Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Three
Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Three
I don't expect you to be either! But, you do have to become empathetic to the needs and feelings of your team. The “doctor” can then offer sympathy and remedies when necessary. And the “tyrant” can kick an individual up the backside when that’s needed (not literally, please!. There’s an old American saying: “Different strokes for different folks”. And that’s part of what we are considering here. You’ll know those amongst your people who usually need an “arm round the shoulder” to help them perform. And, those who usually better react to a much more direct style of leadership. But, the key word in both of these last two sentences is “usually”. Sometimes even the most self-sufficient need kindly treatment. Equally, sometimes the mollycoddled need a quick dose of the “real world”
It’s not about Number One!
If you’ve ever had a boss who takes all the credit and is equally willing to dispense the blame, then you understand the phrase: “looking out for number one”. But, effective leaders look out for all their people (whilst expecting great things from them). For example, a top leader would never let other managers directly criticise their people. They would want to deal with the situation themselves (and then hand out any relevant and appropriate “bollockings”. A top leader will let his or her boss (and all other team members) know who, specifically, is responsible for individual good performance or successes
And, where blame may be due, a good leader will start by analysing what part they, personally, played in the problem. This can be a sin of commission (what that leader said or did) or one of omission (what actions the leader should have taken but didn’t)
Control v. nurture
Many moons ago, I worked in a branch office of a national bank. The worst sight you could ever see as you closed the doors at night? The bank inspectors wandering up the path to the door to pay us a “visit”. Because, as far as we could see, this inspection was never about anything else than finding out what we were doing “wrong”. As a leader, if you want to make sure that one of your team makes a mess of any task they are undertaking, simply walk up behind them, look over their shoulder for a few minutes, and then leave saying nothing!
Every leader must exert control; and both inspect work and audit performance (to some degree). And this is likely to vary depending on an individual’s (and the team’s) competence, skills, knowledge, attitude etc. But, your aim should always be – as often as you can - to stimulate rather than order, suggest rather than instruct, develop rather than inspect, and challenge rather than control
Human resources
Don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of this particular departmental title (one company I heard about prefers to call it their “people department”). The danger is that “resources” can be seen as an impersonal term – on a par with computers, desks etc. And, one dictionary definition is: “a source of economic wealth”. However, some other of the definitions include: “capability, ingenuity, and initiative”
So, if we stick with the latter of these, then it’s easier to see what a valuable resource your team members are. But, do they appreciate this? Do you use them as often as possible as this “resource” e.g. looking for ideas, suggestions, solutions? All companies say that their people are their biggest asset. It’s up to you to demonstrate this for all your people to see and appreciate
If you have any questions about leadership, please email me at info@thevenworks.com
- I look forward to hearing from you
Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Three - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Doctor or Tyrant?
I don't expect you to be either! But, you do have to become empathetic to the needs and feelings of your team. The “doctor” can then offer sympathy and remedies when necessary. And the “tyrant” can kick an individual up the backside when that’s needed (not literally, please!. There’s an old American saying: “Different strokes for different folks”. And that’s part of what we are considering here. You’ll know those amongst your people who usually need an “arm round the shoulder” to help them perform. And, those who usually better react to a much more direct style of leadership. But, the key word in both of these last two sentences is “usually”. Sometimes even the most self-sufficient need kindly treatment. Equally, sometimes the mollycoddled need a quick dose of the “real world”
It’s not about Number One!
If you’ve ever had a boss who takes all the credit and is equally willing to dispense the blame, then you understand the phrase: “looking out for number one”. But, effective leaders look out for all their people (whilst expecting great things from them). For example, a top leader would never let other managers directly criticise their people. They would want to deal with the situation themselves (and then hand out any relevant and appropriate “bollockings”. A top leader will let his or her boss (and all other team members) know who, specifically, is responsible for individual good performance or successes
And, where blame may be due, a good leader will start by analysing what part they, personally, played in the problem. This can be a sin of commission (what that leader said or did) or one of omission (what actions the leader should have taken but didn’t)
Control v. nurture
Many moons ago, I worked in a branch office of a national bank. The worst sight you could ever see as you closed the doors at night? The bank inspectors wandering up the path to the door to pay us a “visit”. Because, as far as we could see, this inspection was never about anything else than finding out what we were doing “wrong”. As a leader, if you want to make sure that one of your team makes a mess of any task they are undertaking, simply walk up behind them, look over their shoulder for a few minutes, and then leave saying nothing!
Every leader must exert control; and both inspect work and audit performance (to some degree). And this is likely to vary depending on an individual’s (and the team’s) competence, skills, knowledge, attitude etc. But, your aim should always be – as often as you can - to stimulate rather than order, suggest rather than instruct, develop rather than inspect, and challenge rather than control
Human resources
Don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of this particular departmental title (one company I heard about prefers to call it their “people department”). The danger is that “resources” can be seen as an impersonal term – on a par with computers, desks etc. And, one dictionary definition is: “a source of economic wealth”. However, some other of the definitions include: “capability, ingenuity, and initiative”
So, if we stick with the latter of these, then it’s easier to see what a valuable resource your team members are. But, do they appreciate this? Do you use them as often as possible as this “resource” e.g. looking for ideas, suggestions, solutions? All companies say that their people are their biggest asset. It’s up to you to demonstrate this for all your people to see and appreciate
If you have any questions about leadership, please email me at info@thevenworks.com
- I look forward to hearing from you
Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Three - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard'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 |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Gordon'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!
|
|
|
 Business and Income How To Select Keywords Dazzling Presentaion Steps The Entrepreneurial Sweet Spot Partner Questionnaire |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs | |
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
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!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||