Encouragement for Leaders

Reportedly, J.R.R. Tolkien studied linguistics prior to writing his enormously successful series of “Lord of the Rings” novels. The language he created gave tremendous depth and interest to these stories, and elevated them to great heights of success.

It’s a shame more business people don’t strive to do the same – creating their own “language of success.” What I mean is translating their work into new, descriptive combinations of words/thought which communicate a unique way to think about, and practice, the work they do. A language that binds people together and elevates them well above the normal and routine.

When you develop a way of talking about your business that’s out of the ordinary, you have an opportunity to raise people’s level of understanding, sharpen their efforts, and spark their spirit. Work becomes a quest, instead of just a job – which has greater meaning and the power to inspire. Motivate. And lead to higher performance.

But you’ve got to be committed to it.

Put Your Heart into It

Southwest Airlines recently launched a powerful extension of its “luv theme” by organizing its brand around the thought that, “Without a heart, it’s just a machine.” They might say it’s a new idea. Well yes it is, but it’s also a new way to express the entire operating history of the airline – since 1967, this organization has focused on people and relationships – “people are its most powerful fuel.” What makes this language work is that it’s just as believable for Southwest’s employees, as it is for its customers. They’ve all heard about and experienced the relational emphasis of their business, for a long, long time.

A critical element is actually “living the language” – i.e. it’s not just words, but words that truly represent how the organization sees the world – how leaders and their employees regularly behave, and what they intend to become. Effective language captures the underlying leadership philosophy, the system and structures it promotes, and the culture that will be purposefully, and relentlessly pursued.

Language is Powerful.

So get to work.

The time to begin developing your language of success is now. Think about it. Finding the right words won’t be easy, which is why you need to begin discovering and searching for these communication nuggets early and over an extended time. The longer and harder you look, the more successful you will become in articulating the real uniqueness of your endeavor. And the more “ah ha” insights will come to you.

Be Real but Be Bold

Don’t just strap on a slogan. In order for the language you elicit to have maximum effect, it must be expressed in your actions. But go ahead and communicate the best you (as a group, team, organization) intend to be, and then work toward that ideal. In the beginning, it’s not so much what you are now, but what you intend to be in the future. Give yourself a big goal. The closer you get to it, the more consistent you are, the more real it will become, and the more momentum you will have to thrust the organization.

Leaders, “Start your language.” Words matter.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Focal Points Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FocalPointsRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom. For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Focal Points Study: The Most Important Things a Leader Should Know,’ copyright 2014, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, along with descriptions of many of our other research projects at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_research.html .

Some people are reluctant to get to know their employees beyond their basic work assignments. No matter what their reasoning, “too busy, no time, don’t want to play favorites or be put in the uncomfortable position of managing their friends, or …” whatever they offer up – these are just plain misguided rationalizations.

There isn’t a convincing argument that you can get the most out of people by keeping your professional distance. Sorry. Keeping it professional – yes. Keeping your distance – no. Making it personal – absolutely. Everyone has different reasons for coming to work – more than exchanging time for money. And that’s what you’re looking to tap into. What makes them unique?

For the last several months, I’ve been beating the drum to say, unequivocally, getting to know your people is a must. Developing relationships is the most effective and productive way to lead. It’s borne out in the results from the “Focal Points Leadership Study,*” and is proven time-and-again in evaluating organizational performance.

The laissez-faire leader leaves others alone to do their own thing. So what does the leader contribute in this relationship? Not much that I can see. Are they enhancing what the worker can accomplish on their own? Don’t think so.

On the other hand, am I calling for micro-management? No way. But I am insistent that leaders engage people. The development, and upward trajectory of the individual and the group is the leader’s responsibility … and they can’t do it by standing idly by.

We most commonly think of an employee’s performance as “them” being the variable. Either a good, average, or poor worker. But performance is a variable affected by two parts: the capability and effort of the worker, and the type and quality of the interaction offered by the leader.

Performance Management.

Look at performance management as your way to build things up: first, continually gather an understanding of the individual and what’s important to them – their opinions, goals, passions, job skills, interests; secondly, wisely interpret what you’ve heard and seen and help them embrace a vision of what they can become at the intersection of their personhood and their occupation; and third, put forth the continual feedback, coaching, and mentoring which helps them achieve it.

Use Conversations and Observations.

It takes time and regular contact to connect people with a bigger understanding of their true potential. (And it takes some patience in seeing them actually begin expressing it in their work.) Showing interest in them stimulates their interest in the organization and in satisfying the organization’s interests. It works in a circle.

