The Colonel said, “Everyone has greatness in them, kid. You might have to dig deeper in some than in others to find it. You don’t have to create greatness in your team. You just gotta find it.”
So… I am an art history geek. In fact, my minor during my undergraduate work was in art history with a focus on the Renaissance and a specialty in the life and works of Michelangelo Buonarotti. One of Michelangelo’s most famous works is the statue of David, which he sculpted in 1504 on a commission from the City of Florence. There is an oft-told story about a time when Michelangelo was asked by Pope Leo X how he could have possibly imagined his magnificent David out of a massive, solid piece of Carrera marble. Michelangelo responded that the image was already in the marble; it had been placed in the stone by God. He said, “I simply remove everything that is not David.”
While there is no way to know if this exchange actually took place (it’s not recorded in any historical reference work before the fiction piece The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone), it is an excellent illustration of this leadership principle. To assume we are creating greatness in our team is ego-driven and steals the natural success from the team. If we take credit for their greatness, we must also be willing to take responsibility when that greatness does not emerge. Each member of your team has a unique set of gifts and skills embedded in them. Each of them has the possibility of greatness. It is not a leader’s job to create the possibility, merely to nurture it. For some team members, that possibility is bubbling very close to the surface – and is therefore closer to probability. For others, it is more possibility than probability and more “marble” needs to be removed for the greatness to emerge.
And sometimes, it is our job to chip away at the marble in preparation for another leader, sometime down the road, who will continue inspiring and empowering them, thus helping finish the masterpiece. Significant leaders mentor those they lead to find the greatness that is already inside of them.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.