Early in our careers, it is easy to think about leadership in terms of advancement.
What is the next position? What experience do I need? What degree should I earn? What opportunity should I pursue? What can I do today that will prepare me for where I want to be tomorrow?
There is nothing wrong with asking those questions. In fact, I have spent much of my career asking them myself.
But somewhere along the way, the questions began to change.
Instead of only asking, What is next for me? I began asking, Who am I helping prepare for what is next for them?
That is an important shift in how we think about leadership.
One of the ideas behind my book, Irons in the Fire: Igniting a Career Built on Purpose, Impact and Fulfilment, is that careers are rarely built through one opportunity, one position, or even one carefully designed plan. We develop by keeping different irons in the fire—pursuing opportunities, building relationships, continuing our education, taking calculated risks, and sometimes stepping into spaces where we are not completely comfortable.
But as we grow, leadership requires us to recognize that not every iron in the fire has to be our own.
Sometimes our responsibility is to help someone else put theirs in.
Someone Saw Something in You
Most successful leaders can probably identify someone who saw potential in them before they completely saw it in themselves.
Maybe it was a supervisor who gave you an assignment you were not sure you were ready for. A professor who challenged you. A mentor who encouraged you to apply for a position. Someone who invited you into a room where important conversations were happening.
Throughout my own career, I have benefited from people who opened doors, provided opportunities, challenged my thinking, and sometimes gave me responsibilities before I was completely certain I was ready for them.
Those experiences did more than help me advance. They helped shape the leader I eventually became.
That is why I believe one of our greatest responsibilities as leaders is to do the same for others.
Leadership Development Happens Before the Promotion
We sometimes make the mistake of waiting until someone receives a leadership title before we begin developing them as a leader.
By then, we are late.
Future leaders need opportunities to lead before the title arrives.
Give them responsibility.
Let them participate in important conversations.
Ask for their perspective.
Allow them to solve problems.
Give them ownership of projects.
Let them make decisions—and, within reasonable boundaries, let them make mistakes.
Then help them understand what worked, what did not, and what they might do differently next time.
Developing leaders requires more than telling someone what you know. It requires creating opportunities for them to discover what they are capable of doing.
There is also some risk involved.
When you give someone an opportunity, they may not handle it exactly the way you would. Their approach may be different. They may stumble. They may need coaching.
That is part of development.
If we only give people opportunities when we are certain they will succeed, we are not really developing them. We are simply assigning work to people who have already proven they can do it.
Stop Measuring Leadership Only by What You Accomplish
Aspiring leaders are often taught to build their résumés.
Earn the degree. Complete the training. Take the assignment. Get the certification. Make the promotion.
Again, those things matter. I have pursued many of them throughout my own career, and I continue to believe strongly in professional growth.
But eventually, leadership has to become bigger than your résumé.
A better measure begins to emerge:
Who is better prepared because you were their leader?
Who did you encourage?
Who did you challenge?
Who did you introduce to an opportunity?
Who did you recommend when their name was not in the room?
Who did you allow to take the lead while you stepped back?
And perhaps most importantly, who is now developing someone else because of what they learned from you?
That is impact.
Keep Your Irons in the Fire—and Help Others Build Theirs
For aspiring leaders, I would never suggest that you stop pursuing your own growth. Quite the opposite.
Keep learning.
Keep taking opportunities.
Keep meeting people outside your immediate circle.
Keep developing skills that stretch you beyond your current position.
Keep a few irons in the fire because you never know which opportunity will ultimately shape the direction of your career.
But as you move forward, start looking around.
There is probably someone behind you who needs the same encouragement, opportunity, or confidence that someone once gave you.
You do not need an executive title to mentor someone.
You do not need to supervise a large team to develop another person.
You do not need to have your entire career figured out before you can help someone else with theirs.
Leadership can begin long before the title does.
The Legacy Question
There comes a point in a career when success becomes less about how far you have traveled and more about what you have left behind along the way.
Titles eventually change.
Positions end.
Organizations move forward.
Someone else eventually sits in the chair.
What remains is the impact we had on people.
That is one of the leadership lessons that has become increasingly important to me: Your career is yours to build, but your leadership is ultimately measured by what you build in others.
So, if you are an aspiring leader focused on your next opportunity, keep going.
Work hard. Prepare yourself. Take some chances. Put irons in the fire.
Just remember that when you finally find yourself in a position to open a door for someone else, open it.
And when you can, hold it open long enough for a few others to walk through, too.