If you happened to be on a team or in an organization where leadership is lacking to provide what’s necessary for staff to be successful not everything is lost. While your options are somewhat “limited” you can do some of the following: you can accept your faith complain, which won’t do you any good leave (always an option) or do …
Work ethic and pride in quality
Work ethic and pride in ones work seems to have be diminishing across various industries and market segments in recent years. Reasons for this nonchalant behavior and lack of work ethic, commitment and quality can and often do vary. However, whatever they may be, it is up to leaders to perform full assessments (audits if you will) and determine these …
In-person conversations
The lost art of in person conversations is now more valuable than ever. It is especially important and effective when you are trying to understand causes of issues and challenges and when you need to communicate vision, values and motivate people. Take the necessary time and make the effort to meet with people to learn what makes them tick; what …
People matter the most
People matter the most and as such they should be the primary focus of every leader at every level in every organization. Attracting quality personnel to your team(s) is essential in order to be efficient, effective and competitive. Focus your search and positioning on quality over quantity, every single time. While it is very important to have adequate resources (funding, …
Team unity
All members of a team (irrespective of size) must be on the same page at all times. Each of the members must be familiar with procedures, processes and policies and adhere to them across the board. This helps to build the cohesiveness of the unit and demonstrates collegiality and unity to all those you interact and work with. Furthermore, it …
Strategy vs. Operations
Strategy and operations work best when complementing one another and when they work for each other. Depending on your position and responsibilities within an organization you may be spending 100% of your time in operations while others may be spending majority of their time focused on strategy, vision and leadership and both sides undoubtedly bring value. However, while I am …
Customer centric, employee aware
Truly successful teams are both customer centric and employee aware. In order to be able to provide useful products and services one must design, create and build those with their customers in mind. However, equally important is the need to be aware of the needs of your staff in order for them to be successful. Leadership must provide resources and …
Simplify and automate everything
Whenever possible (and at a minimum annually) think of ways to make you operations more efficient and by doing so you will free up people to focus on what they care about and are good at. Employees should waste minimal time on bureaucracy, paperwork and old (somewhat archaic) way of doing things. Simplify and automate everything that can be done …
Open door policy is not optional
Managers and leaders must be available to their teams in any way their staff needs them to be (assuming professionalism and appropriateness of course). Your office door must be open to them, and you need to be accessible and approachable whenever they might need to speak with you. Staff needs to know that you are there to hear them out …
Hire better than you
Whenever possible, hire people who are better than you. Hire those who are the best you have ever seen within the domain of services or products that your team is responsible for. You want quality over quantity and you’ll want it every single time. Additionally, you don’t want the rest of your team to be doing someone else’s job in …