Open-door leadership is not about having an open-door policy. Such policies are just more management hokum. One of the surest signs of a rookie leader is the claim, “I have an open-door policy, and my door is always open so my employees can get to me.” Allowing yourself to be continuously interrupted is a recipe for lousy leadership. If your door is always open, how on earth can you get any work done on behalf of the people who are interrupting you? 

Open-door leadership is not about having a policy of keeping your door open to others. It’s about taking actions to open doors for others. It is about so much more than giving people unfettered access to you. 

Four Open-Door Skills 

There are four skills that open-door leaders commonly apply. To be an open-door leader, you need to: 

Know your employees: Have extensive knowledge about the backgrounds, needs, and desires of your employees. Invest time in getting to know them beyond the tasks they get done for you. Ask them directly about their career goals and aspirations— what do they want to get out of this job? Keep in mind the goal isn’t to intrude or interrogate. It’s to gain insight into their goals, strengths, and motivations. We’ll talk more about this in the coming chapters. 

Match suitedness: Draw connections between the opportunity and the developmental needs of your employees. This involves constantly being on the lookout for opportunities that can advance your employee’s career. Then, when opportunities are identified ask yourself, “Whose growth and development would pursuing this opportunity most advance?” 

Envision the desired results: Have a clear picture of the desired benefits that given opportunities present for the employees and the organization. Once an opportunity is assigned, do some “future-casting” with your employee, thinking through the potential benefits—to the employee and the organization—that could emerge if the opportunity is successfully accomplished. Also give some thought to the actions that will have to occur to maximize the probability of success. 

Provide ongoing support: Genuinely want, and support, your employees’ success. This skill is an outgrowth of the other three. When you really know the aims of your employees—when you’ve assigned them to a juicy opportunity that’s ripe for their skills and worked with them to develop a clear picture of a successful outcome—you almost can’t help but take a strong interest in their success. Stay involved by periodically asking what support they need from you, removing barriers that might block their progress, and offering encouragement and guidance when they hit roadblocks and bottlenecks. 

The more you cultivate these skills, the more you will see opportunities to open doors for others. The starting place is a strong opportunity focus. 

Open-Door Actions and Reflections 

1. Think back over the course of your career.

• What are some opportunities that have been given to you?

2. How have those opportunities helped you grow personally and professionally?

• Which opportunity stands out as particularly important?

• Who brought the opportunity to you?

• What is your impression of him or her as a leader?

• Why do you think you were selected for the opportunity instead of someone else?

3. Look over the four skills of an open-door leader.

• Which ones did the person who brought you the opportunity use?

• Based on what you’ve read so far about open-door leadership, was the person who brought you the opportunity an open-door leader?

This is article is excerpted from Leaders Open Doors, 2nd Edition (ASTD Press, 2014), which offers a radically simple concept: Leaders open doors for  people. Author Bill easurer presents a fresh and unique take on leadership that will benefit experienced leaders and those just starting their leadership journeys. Bottom line: With a little courage, anyone at any level can be a leader.  

Drawing on two decades of experience, Bill Treasurer combines personal stories and anecdotes to illustrate how (and how not) to inspire people. He approaches these ideas with the belief that great leadership is not hierarchical—it is the peoples' willingness to take initiative and reach their goals that is crucial to successful leadership.