7 Critical Tips for Effective Leadership
We are all leaders in some area of our life. We lead our staff, bosses, co-workers, clients, family and friends. What are some critical points to providing leadership no matter what the condition or whom we are leading?
- Be Honest and Keep your Word: The foundation of all relationships is trust and the way to establish trust is through honesty. Being honest and keeping your word is the key. This may sound simple but what about when you have something difficult to say, like announcing layoffs, hiring freezes or tough times ahead. The key is to be honest; otherwise in the end everyone loses. For example, I knew of a company that lied to their employees about layoffs because they did not want to loose the good employees. After they announced and implemented the layoffs, the employees who were left did not believe them and the good ones left anyway. So, while it may be tempting to make a lot of promises, they will come back to haunt you unless you can deliver. What you may loose by being upfront in the short run with people being upset, you will gain in the long run because they will trust you. The benefit of trust is priceless.
- Paint an Optimistic, Positive Vision for the Future: Look at the great leaders of our time. They do not exude "doom and gloom, misery and heartache" rather; they personify optimism and lay out a bright, exciting future. It is not to say that we ignore the problems and challenges of the present, but laying out the positive, proactive, optimistic future is the key. It is OK to take people through the valley as long as we show them how we can make it to the mountaintop.
- Take Full Responsibility: Ineffective leaders concentrate and blame external factors for why things aren't working in times of difficulty. Effective leaders focus their time and efforts on what they can do about the external factors. After all we may not be able to control everything that happens to us, but we are always in control of our response. By focusing 100% of their energies, great leaders inspire others on their team to do the same.
- Provide Clear Goals and an Implementation Plan: My friend, Jim Ball, author of "DNA Leadership through Goal Driven Management," says that having crystal clear goals and a plan to achieve those goals is paramount to success. If we are not sure where we are going, how can we expect anyone to follow us. This may seem obvious but how often have you encountered someone who was not sure what they wanted or couldn't articulate it, yet they wanted us to follow and support them. If we desire to lead others, we must have a clear path of where we are going and then ensure that others know and understand the path and how we are going to get there.
- Clarify Expectations: During times of change, people have a hard time focusing on what needs to be done. It is even more important to be explicit and remind them of their roles, what they are accountable for and what you expect of them. People tend to rise to the level of expectations; they just need to know what the expectations are.
- State the Benefits for the Other Person: The universal language we speak is, "what is in it for me?" Make sure people explicitly know how your organizational goals, plans and expectations will benefit them. Incidentally, this is why many organizations' vision or mission statements sometimes don't have the desired impact on employees; employees don't see the benefit to them. Great leaders show how everyone impacts the bottom line and makes a difference, how everyone will reap the rewards by working together and achieving their goals.
- Appreciate the People Around You: One of employees biggest complaints is lack of appreciation. It is astonishing if you think about it because appreciation is often free. I have yet to hear of someone who left an organization (or a marriage for that matter) because they were appreciated too much. It's usually quite the opposite. We all want to know that our hard work is making a difference. (For more information, please refer to the past Bi-Monthly Email Advice on Acknowledgement)
For more details as well as strategies and techniques on how implement any of these points, please call our office at 703-243-7991, 1-877-6Honest or e-mail me at Steven@StevenGaffney.com.
"Steven Gaffney is a professional speaker and author in the area of communication, motivation and leadership." Copyright 2004 by Steven Gaffney and the Steven Gaffney Company. © |Steven Gaffney Company
