Nate Brown
Relentless pursuer of excellence. Insatiable student of leadership. Passionate solver of problems.
Leadership
Leadership Philosophy | Inspiring People
I consider it a distinguished honor to be trusted to lead people. I count it an even higher honor to be trusted to lead other leaders. A leader’s highest calling is to inspire those whom he leads. My goal as a leader is to create inspired employees. An inspired employee is a person who is engaged beyond just showing up for a job, and is connected to their leaders, their peers, and the strategy of the company, in such a way that they are motivated to contribute progressive and innovative ideas that propel the company towards fulfilling its vision, and advance themselves towards achieving their personal career goals.
Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.
Leadership Journey | From Introduction to Inspiration
The process of developing as a leader is an iterative journey through a series of five stages, from Introduction to Inspiration:
- Introduction: self-focused discovery, learning and acclamation
- Integration: team-focused contribution and assimilation
- Impact: moving things, tasks, and activities and getting results
- Influence: upward-focused movement of people and processes
- Inspiration: downward-focused reaching and connecting with people to raise them up
Leadership in Practice | Solve Problems and Simplify
Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
My leadership style is based upon the principle that I must be my team’s best early adopter. In essence, I buy in to my team’s ideas and innovation early, allowing them to flourish, and sometimes, to fail. My goal is always to provide the team with a balance of autonomy and alignment; giving them the power to make decisions, while keeping them moving in the proper strategic direction. This approach focuses on garnering and building upon two-way trust. My team trusts me, and I trust my team. This simple approach is my key to building high performing teams.
I strive to always solve problems in order to improve our people, processes, and products. Providing clear and concise solutions is essential. As a leader, I must be able to clearly communicate vision, direction, and solutions to my team, my peers, and my superiors, in a way that is easily understood, and therefore, easily acted upon.
Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.