What I’m talking about is a type of stewardship. “Leaving it better than you found it” is more than a model for responsible camping – it’s a call to leaders to take their part of the performance variable seriously, and address it on a person-to-person basis.

(Note: Performance management is just one aspect of our recently released supervisory training program “What Works for Supervisors,” described at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_ww-s.html .)

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Focal Points Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FocalPointsRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom. For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Focal Points Study: The Most Important Things a Leader Should Know,’ copyright 2014, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, along with descriptions of many of our other research projects at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_research.html .

So I go into my bank the other day, and as the teller is processing a couple of payments for me, she asks, “Are you doing anything fun this weekend?”

My answer, “Well yes I am.”

She looked up and said, “What are you doing?”

My response, “I can’t tell you.” To which, she stopped transacting, and started laughing. The next teller over started laughing. The observer between them (a trainee I suspect) started laughing. The five customers huddled around the window to my left, started laughing.

“Oh, so you’re having fun this weekend, and you can’t tell us what you’re up to?” And then, the tellers were off and running …

My answer had given them plenty of inspiration, as they all joined in, making remarks about why I wouldn’t tell them what fun I was having, and what I might be doing? The customers nearby were actively listening, and the banter continued until I left the bank.

So, what just happened?

I’d given her a perfectly honest, and accurate answer (I’ll admit, I did try to say this in a way that took the edge off, and hopefully made it somewhat humorous). But, underneath, I was quite serious. I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell her what I was doing because I felt we weren’t having a personal (or private) conversation. We were having a “customer service” conversation; in front of a lot of people.

I also suspected she didn’t particularly care what I was doing that weekend anyway, but was following the bank’s instructions to “be friendly, and ask the customer a question as you’re doing business.” Not a bad idea, but, in my view, the execution could’ve used some polish. Some information is best not broadcast to strangers.

I was headed out of town. I was flying to Kansas City, and my wife was traveling to Seattle to see her parents. Our house would be unattended for several days, and thus, I was just being cautious.

Those were my motivations for answering as I did. I’m sure she didn’t perceive the reasons behind my response.

Here’s the Leadership Lesson.

Our motivations drive our actions.

As leaders, it’s important for us to get to know our people well enough that we can more fully understand why they do what they do. Getting to know them as individuals gives us better ideas on how to approach and communicate with them. Satisfy their intrinsic needs. Make them feel good about themselves and their job.

Understanding their motivations helps us find what works to get them enthused and be more committed; employing appropriate processes, procedures, and means to engage them. This builds their confidence and respect for us.

Now I believe most people do things for the right reasons. But on the flipside, some do not.

I don’t think you should be suspicious of everyone’s motivations, but I also don’t think you should be foolish and naïve either. Making judgments about people is one of the most critical aspects of leadership. Mistakes in personnel, and how they’re handled, will undermine your agenda and compromise your long-term plans. Accurate assessment clears our thinking about how we can improve productivity, coach, mentor, and persuade them to perform at higher levels.

As a leader, you can take that to the bank.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Focal Points Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FocalPointsRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Focal Points Study: The Most Important Things a Leader Should Know,’ copyright 2014, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, along with descriptions of many of our other research projects at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_research.html .

How could someone go from a new college grad, factory floor night shift worker, to chief executive in just 11 years – becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company at age 34? Or, how about a part-time GS-1 dishwasher rising through the ranks to the level of SES, serving the Securities and Exchange Commission?

Were these just lucky breaks? Extreme good fortune? Or, could they be examples of when a specific leadership trait is practiced to the extreme produces a way-out-of-the-ordinary result?

These examples show rapid advancement and career achievement are not impossible goals.

Let me briefly tell you about one of these people.

Steve Appleton, right out of Boise State University, turned his production job at memory chip maker Micron Technology into a meteoric path of promotions leading directly to the C-suite. What made it happen? A former Micron employee gave me some insight into one of the reasons, “Steve knew everybody’s name. No matter what department you were in, if he encountered you in the hall, he’d greet you by name.”

What you need to know, is that upon his untimely death in the crash of an experimental airplane, Micron had 20,000 employees worldwide.

Did he know the names of all 20,000? Maybe not.

But he was legendary in the number of people he knew, and recognized by name. Partly a “gift,” for sure, but also, it was most certainly a practiced habit, that he regularly exercised.

So what I’m suggesting here is that you begin getting to know people. Lots of people. By name. And get to know something about them. No matter how many years you’ve been on the job, it’s never too late to adopt this powerful behavior.

