Building a Leadership Bouquet - #239

Every second Thursday of the month, one of our MomCo staff members will teach a leadership tip or principle they’ve learned and want to share with you. This month, Abby Kruse talks about how to create a well-rounded leadership team that focuses on each person’s strengths.

We'd love to connect with you! Send us a direct message on Instagram or Facebook or email us at leaders@themom.co.

You can connect with Abby on Instagram @abbyslittlelife.

You can also find our cohosts on Instagram: @andreafortenberry, @ivymamma and @sherri_crandall.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to the Momco Leadership Podcast. We believe that life and leadership are better in community. We're here to equip and encourage you as a leader and mom. We'll talk about real issues and practical tools to help you grow in your leadership, motherhood, and faith.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hey friends, welcome back to the Momco Leadership Podcast in our May leadership episode. My name is Abby Cruzy, and I'm on staff here at the Momco as an executive leadership coach. And this month, I want to talk about building a leadership bouquet. So my mind has really been on leadership teams after cohorts this past month. If you are a coordinator for the Momco, then you know what I'm talking about. We do monthly Zoom trainings with our coordinators that cover a variety of leadership topics. And this past month, we spent some time talking about recognizing the leadership gifts in ourselves and in others, even maybe when they don't see it in themselves yet, and then noticing the signs of an emerging leader. So the picture I keep coming back to is this leadership is not meant to be a solo act. It's meant to be a bouquet. Not one flower trying to do every single thing themselves, but a collection of different flowers, each bringing something unique and creating something way more beautiful together than we can do alone. So we want you to know that leading alone is never the goal. And I think for a lot of us, we sort of slip into this habit of leading like everything depends on us. Uh, we carry it all. The planning, the communication, the organizing, the details, the emotional weight that does come with leadership naturally. Sometimes we even tell ourselves, it's just easier if I handle it. Or even it's faster if I do it myself. Which might be true, but over time, it just gets really heavy to carry it all alone. And even more than that, it actually limits what your team could become. Because leadership was never meant to rest on just one person. There's a verse in 1 Corinthians that I love that talks about how the body has many parts, but they all work together for one purpose. It's such a powerful picture for leadership because no one part is meant to do every single thing. And honestly, no one flower is meant to be a whole bouquet. So I encourage you, start asking who else should be part of my leadership bouquet instead of how can I keep managing all of this myself? One of the biggest takeaways from cohorts this past month was this idea of CD seeing leadership in others, even before they see it in themselves. And this is one of the most important things that you can do as a leader. Because most people don't actually walk around thinking, I would make a great leader. Sign me up. They second guess themselves, they downplay their strengths, and they actually assume that they don't have what it takes. But you get to notice. You get to look around and say, wait, there's some really beautiful and incredible flowers here. Maybe it's the person who naturally makes people feel included. Maybe she always follows through when you give her a task. Maybe she always brings calm into stressful situations. She notices when someone is missing. These are all great leadership qualities. They're the kinds of strengths that belong in your bouquet. Here's something that I've seen over and over again. What you call out in someone grows in them. And this was true even for me. When I first became a momco leader, I really didn't see the strengths in myself that I thought I needed to lead my local mom co group. I know that I thought I'm just not organized enough. I don't look like the kind of leader that this requires. But someone, a dear mentor to me now, took the time to name things in me that I couldn't yet see. She said things like this You connect with people so naturally. You make people feel seen and loved. You create a welcoming space so easily. And over time, those things grew in me. And my confidence grew. My leadership skills grew. And it wasn't because I became someone different. It was because someone helped me to see what was already there. And that's the great and beautiful role that you get to play as a leader, too. I really want you to think about building your leadership bouquet intentionally. So a flower bouquet doesn't just happen by accident. It is intentionally put together. And the same is true for you and your leadership team. So here are a few things I want you to think about. First, what are your strengths? What do you naturally bring to the table? And then, this is a little harder. Where are your gaps? Where are you a little bit weaker? So maybe you're really relational, but not super detail-oriented. Or maybe you're great at vision and dreamcasting, but maybe not so much the logistics or the execution of those dreams. Maybe you're really consistent and loyal, but not super spontaneous or creative. Hear me say that you don't need to become all of these things. But what you do need to do is build a bouquet that includes them. So look for people who naturally carry what you don't. And when you invite people and be specific. So not just, hey, could I get some help here? But maybe I see this strength in you and I think you would be amazing at this. So that kind of invitation builds confidence and clarity. And then start small. Give someone that you see potential in one role to own. Let them grow into it. Maybe it's a little outside of their comfort zone, but encourage them along the way. And here's the bigger picture. A bouquet isn't made up of identical flowers either. So it's the variety, the different shapes and colors and smells and textures that make a flower bouquet beautiful. In Romans 12, it says that we all have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. We have different gifts, different strengths, but we have the same purpose. Your team doesn't need more sameness. Your team doesn't need just a bunch of you. It needs more fullness and more variety. So I want to encourage you in this leader tip this week. Stop trying to be the whole bokeh and start building one. Look around you. Who's already there? What did they bring to the table? What might be waiting to be called out in them? And then call it out. Invite it. Grow it. Because when each person steps into their God-given strengths, your team won't just function better, it will flourish. Thanks so much for being here this week and for the way that you're showing up and leading so intentionally. We love you and what you're doing matters. We'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Leaders, we know that your time is valuable. We're proud of you for investing in yourself by listening in today. We know that when you invest in mom, you change the world. We believe in you and we're doing it.