Leadership Starts with Tough Decisions: Five Leadership Skills for Outstanding Team Building
Leadership Starts with Tough Decisions: Five Leadership Skills for Outstanding Team Building
I have the honor and pleasure of volunteering for many groups and causes. In many situations, I am called upon to lead as chairperson or co-chairperson. Recently, I had the honor of co-chairing an event that involved leading and motivating a team of volunteers to work together for a successful result. Overall, the team volunteers are leaders in health care, education, business, media, the arts, and faith-based organizations, etc. In other words, this team of volunteers consisted of very motivated and accomplished people who wanted to make a difference.
One committee member became increasingly negative in her communication and actions at the expense of the other committee members. She behaved in a manner that was not in line with our overall mission. After a coaching session agreeing on what was expected from her in relationship to our mission, her behavior became increasingly worse. The final straw was a very negative e-mail that stated she was the only committee member who was doing anything and personally attacked the other committee members.
After consulting with the event organizers to gain agreement on a plan of action, I called this person to let her know that this was not acceptable behavior and invited her to meet with me to discuss how we could bring her behavior more in line with the mission of our project. She rejected my invite, and I let her know that by not excepting my invite, she was no longer a participant in our event. I followed up with an e-mail and letter reiterating my verbal statement. She made the choice to “fire herself.”
As leader of the event, I made telephone calls to committee members to explain the committee change, let each committee member know the wonderful job they were doing, and shared with them where we were in relationship to our mission and goals. While making these calls, I soon found out that some committee members were not as involved in the project because of the one negative committee member. Some members had stopped attending meetings, stopped communicating, and weren’t giving 100% for the event. After assuring them that they were valuable team members of the project and that this “negative member” would not be involved in the project’s going forward, we experienced a new level of motivation and participation that took our event to a new level of success and broke a record for attendance.
You may be in a similar leadership position whereby the success of the organization, project, or team depends on how well and how fast you make decisions when faced with challenging situations. The following five leadership skills will keep you on the leadership track during challenging situations, no matter whether your organization is for profit or non-profit, so that you can achieve your goals:
1. Live the Mission When Making Leadership Decisions
Live the mission by constantly communicating the mission so that everyone of the team understands the mission and acts to live the mission. Ask team members the following question, “What did you do today to live the mission and achieve the goals of the mission?” Develop clear and concise team member descriptions so that everyone understands how they make a difference. Motivate and reward team members based on how well they lived the mission.
2. Maintain Standards When Making Leadership Decisions
Once you and your team understand the mission, it is easier to create and live up to the standards of the mission. In the above story, when a team member began to act in negative way, I coached her on what the standard was for acceptable team behavior. I let her know both the consequences for continuing to exhibit negative behavior and rewards for being a positive team member. In this way, the choice becomes that of the team members, and you can make the leadership decision based on their future actions.
Remember, you must, as a leader, maintain a consistent standard level when interacting with all team members.
3. Seek Consensus When Making Leadership Decisions
When in a leadership position, we sometimes feel we are all alone when making tough leadership decisions. You should never feel that way because in most cases you can rely on other leaders in your organization that can share with you the information, experience, and tools to making a successful leadership choice. In the story, I consulted with the event organizers, board members, and my co-chair before communicating with the problem team member. By consulting with the other leaders in your organization, you gain a group understanding of the challenge, discuss a plan of action with the rewards and consequences, and develop a follow-up plan if needed. In other words, you are all in step when it is time for any action to be taken.
4. Quickly Take Action When Making Leadership Decisions
Now that you have gained consensus, quickly take action. The quicker you can take action, the sooner you can eliminate any further potential challenges. The faster you can make your leadership decision, the faster you can set a positive course for the behavior you want to correct. Also, when you make decisions quickly, your employees will see you as a strong, decisive leader they can trust and want to follow.
Note: Once you make the leadership decision, never regret taking action.
5. Communicate to Your Team When Making Leadership Decisions
Communicate to your team why you are making a leadership decision. This will allow your team members to be involved in the decision. Eliminate any concerns they may have while communicating how important your team members are in accomplishing the mission. You will gain valuable insight from your team members on how and why to proceed with your leadership decision.
Remember, as a leader, you will need to make tough decisions. Follow these five leadership secrets for making your leadership decisions much easier and for gaining outstanding team results.
Leadership Starts with Tough Decisions Five Leadership Skills for Outstanding Team Building - To learn more about this author, visit Ed Sykes's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Leadership starts with tough decisions. Let me share with you my recent leadership challenge and the leadership secrets you can use in any team building situation for great leadership results.
