Leadership requires “10 out of 10” level performance day in and day out.
But there are times when a leader must go even beyond “10 out of 10”. Sometimes a leader must punch their amp up to “11”.
Fans of the classic comedy film This is Spinal Tap know exactly what I’m talking about. And with the soon to be release of the long-awaited sequel, now is a good time to dig into a hidden leadership gem contained within this otherwise hilarious comedy film.
This “mock-umentary” about an aging British rock band features a hilarious scene in which the lead guitarist (Nigel, played by Christopher Guest) tries vainly to explain the extra power contained in his guitar’s amplifier.
“You see, most blokes will be playing on 10…where can you go from there? Nowhere! Exactly…But what we do, if we need that extra push over the cliff, what we do is we go up to 11. One louder.”
As silly as that scene plays, leaders need to know when it’s time to go one louder; when it’s time to go up to “11”. In other words, leaders need to know how and when to call for the very best out of their own leadership in order to elevate the performance of the team.
How do you make that call? It’s time to crank your leadership up to 11 when:
1. The size or complexity of an approaching challenge requires extraordinary, diligent leadership to overcome,
2. A long season of “business as usual” has allowed the team to drift into cruise-control,
3. You recognize that the pace of your own development has been lagging,
4. You are in a season where “busy” has become an acceptable substitute for “productive”,
5. A window of opportunity presents itself, requiring your leadership to be at its peak performance,
Effective leaders know that from time to time it is necessary to simply shift gears and to elevate your leadership game. You must measure and monitor these bursts of extraordinary effort; operating at this level for an unsustainable period of time can lead to burn out.
But, when the time is right, you must be prepared to dig down and find that higher gear. In other words, it means cranking your leadership up to 11.