I’m not talking about the type of schmoozing that leads to ingratiating oneself with those in power. I’m talking about creating an ever-expanding circle of people that you know personally and individually.

It’ll make a powerful accent on the perception of you as a leader.

Why does this work?

Many employees feel they’re “in the belly of the beast,” swallowed up in a dehumanizing work environment, barely known by their bosses, and more likely seen as simply fleshy cogs in the wheel of industry. They’re numbers to their bosses, not people.

When you interrupt that cycle of frustration, and lack of personal identity, you begin to prune away the deadness of work, and open up places for new growth, and blossoming commitment.

So what’s in a name?

Everything!

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Focal Points Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FocalPointsRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Focal Points Study: The Most Important Things a Leader Should Know,’ copyright 2014, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, along with descriptions of many of our other research projects at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_research.html .

One of the real business success stories in the San Francisco Bay Area (outside of the technology arena) was a little company that went big – Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream. Acquired from the son of its founder in 1977 for just over $1 million, Dreyer’s grew within 20 years to become the leading packaged ice cream brand in the U.S.

How’d They do It?

It happened primarily through the development of a culture of success – and getting in the “groove.”

I had a chance to sit down and discuss this with one of their former senior executives. I wanted to know what characteristics were embodied in their best employees?

He told me the company emphasized “hiring smart”: selecting from large pools of applicants, employing the top “20-percenters,” and holding them accountable to stay that way. No surprises there. But he said something else that really hit me, “Jerry, all of our employees had the technical skills needed for their jobs, but the ones who really made a difference were those who believed in what we were doing, and how we were doing it.”

“They were believers.”

The Focal Points Research Study

Last month I introduced you to the idea that the most important thing a leader should know is his/her people. The research shows that an awareness of people is a huge factor in successful leadership.

Talents – Strengths and Weaknesses

Yes, you need to be able to accurately evaluate your people’s job skills – what they know and what they can do – so you can provide the proper nutrients to their advancement: training, information, opportunity, mentoring, work experiences, etc.

But, it’s surprising to me the number of stories I hear indicating that managers/leaders are relatively clueless about their people’s true capacities. Understanding work skills, strengths, weaknesses, is the bare minimum. This should be a given – because when
you know your people, I mean really know your people, you can make an accurate application of their talents – harnessing their energy and strengths to achieve the organization intent.

But What about Belief?

As shown by the success of Dreyer’s – people who believe in the “cause” make bigger things happen. So we need to move beyond an analysis of technical abilities alone.

Belief needs to be a factor, and if it’s not there, we need to bring it.

Belief begins with you – and to the extent in which you believe in what your organization does, and how it goes about its work. Once you’ve come to grips with your own beliefs, you can begin to see how your perspective influences the people around you. If you can’t find belief, how can you expect anyone else to find it? Make the changes you need to get yourself onboard first!

You also need to believe in your people (they know how you feel) – so work at feeling great about the possibilities that lie ahead. When you get right on this one, you can build the culture of your team in the direction of high performance and success.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Focal Points Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FocalPointsRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Focal Points Study: The Most Important Things a Leader Should Know,’ copyright 2014, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, along with descriptions of many of our other research projects at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_research.html .

You’ve spent your career focused on becoming fully competent … the best at your job … a true professional in your field … a worthy practitioner. You’re working your way up, and you have some higher ambitions. Just look at your resume, your work history, and the knowledge you’ve acquired!

But wait a minute. There’s something we need to ask. “Do you know what a leader should know?”

Silence. Umm?

If this question were put to you, how would you answer it? What response would you give?

There’s Only One Best Answer

You may think there’re a lot of ways to approach this question, depending on the type of work you do, the level of your present authority, or the unique challenges that face your organization at this particular moment. You might be right in part. But, in reality, there’s only one best answer. And if it doesn’t roll off of the tip of your tongue, you’re just guessing.

So What is it? What Should a Leader Know?

That’s what I set out to learn. For over a year, I asked participants in my seminars, training sessions, and team-building events the question, “What’s the One Most Important Thing a Leader Should Know?” I gathered opinions from over 400 experienced leaders and managers and came to the conclusion only one answer is sufficient.

They taught me, without a doubt, “You need to know your people!”

Not just generalizations or superficial observations, but, “Well enough to see what your people could be. Not what they are … or what they’ve been … but what they could become in the future?”

Having “real insight into people” dominated the information I gathered.

