Some Habits of Leadership

Getting into the groove of the New Year...a month has already passed us by.  What have you been doing to cement good habits of leadership?

Here are some to consider:

1. Leaders are always at the intersection, ready to change, even morph-ready, determined, passionate, agile.
2. Build relationships before you need them.
3. Take care of tomorrow where a follower or manager takes care of today
4. Is concerned with results not activity. Results make you think, activity is a to do list.
5. Measures success, recognizes results.
6. Plans
7. Has a vision and shares it
8. Communicates
9. Accepts responsibility
10. Moves on, forward

It takes courage to stand up and speak, it also takes courage to sit down and listen -Winston Churchill

The 4 R's of Execution

Routine, Repetition, Recognition, Results

Execution requires good direction from the leader. More importantly it requires focused attention on details to get the job done well.

Using the four R's can help you get the execution you are looking for, from your team or yourself.

Have a routine. Make sure the team knows it or you follow it.

Repetition in important. Repeating instructions for questions, repeating work processes can make efficiency happen as well as improve quality.

Provide recognition as execution is in progress. This will help move the project along, inspire continued effort and even build self-esteem.

Expect results and follow up to get them. By showing the team what the results could look like and how it would make a difference to them you are setting the benchmark for execution.

Use the R's...they R simple and get you and your team to execute.

Credit-Do You Get It?

People are always looking for credit. Even if they say they don't want it, deep down they really do...even if they are simply going to give it to themselves. Credit is recognition...not the monetary kind.

How do you go and get credit for what you do well? For what you are attempting?

1-give credit to others, they will follow your example
2-Energize and inspire others
3-Create a motivating environment
4-Tell the story. Telling success stories inspires others and also develops an environment to continue to do the same. Your credit comes back to you from the implementation.
5- celebrate success. Recognize publicly..helps to show that results are rewarded, recognized and shared.
6-Take responsibility. It can be difficult to do this for something that did not turn out as expected but it also shows your team that you are there for everything..good, bad or ugly.
7-Set goals. Part of getting or giving credit is having a reason, a goal to aspire to, and then naturally measuring your way there.

In other words, what I have taken quite a few lines to say is that It's About Others, not about you.

Who Do You Spend Time with Everyday?

When I worked in retail, my early morning hours were spent walking the salesfloor with an Assistant Manager reviewing the previous nights work for execution, roadblocks and recognition for the team. I would spend a few minutes in each area reviewing and discussing what took place and what would be happening next including everyone who would be involved in the process. I found that this helped keep everyone on track and engaged. They would offer their opinions and experience and quickly we could make decisions that could drive our business forward. Sounds daunting right? Well, it only took about 45 minutes – and it set the tone for work for the next day or sometimes even week.
After we were operational for the day, I would spend my time with each Assistant Manager who operated an area of the salesfloor. Here we would review high performance, and low performance. We would try to learn from the high performing people and apply the information to the low performers to see if we could change the tide. In most cases this worked. But for the longest time, I neglected the mid-range, ‘always-good’ performers, the steady performers who always did a good job but stayed out of the radar.
I quickly learned that I needed to spend time here to understand what they knew, how they learned all they know and then share the information with the rest of the team. Spending this time with them built their confidence, provided much-needed recognition and even elevated some performance to a higher level. A straight-forward thank you would get rewarded by more performance. Imagine that!?

Critical lesson: everyone needs attention and recognition. The level of attention and type of recognition needs to be applied by the level of performance to continue to engage and develop that team member.