Power Play: Step up or step off

Power Players have a wonderful way of simplifying leadership in five words: step up or step off.

Power Players know that the only way to be a leader is to lead, and this means stepping up when the situation requires it and taking the reins.

If stepping up isn’t required, Power Players know the only thing left is to step off. This is a total Power Player characteristic – become a strong and decisive leader or step to one side and let someone else lead.

When it comes to leadership, there is no in-between. You can’t lead ‘just a little bit’ and Power Players know this better than anyone.

If you decide to step up, do it well, do it thoroughly and do it wholeheartedly. When it comes to leadership, pick a side, in or out. And remember these five magic words: step up or step off.

The story

A wonderful woman I know recruits and trains staff for a sales team. She is the designated leader so she leads.

She is a fan of a particular style of selling and, given she is a part-owner of the business, has decided that this will be the way her staff should be trained. She isn’t into collaboration or letting individuals decide how they’d like to sell. It’s her way or no way at all.

I hugely admire her style: she has stepped up and claimed leadership wholeheartedly because she has a lot of evidence proving that her way is very effective. She is decisive, strong and exactly what a leader should be in her industry.