• My Listings
Expert Circle
  • Expert Panels
    Expert Panel: What is one change you recommend making to enhance culture and productivity

    Expert Panel: What is one change you recommend making to enhance culture and productivity

    Expert Panel: Hybrid working – What is the best model to move forward, how should time be split between home and office?

    Expert Panel: Hybrid working – What is the best model to move forward, how should time be split between home and office?

    Expert Panel: How to develop a content strategy

    Expert Panel: How to develop a content strategy

    Expert Panel: How to Reach Out to a Recruiter

    Expert Panel: How to Reach Out to a Recruiter

  • Get Featured
    Contribute to the panel: How do you deal with the negativity without letting it drag you down as the leader?

    Contribute to the panel: How do you deal with the negativity without letting it drag you down as the leader?

    Contribute to the panel: What are the benefits of coaching and mentoring?

    Contribute to the panel: What are the benefits of coaching and mentoring?

    Expert Panel

    Contribute to the Expert Panel: What are the important factors to consider before starting a business?

    Contribute to the panel: How do you market to two different audiences?

    Contribute to the panel: How do you market to two different audiences?

    Contribute to the Expert Panel: What is one change you recommend making to enhance culture and productivity?

    Contribute to the Expert Panel: What is one change you recommend making to enhance culture and productivity?

    Contribute to the Expert Panel: Hybrid working – What is the best model to move forward, how should time be split between home and office?

    Contribute to the Expert Panel: Hybrid working – What is the best model to move forward, how should time be split between home and office?

  • Join Expert Circle
  • Media Pack
    • Branded Content
No Result
View All Result
Expert Circle
No Result
View All Result
Home Leadership

Reverse Leadership – Get the team to show you their potential!

by Elisabeth Klingler
June 17, 2021
in Leadership
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
man holding incandescent bulb
1.3k
SHARES
4.6k
VIEWS
Share on LinkedinShare on Twitter

Many might have heard the idea of reverse leadership, which is when a person that is not in a formal leadership role demonstrates leadership abilities by stepping up with a solution to a problem. This problem can take many shapes and forms; however, for entrepreneurship, reverse leadership would be if a team member or employee within a startup takes on a leadership role and provides a solution to the startup’s problem. However, not many employees might take that stance, even though they might have a potential solution. This can only be done if the working environment is right and cares about the startup vision.

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.

Andrew Carnegie

Reverse Leadership Should NOT Take the Place of Regular Leadership

For reverse leadership to work, there needs to be the right environment and the right mindset from the employees. Thus, reversed leadership does not replace regular leadership. Quite the opposite, regularly leadership is needed to create the right environment and mould the right mindset for people to stand up and implement reverse leadership.

Pinpoint your Reverse Leaders

Based on research done by Scott Edinger, reverse leaders other ones with five main characteristics: strong interpersonal skills born of self-awareness, focus more on results than process, a higher degree of integrity, professional expertise vital to the organisation, and maintain a steadfast customer focus.
However, not all people who show excellently reverse leadership qualities want to manage a team within the company. They might lack certain skills or do not want to move up the ladder.
Though the working environment is unwelcome, people with qualities might not express their solutions, thus losing the employee’s full potential. On the other hand, if employees do not care about the vision, they might also not express their full potential and possible solutions.

Shared Vision to Encourage Reverse Leadership

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour but without folly.

Jim Rohn

Besides, having the right environment for employees shows their full potential to care about the business. As the startup founder, you might be over the moon about your dreams for your business; however, your employees might not share the same passion. By using collaboration, one can foster a shared vision. This can be done by first deeply understand your vision about your business. Make sure that your vision is not depending on your selfish desires, such as making more money. Your vision should be a solution to a problem you have identified in the market. Next, collaborate to foster a shared vision with your employees, find out how you as their leader can help them fulfil their dreams.

Related: Helping people you are managing flourish and Managing Creative Talent – your own and your employees

Lastly, combine your vision with their dreams, encouraging the jobs they are currently doing is not just for you and the business objectives but also for them and their personal growth. Keep in mind this vision is a living vision that the stakeholders are striving for daily. If creating a shared vision is just a one-day exercise and then forgotten, there might be more harm than beforehand.