I have the honor and pleasure of volunteering for many groups and causes. In many situations, I am called upon to lead as chairperson or co-chairperson. Recently, I had the honor of co-chairing an event that involved leading and motivating a team of volunteers to work together for a successful result. Overall, the team volunteers are leaders in health care, education, business, media, the arts, and faith-based organizations, etc. In other words, this team of volunteers consisted of very motivated and accomplished people who wanted to make a difference.
One committee member became increasingly negative in her communication and actions at the expense of the other committee members. She behaved in a manner that was not in line with our overall mission. After a coaching session agreeing on what was expected from her in relationship to our mission, her behavior became increasingly worse. The final straw was a very negative e-mail that stated she was the only committee member who was doing anything and personally attacked the other committee members.
After consulting with the event organizers to gain agreement on a plan of action, I called this person to let her know that this was not acceptable behavior and invited her to meet with me to discuss how we could bring her behavior more in line with the mission of our project. She rejected my invite, and I let her know that by not excepting my invite, she was no longer a participant in our event. I followed up with an e-mail and letter reiterating my verbal statement. She made the choice to “fire herself.”
As leader of the event, I made telephone calls to committee members to explain the committee change, let each committee member know the wonderful job they were doing, and shared with them where we were in relationship to our mission and goals. While making these calls, I soon found out that some committee members were not as involved in the project because of the one negative committee member. Some members had stopped attending meetings, stopped communicating, and weren’t giving 100% for the event. After assuring them that they were valuable team members of the project and that this “negative member” would not be involved in the project’s going forward, we experienced a new level of motivation and participation that took our event to a new level of success and broke a record for attendance.
You may be in a similar leadership position whereby the success of the organization, project, or team depends on how well and how fast you make decisions when faced with challenging situations. The following five leadership skills will keep you on the leadership track during challenging situations, no matter whether your organization is for profit or non-profit, so that you can achieve your goals:
1. Live the Mission When Making Leadership Decisions
Live the mission by constantly communicating the mission so that everyone of the team understands the mission and acts to live the mission. Ask team members the following question, “What did you do today to live the mission and achieve the goals of the mission?” Develop clear and concise team member descriptions so that everyone understands how they make a difference. Motivate and reward team members based on how well they lived the mission.
2. Maintain Standards When Making Leadership Decisions
Once you and your team understand the mission, it is easier to create and live up to the standards of the mission. In the above story, when a team member began to act in negative way, I coached her on what the standard was for acceptable team behavior. I let her know both the consequences for continuing to exhibit negative behavior and rewards for being a positive team member. In this way, the choice becomes that of the team members, and you can make the leadership decision based on their future actions.
Remember, you must, as a leader, maintain a consistent standard level when interacting with all team members.
3. Seek Consensus When Making Leadership Decisions
When in a leadership position, we sometimes feel we are all alone when making tough leadership decisions. You should never feel that way because in most cases you can rely on other leaders in your organization that can share with you the information, experience, and tools to making a successful leadership choice. In the story, I consulted with the event organizers, board members, and my co-chair before communicating with the problem team member. By consulting with the other leaders in your organization, you gain a group understanding of the challenge, discuss a plan of action with the rewards and consequences, and develop a follow-up plan if needed. In other words, you are all in step when it is time for any action to be taken.
4. Quickly Take Action When Making Leadership Decisions
Now that you have gained consensus, quickly take action. The quicker you can take action, the sooner you can eliminate any further potential challenges. The faster you can make your leadership decision, the faster you can set a positive course for the behavior you want to correct. Also, when you make decisions quickly, your employees will see you as a strong, decisive leader they can trust and want to follow.
Note: Once you make the leadership decision, never regret taking action.
5. Communicate to Your Team When Making Leadership Decisions
Communicate to your team why you are making a leadership decision. This will allow your team members to be involved in the decision. Eliminate any concerns they may have while communicating how important your team members are in accomplishing the mission. You will gain valuable insight from your team members on how and why to proceed with your leadership decision.
Remember, as a leader, you will need to make tough decisions. Follow these five leadership secrets for making your leadership decisions much easier and for gaining outstanding team results.
Leadership Starts with Tough Decisions Five Leadership Skills for Outstanding Team Building - To learn more about this author, visit Ed Sykes's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Ed's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | ||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Dazzling Presentaion Steps Auditory, visual preference? Start-Up Capital Estimate Measure Customer Loyalty 9 Questions From New Marketers |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009 | |
 |
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||