The Colonel said, “One of the most important sentiments any leader can express to someone in their charge is: ‘I’ve got your back.’”
It is a leader’s responsibility to be the first line of defense for our team. That means we never throw our team members under the bus. When someone higher on the organizational chain wants blood, we stand in front of our team as a protective wall and take the heat ourselves.
We don’t question a team member’s decisions in public. When we have given them the authority to make decisions, we support those decisions – even if we don’t agree with them. And unless they are illegal, immoral, or unethical, we allow them to stand by their decisions without asking them to change them. If those decisions lead to bad results, we support them in picking up the pieces and learning from their mistakes.
This is how we build and mentor new leaders.
Having your team’s back means you continually ask yourself, “Who do I need to be and what do I need to do to amplify my team’s very best?” If you see them in distress, you offer to help, and you do so in a manner that ensures their difficulty will not be visible to anyone else.
As leaders, we are tasked with creating an environment where every member of our team knows categorically that the rest of the team has their back as well. Then, the entire team can work at their very best to achieve together.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.