The Power of Going All-In summary

What does it take to be a truly great leader? First off, you need to strike a balance between the three pillars of leadership – the triangular balance. These pillars are: directive, which involves setting goals, encouraging the team to execute them, and holding people accountable; supportive, which means checking in with employees and ensuring they have the necessary resources and expertise to complete their tasks to the highest standard; and contributory – the greatest leaders pour themselves into others and never stop asking themselves what they can do to help their team achieve more.

These pillars are also illustrated by the AARI framework, which consists of four important characteristics:

Available – they’re always on hand to help when necessary, and no question is too small.

Approachable – they demonstrate an eagerness to assist with problems.

Responsiveness – they provide help or input whenever they’re asked.

Investment – they pour time, energy, and resources into their team’s capability and potential every single day.

Vision is the key driving force here. A clear vision will propel you and your team to achieve your goal – and keep you striving for it, even on the toughest days. Vision inspires your team, spurs them to push through obstacles, and gives purpose and meaning to their work. As a leader, it’s your job to define the vision, own the vision, and bring everything back to the vision’s core principles.

Every project your team works on needs its own distinct vision that ties back to the organization’s core mission and vision. To this end, create a concise, actionable statement of work (SOW). The SOW should outline each project component, designate an owner for each component, clarify the parameters of the project, and include a clear description of how the finished project should look and function.

Keep a constant eye on the numbers. In all facets of management, ensure you’re always calculating the upside and the downside. How much have you invested? How much risk have you taken on? How much are you willing to lose if it comes to that? When the numbers meet or exceed your projections, you can continue to invest. When the numbers don’t stack up, it’s time to wind down or pivot. Staying on top of these projections allows you to optimize through every decision you make.

Of course, a project is only as good as the people behind it, which is why all-in leaders aim to build all-in teams.

To hire like a leader, focus on depth and breadth of skill, experience, and diversity. Hire for the future, not just the present – what will your needs be six months down the line? Hire the contributors you need now, but also prospect passive candidates as well as active job-seekers: send out five or ten messages a week that gets your company in front of the best candidates in the field.

Change up your interviewing style. If you’re asking the same tired questions as every other organization, you’re going to get the same rehearsed responses every time. Instead, pivot to a behavior-based approach. Questions like “Can you tell me about a challenging obstacle you faced at work and how you overcame it?” give a snapshot of the candidate’s experience, problem-solving skills, and approach to work.

An all-in leader builds a high-performance culture. When you spot rock-star behavior among your team members, make it go viral by drawing attention to it. Make sure you give other members on the team the chance to collaborate with and learn from star performers. Reward behavior that goes above and beyond. Soon enough, you’ll go from having one star performer to having a whole supergroup driven by a culture of excellence.