By James Grenon
Every so often, someone asks me a question that makes me stop and think: “How did you end up leading so many different parts of an organization?”
It is a fair question.
Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to lead branch operations, consumer lending, insurance and investments, marketing, business development, human resources, training, communications, and administration. At first glance, those responsibilities do not appear to have much in common. If you looked only at my resume, you might assume I changed careers several times.
For years, I thought the answer was simple. I enjoyed learning, welcomed new challenges, and rarely turned down an opportunity to grow. Looking back, I realize something much more important was happening.
The common thread was never becoming an expert in every discipline. It was learning how to bring experts together. That realization fundamentally changed the way I think about leadership.
Being Humbled
Early in my career, I believed leadership meant having the answers. I thought good leaders solved problems quickly, made confident decisions, and always knew what to do next. If someone came to me with a challenge, I felt responsible for fixing it. If a project stalled, I assumed I needed to work harder. If a department struggled, I believed I needed to become the expert.
Experience has a way of humbling us.
The longer I have led people, the more I have realized that leadership is not about accumulating expertise. It is about creating an environment where expertise can flourish. Today, I believe the most successful leaders are not measured by what they accomplish themselves. They are measured by how many people become more successful because of their leadership.
The Leadership Multiplier
That is what I call being a Leadership Multiplier.
A Leadership Multiplier does not need to be the smartest person in the room. They ask thoughtful questions instead of feeling the need to have every answer. They remove obstacles rather than creating dependencies. They connect people who should know one another. They create clarity when uncertainty begins to grow.
Most importantly, they help people discover strengths they may not yet recognize in themselves.
Ironically, the more they invest in others, the greater their own impact becomes. That is not just good leadership, it is leadership that endures.
Someone Saw More in Me Than I Saw in Myself
When I think about the leaders who have had the greatest influence on my career, one person immediately comes to mind.
Early in my credit union career, I had the privilege of working with an executive who changed the trajectory of my professional life. Today, I do not think they saw something in me that no one else could see. I think they simply saw something in me that I had not yet recognized.
It was not my product knowledge. It was not technical expertise. It was not years of experience. It was confidence.
Like many professionals early in their careers, I worked hard, prepared thoroughly, and genuinely wanted to contribute. But there was still a quiet voice in the back of my mind asking whether I belonged in the room when important decisions were being made.
Instead of waiting until I felt completely ready, this leader invited me to the table. Sometimes it was asking me to lead a project that stretched me well beyond my comfort zone. Other times, it was inviting me into meetings where I had no expectation of being included.
Frequently, it was something as simple as asking for my opinion in front of other senior leaders. At the time, those moments seemed ordinary. Looking back, they were transformational.
A Quiet Message
Each opportunity quietly communicated the same message: “I believe you can do this.” Eventually, I started believing it, too.
What I did not realize then was that one opportunity would lead to another, eventually shaping the career I have today. That executive did far more than assign projects or delegate responsibility; they built confidence. They became my biggest cheerleader, challenging me to think differently, trusting me with meaningful opportunities, and believing in me long before I believed I was ready.
I have never forgotten that.
Benjamin Disraeli once wrote, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.”
That is exactly what great mentors do. They do not simply share knowledge. They reveal potential.
The older I get, the more convinced I become that confidence is rarely built in isolation. More often, it is borrowed. It grows because someone else believes in us before we fully believe in ourselves. That realization changed the way I lead.
Today, whenever I have the opportunity to mentor someone, recommend an employee for a stretch assignment, invite a quieter voice into a conversation, or simply encourage someone to trust themselves a little more, I find myself thinking about those early years.
One Simple Question
I ask one simple question: How can I be that person for someone else? Because every leader remembers the person who opened a door. Great leaders never forget who opened the door for them, and they make a point of holding it open for someone else.
Leadership Is Measured in People, Not Projects
That experience taught me something I still carry with me today: Leadership is not about creating followers. It is about creating confidence.
For much of our careers, success is measured by goals achieved, projects completed, budgets managed, and results delivered. Those things matter. Organizations depend on them.
But as leaders, I believe we should ask ourselves a different question: Who is better because I had the opportunity to lead them? That question has changed the way I define success.
Some of the most influential leaders I have known never had the biggest titles or the largest teams. What made them exceptional was their ability to make everyone around them better. They celebrated other people’s successes without needing the spotlight. They coached more than they criticized. They challenged people because they genuinely wanted them to grow.
