Resourceful Leaders

I share my insights on how to be a resourceful leader. In this podcast episode, I’m sharing how to build more resourceful teams. I’ve talk about the 3 R’s of leadership quite a bit – resilient, resourceful, and relentless. This episode hones in on resourcefulness. Being resourceful means you have the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome challenges. In leadership, it means bringing a new solution to the table that can have a positive impact on the challenging situation.

To be a resourceful leader, you must build resourceful teams. How do you do that?

• Ask (More) Questions. As a leader, you have to coach your teams to become self-sufficient; to find solutions to their own challenges. One of the best way to do that is to ask them questions – and then make sure you don’t answer for them!
• Willingness to try something new. If you’re asking your team to find the solution to their challenges, you as the leader must be willing to try their solution – even if it’s a completely new concept. Be open to their ideas and have a willingness to implement them.
• Permission to Fail. Give your team the permission to try something new that doesn’t work out. This will coach them to come prepared with potential solutions to pitch to you, when they bring the challenge to your office. This will also give them some freedom to find creative solutions that no one else has thought of yet. If your team knows it’s ok to try something and fail (within reason), they will be much more resourceful when they present possible solutions to you.

Want to know if you’ve built a resourceful team through resourceful leadership? Ask yourself this question:

Can your team solve problems without you? 

If yes, you’ve got a resourceful team. If no, you’ve got some work to do.