Leadership expert David Dye says you will find your path if you focus on results and relationships.

What does it take to be an efficient leader? Passion and communication skills are essential. David Dye works with leaders to help them achieve their goals without losing their integrity or soul. Leadership positions are most wanted within any organization. Yet David knows that many leaders struggle a lot to deal with pressure.Though leadership seems to be all about the individual's qualities and decisions, the expert emphasizes the role of connecting with the team. By asking questions and knowing people's standpoint, you can co-create a common vision even with the members that you didn't hire yourself.Leaders shouldn't try to have all the answers. It's easier for everyone if they ask questions and focus on results. Passion for your position will enable you to bring results even in rough environments.'Give people the opportunities before they have a title'. David says they need skills and influence before having a title.Do you want to be a better leader?Learn from our experienced guests. Don't forget to share it with your friends and spread the passion.Live PassionatelyMoustafa HamwiPassionpreneur & Chief Energy OfficerAward Winning Author & Speaker

TRANSCRIPT:

Moustafa: Hello everyone and welcome back to Passion Sundays – the best way to end a week and start another! Our guest today is an expert that helps leaders get results without losing their soul – David Dye. Thank you very much for being here with us today!David: My pleasure!Moustafa: Really interesting topic on leadership because leadership is really tough and walking the talk is really tough. Losing your soul happens a lot when you're doing that but then you're stuck because you're committed to that role so you get stuck between 'I'm committed but I'm losing my soul'. So what do I do?David: It's a great question and very very common! So many leaders are in world where they are stressed, they are pressured for market results and the needs of their team connect, to be invested and to collaborate. Yet leaders aren't given the tools to deal with these situations. Most leaders are just put in the role, without any training. So that's what we do – we help leaders get the practical tools to get the results and to connect with their teams in a meaningful way and to work from an internal set of values of both confidence and humility, in a way that transforms the results and to break through results that really last.Moustafa: Wow, I love that. So now that we're talking about a leader getting results, making it last while they are trying to preserve their soul, there are a lot of times when you are put in a situation to lead that you haven't even chosen in the first place. Most of the times as a leader you never really choose your situations otherwise it's not leadership, it's just something easy. What would you do in a situation like that?David: The first place where I would start is connecting with the people. Specifically, I would ask questions to people: 'What do you think our team is capable of? What would it look like if we were to do our very best?'. In that way, you're hearing from them, you're not bringing all the answers. You're connecting with them and helping them have some ownership about it. You ask: 'What does it take for us to get there?'. And they will start to talk 'Well, this is what it takes. Maybe we need these skills, maybe we need some accountability.' And then you ask: 'What can I do as the leader to help us get there?'. Now the entire team, you ask these questions one of one and bring all of that together and the team has co-created a vision that they own and they have told you that how they need you to serve them as their leader. So you create some immediate ownership, even with a brand new team that you inherited, people you didn't necessarily hire.Moustafa: I love that! So it's about listening and communicating to understand what's happening in that moment.David: Absolutely! Today so many leaders and managers have people who know more about the work than the leader/manager does. So it's fruitless to try to have all the answers. You are much better off asking the questions.Moustafa: Asking good questions. That would definitely make you a better leader. Times get tough for a leader. I was interviewing Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and he says 'it's in the tough times that true leaders show'.David: Absolutely.Moustafa: It's very easy to say 'I'm a leader, I'm a leader' but when you screw up, you knew if they're gold-plated or solid gold. So how would you then know the leader who is true from who's not before you got to get to a situation where it's dangerous? Because the reality is that if you're selecting somebody as a leader in an organization and you end up putting somebody who is gold-plated, guess what? You're gonna find out when it's not the right time and there's nobody else to fill that place? How can you pre-screen for that?David: That's a fantastic question! I wish more executives would ask that very same question because as a mid-level manager, as an executive, one of the most important decisions you ever make is who you put into leadership positions, who you trust with that responsibility. So we believe it's so important to give people the opportunities before they have a title, to demonstrate their influence, to learn the skills of listening and conversation, how you bring people in and bring those results, how to build those relationships. Watch somebody in different environments to see if they are truly bringing confidence and humility into the mix. And if you watch, you'll see it. You'll see when people are having a difficult conversation that has to be had. Do they approach that with confidence and humility? Or do they come out at it with 'you're wrong, I'm right' type of attitude? People are who they are from the beginning, they aren't going to be different just because of a title. And so those are the things that you're looking for initially.Moustafa: That's nice and I love that fact that you said it's a lot about asking things and matching and understanding. Yet sometimes there is a corporate culture there. Because you're saying it's not about… maybe you're not coming as aggressive, you're not coming strong, you're a true leader. But isn’t leadership contextual sometimes?David: Absolutely!Moustafa: Let's say I'm in an organization where ego is high. If I'm in the military, being a leader is a totally different story than if you're in a financial institution or you're running a school or a kindergarten.David: Yes, very true. And you need to know who you're leading. And what type of communication style they need and so on. One of the questions that we are asked frequently by our managers, managers who have read our book 'Winning Well'), they will ask us 'What if my boss doesn't care about his soul or my soul or anybody's soul, what do I do then?'. We invite leaders to build a cultural oasis. If you think of it, desert of leadership. If you're in a very caustic environment where people don't respect each other, no one can force you to treat people in an inhumane way. That's a choice everybody gets to make. So I have so much passion around helping people to be able to make that choice and to build that cultural oasis where they are and build a team that does receive respect from their leader and does communicate and trust one another. One of the things that happens is that you start to see results. And those results will buy you freedom from some of the negative pressure you're in so you'll have more freedom to lead in a healthier way.Moustafa: I love that! So for yourself to be a true leader, be centered, be who you really are.David: Absolutely!Moustafa: So if you were to summarize all this beautiful drawing into one or two tips or sentenced to wrap this up, what would it be?David: What would it be? So to get lasting bottom-line results without losing your soul, one of the most important things as a leader is to be clear about the results. Create mutually shared, clear commitments to one another. Celebrate success. Hold one another accountable. Have those conversations as you need to have them and you'll then figure out the rest. Focus on results and relationships in everything that you do and you'll find your path.David: I love that! Thank you very much for being with us today, I appreciate it!David: Thank you! I appreciate you!Moustafa and David: Passion!Moustafa: What do you think? I hope you found this interview as useful and as insightful as I did. If so, leave your comments on the blog below and do share it with somebody who will find it interesting. And if you'd like more tools, tips, techniques and exclusive interviews that I only share on my website – go to Moustafa.com. Until next episode – live passionately!