Most importantly, they created opportunities that others may never have given. That is leadership that multiplies.
Reinforcement from the Research
Gallup’s research consistently reinforces this idea. The organization has found that managers account for approximately 70% of the variance in employee engagement. That statistic reminds us that people rarely disengage because of the work itself. More often, they respond to the quality of leadership they experience every day.
Great leaders do far more than manage work. They intentionally develop people. And when people grow, organizations grow with them.
The Best Leaders Eventually Become Coaches
One of the biggest shifts in my leadership journey happened when I stopped feeling responsible for having all the answers. Early in my career, I believed my value came from solving problems. Today, I believe my value comes from helping others solve problems.That may sound like a small distinction, but it completely changes the relationship between a leader and their team.
Instead of immediately offering solutions, I try to ask better questions. Instead of stepping in first, I try to step back and create space for someone else to lead. Instead of measuring my contribution by how much I personally accomplished, I increasingly measure it by how much confidence someone else gained.
Ironically, those moments often produce better outcomes than if I had simply taken over.
What Leads to Growth
People rarely grow when every difficult decision is made for them. Growth comes from ownership. Confidence comes from experience. Leadership comes from opportunity. Sometimes our greatest contribution as leaders is resisting the urge to be the hero.
Why This Matters More than Ever
The workplace is changing faster than at any point in my career. Artificial intelligence continues to reshape how work gets done. Organizations are navigating economic uncertainty, changing employee expectations, evolving technology, and increasing complexity.
In the middle of all of that, it is easy for leaders to focus almost exclusively on strategy, efficiency, and execution. Those things absolutely matter. But they cannot come at the expense of developing people.
Technology can improve productivity. Processes can improve consistency. Systems can improve efficiency. Only people develop future leaders.
That is why I believe leadership development is no longer simply an HR initiative. It is a business strategy.
Organizations that intentionally invest in developing leaders at every level are creating something much more valuable than stronger management teams. They are building resilience. They are creating cultures where people continue growing long after one project ends or one executive retires.
Organizations like that are difficult to replicate because their competitive advantage is not a product, technology platform, or strategic plan. It is found in its people.
Legacy is Measured One Person at a Time
Every leader leaves something behind. The question is what. Some leaders leave behind impressive financial results. Others leave behind successful projects, innovative ideas, or organizational growth. Those accomplishments matter.
But over time, I have come to believe that our greatest legacy lies elsewhere. It is found in people. The employee who discovered confidence because someone believed in them. The first-time manager who was trusted with an opportunity to lead. The teammate who found their voice because someone invited them into the conversation. The future executive who only needed one person to say, “I think you are ready.”
Those moments rarely make annual reports. They do not appear on dashboards. No key performance indicator captures them. Yet they are often the moments that shape organizations for years to come.
Leadership has a remarkable ripple effect. When we invest in someone’s growth, that investment rarely stops with them. Confident leaders develop confident teams. Those teams create stronger cultures. Those cultures produce future leaders. And the cycle continues, long after we have moved on.
The Leadership I Hope to Leave Behind
As I reflect on my own career, I often think back to the executive who believed in me before I fully believed in myself. I doubt they realized the lasting impact those conversations, opportunities, and words of encouragement would have. They were simply leading the way they believed leaders should lead.
Years later, I still carry those lessons with me. They have shaped how I mentor. How I encourage. How I delegate. How I celebrate others’ success. Most importantly, they have shaped how I measure my own leadership.
Early in my career, success meant accumulating more responsibility. A larger role. A broader portfolio. Another opportunity. There is nothing wrong with ambition. But experience has given me a different perspective.
Today, I measure success differently. I measure it by the people I have had the privilege to encourage. The leaders I have watched grow in confidence. The employees who accomplished things they once doubted were possible. The moments when I have stepped back and watched someone else step forward. Those are the moments I remember most.
What It’s Really About
Leadership is not about becoming indispensable. It is about helping others discover that they can succeed without you. One day, the meetings will end. The projects will be completed. Someone else will occupy our office. Our titles will eventually belong to someone else.
But the confidence we build in another person lives on long after we are gone. If we are fortunate, the people we invest in will one day invest in someone else. To me, that is the true measure of leadership.
Not what we accomplish ourselves.
But who we inspire to become.
James Grenon is VP-administration with Summit Credit Union in Greensboro, N.C.