Benefits of Shared Vision 

Having a shared vision allows the company and stakeholders to move forward to achieve the shared vision. It is a constant source of motivation for every stakeholder in the company to do their best. It is there to create a united team working together to make everyone feel proud of the company and a sense of purpose.

The only visions that take hold are shared visions—and you will create them only when you listen very, very closely to others, appreciate their hopes, and attend to their needs.

Barry Posner and James M. Kouzes

Reverse Leadership in Startups

Now by having a shared vision that everybody is striving for, employees are more motivated to work. Additionally, since they want to do their best to achieve the shared vision, they are more likely to step up and implement reverse leadership. Employees that are not in leadership roles provide solutions with their actions and ideas to gabs in the company.
It is especially beneficial for a startup to stay ahead of the game, and it needs all the help there is. Thus, creating a shared vision provides them with a more aligned vision with the market needs and has employees who are motivated and willing to help the company fulfil that vision through reverse leadership.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

General George Patton

However, within 2020 and 2021, in the pandemic, we have experienced the lacking competence of leadership, especially how to lead remotely and foster team collaboration online. Which just again highlight the importance of adaptability within leadership.

Share94Tweet335Share535SendShareSend

Elisabeth Klingler

Related Posts

macro shot of vegetable lot
Lifestyle

Struggling to eat healthy at work? Here are three key tips that work!

February 9, 2022
4.5k
text
Motivational

Motivation and Anxiety: Cuppa chicken soup; #notjustyou

February 8, 2022
4.4k
woman in black jacket sitting beside woman in white blazer
Leadership

10 successful businesswomen share the secrets to their success!

February 6, 2022
3.5k
How motivational speaker Tony Robbins captivates audiences
Leadership

How motivational speaker Tony Robbins captivates audiences

February 2, 2022
3.6k
text
Motivational

How can you keep up your mental health in a good shape

January 26, 2022
3.9k
brown wooden blocks on white surface
Motivational

Three tips to maintain your motivation and drive

January 26, 2022
3.9k
3 Aces of motivation: Neil Patel, Simon Sinek, Gary Vaynerchuk
Marketing

3 Aces of motivation: Neil Patel, Simon Sinek, Gary Vaynerchuk

November 29, 2021
2.9k
Expert Panel: What makes a good leader great?
Expert Panel

Expert Panel: What makes a good leader great?

November 3, 2021
9.1k
woman in black v neck shirt holding white ceramic mug
Leadership

What makes a great leader?

October 12, 2021
2.6k
person standing near the stairs
Leadership

Successful leadership: how to be a great leader

October 12, 2021
2.4k
Next Post
person using macbook pro on brown wooden table

How to write an effective headline

Do You Know What Your Customers Really Want?

Do You Know What Your Customers Really Want?

Inclusive IT logo

Working remotely with disabilities

Call to Action

Advertisement

Black Friday Week 2021 v2

Categories

  • Book Club (24)
  • Business Management (28)
    • Accounting (1)
    • Careers and Education (2)
    • HR & Recruitment (6)
    • Startup (6)
  • Current Affairs (10)
    • Notes From Ukraine (10)
  • Expert Panel (10)
  • Get Featured (9)
  • Leadership (32)
    • Motivational (12)
  • Lifestyle (9)
  • Marketing (58)
    • Blogging (16)
    • Design (1)
    • Digital Marketing (22)
    • Email Marketing (1)
    • Networking (4)
    • Podcast (2)
  • Sales (4)
    • Objection Handling (1)

An Award-winning Platform

Top categories on Expert Circle

  • Book Club
  • Business Management
  • Leadership
  • Marketing & Sales

Opportunities on Expert Circle

  • Branded Content
  • Promote Your Website
  • Media Pack
  • Get Featured
  • Expert Panels
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Expert Circle

No Result
View All Result
  • All posts by Experts
  • Get Featured
  • Expert Panels
  • Promote Your Website
  • Branded Content
  • Media Pack

© 2021 Expert Circle

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.