How Leaders Can Empower Their People to be Their Best

Spencer Gore, CEO of EMJ & AMJ

Having the drive, desire, and ability to be the best starts with believing you can achieve something. As the saying goes, "If you think you can, you possibly will. If you think you can’t, you definitely won’t."

Since founding the European Medical Journal (EMJ) and most recently the American Medical Journal (AMJ), I’ve seen firsthand that the success of these organizations hinges on the strength and cohesion of their teams. As a leader, fostering a high-performing team goes beyond traditional management techniques. It requires continuous empowerment, instilling a growth mindset, and encouraging self-belief.

A mindset for our future leaders that has been transformative is “be the leader you wish to follow.” This involves setting the standard for behavior, work ethic, and collaboration, encouraging team members to strive to become their best selves even before they hold leadership positions.

Great leaders lead by example

Can you confidently say you are bringing your best self to work and pushing yourself to be your best? We expect this from our team, so it’s only right we do this ourselves. As a leader, your actions speak louder than words. If you wish for your team to be diligent, innovative, and collaborative, you must first exhibit these traits yourself - it sets a benchmark for them to follow.

• Demonstrate commitment: Make your dedication visible to motivate your team. Are you consistently showing your commitment to your work and the organization?
• Maintain transparency: Communicate openly about decisions, challenges, and successes. This builds trust and encourages a culture of honesty.
• Embrace continuous learning: Regularly review your learning and development programs. Share your personal growth journey, including mentors, coaches, and educational seminars.
• Prioritize well-being: Show that you value work-life balance by taking breaks and holidays and respecting your team's time off.
• Engage in humble leadership: Admit mistakes and accept feedback. This fosters a culture of continuous improvement and mutual respect.

Embedding a growth mindset

Embedding a growth mindset is about repeat, repeat, repeat. I talk about Gold Medal Winners and Gold Medal Mindset weekly with my team. This is centered around having a growth mindset, pushing boundaries, and working hard. Fostering this culture has taken a lot of repetition and embedding across all areas of the business—from hiring and training to daily operations.

If you truly want to drive a growth mindset and inspire people to be their best, it takes a lot of work from you as a leader.

Don’t fear failure

The fear of failure is the number one limiter to innovation. Your team cannot do their best work if they are in fear of making a mistake.

Here’s how you can foster a culture that embraces failure without risking too much:

• Create safe spaces for experimentation: Establish "innovation labs" or pilot programs where new ideas can be tested without major consequences. This allows for creativity while containing risk.
• Celebrate learning from mistakes: Regularly share stories of failures that led to significant insights or improvements. This normalizes failure as a part of the growth process.
• Set clear boundaries: Define what constitutes acceptable risk versus reckless behavior. Encourage calculated risks where the potential for learning and growth outweighs the cost of failure.

By adopting these principles, you will not only enhance team performance but also drive your organization towards sustained success.

Spencer Gore is the CEO of EMJ & AMJ