And

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of course, if all your decisions are right, you'll

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erode your people's individual accountability because

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you usurp their decision-making authority.

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There are a few core principles in leveraging your

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intellect so that you take your focus away from

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being the smartest person in the room, and instead

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apply your mental horsepower to getting

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the best outcome from your team.

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These are very different things. Never

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lose sight of the object of the

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exercise. It's important

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to focus on four separate things. The

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first is, the object of the exercise

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isn't to be right, it's to get

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the right outcome, and this

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includes getting commitment from your people to execute on

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the decisions that are made. The

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second objective is to build the team's

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confidence in their own abilities, not just

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in yours. The

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third is to make

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yourself redundant. And

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this does three things. It

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mitigates key person risk, it

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builds team capability, and it

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frees you up for the promotion that will

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inevitably come when you achieve superior results. And

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finally, the fourth objective is to

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grow other leaders. Your primary accountability

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is to build leadership capability below

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you. Without a

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healthy pipeline of leaders, no organisation will

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reach its performance potential. For

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more depth on this insight, listen to episode

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84 of the No Bullshit

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Leadership Podcast, Being Right Isn't

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Everything. We'll leave a link in

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the show notes. I really

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hope you enjoyed this moment and that it gives

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you that little extra spark to be

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a no bullshit leader.