Of the top-10 aspects of leadership knowledge in my recently released “Focal Points Leadership Study,” 84% of the responses related to a leader’s need for interpersonal skills, as compared to an emphasis on business and strategic skills (16%). Now that’s significant. It speaks to the importance of relationships and how they affect a leader’s impact.

So for the upcoming months, I’m planning on discussing these findings, and encouraging you to seriously orient your development in this direction.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Focal Points Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FocalPointsRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom. For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Focal Points Study: The Most Important Things a Leader Should Know,’ copyright 2014, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, along with descriptions of many of our other research projects at http://www.jerrystrom.com/js_research.html .

As we finish up this year’s emphasis on “the mistakes that leaders make,” I’d like to remind you the purpose of this series has not been to fix your every fault … but to increase your awareness of faults that are most damaging to your effectiveness as a leader. Armed with awareness, you’re more likely to realize when you’ve slipped into a bad habit, or taking short-cuts, and be warned before you fail.

Because we often think of leaders as the ones responsible for making decisions, we watch what they do. Closely. If they don’t address a situation, or if they’re hesitant to decide, we hold that against them. When they do make decisions, we decide if we agree with them, or not.

It’s a vicious circle of judgment. The leader exercises his/her judgment. Others judge the leader.

In the Fault Lines Study, we learned many leaders suffer from poor evaluative skills – which affects their decisions – which causes others to question their judgment. They just don’t do very well when it comes to “sizing things up.”

Poor evaluative skills fall into two major areas:

1. People
2. Problems

People First

1. A leader should be able to distinguish good performers from poor. Putting a poor performer on a pedestal kills the morale of the group.
2. A leader should be able to see potential. Failing to discover the talents of the individuals on the team, and bring those talents out, leads to a lethargic response to the leader’s plans.
3. A leader should be able to make up their own mind. Prejudging employees based on their appearance, or other people’s opinions, clouds the leader’s understanding of their worth and capability.

Problems Next

1. A leader should value “process.” Being too influenced by the first thing they hear vs. digging deeper to get more facts puts the leader’s decisions in peril.
2. A leader should get others involved. When leaders fail to get input from others, and lean too heavily on their own perceptions, they limit their understanding of the issue, and limit the range of alternatives from which to choose.
3. A leader should show patience. When they decide too quickly they often fail to consider all of the consequences of their course of action. Thus, they’re surprised in the future, and look foolish in hindsight.

Poor evaluative skills reflect badly on the leader.

Avoid these mistakes by believing more deeply in your people, becoming more interested in their insights, and more thorough in your analysis.

Coming in January, we’ll look at “the most important things a leader should know” through my brand new “Focal Points Leadership Study.” I hope you’ll join us.

For now, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Fault Lines Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FaultLinesRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Fault Lines Study: The Biggest Mistakes a Leader Can Make,’ copyright 2013, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, and request our primary findings paper, ‘The Listening Leader,’ which includes ‘Listening Strategies for the Executive Suite,’ at http://www.jerrystrom.com/research/js_fault-lines.html .

Not every personality type is oriented to teamwork.

Leaders who’ve always relied on their own abilities often struggle in team situations. Why? Because they’re really not team players. They’re rugged individuals. A simple fact.

Their natural inclination is to reach down and tug at their own bootstraps, rather than reaching out to join in with those around them. They tend to assert themselves instead of inserting themselves in the group.

The Fault Lines Leadership Study shows that many self-reliant leaders make these fundamental mistakes:

1. Not getting to know the team. They may spend way too much time talking, instructing, and giving directions – or just the opposite – withdrawing from contact with their people. In either case, they don’t inquire enough … asking questions, listening, and finding out about the individuals they’re leading. In both instances, these leaders undermine themselves because they’re operating with only limited information about their team members.
2. Alienating the team. Treating people poorly, mistrusting, and micro-managing cause the team to lose faith in the person in charge, question their leadership abilities, and resent their authority.
3. Ignoring the team. Nonchalance to the team’s struggles negatively impacts the desire to excel. Leaders failing to solicit ideas and be aware of a team’s progress creates a barrier to commitment and buy-in.
4. Not supporting the team. Leaders who don’t create a buffer for their subordinates, as their protectors, defenders, and advocates to upper management and others within the organization, affect their team’s confidence, and inhibit their willingness to risk and challenge themselves.
5. Playing favorites. Getting hung up on personalities rather than focusing on abilities and potential, predisposes peoples’ fates, and compromises the environment for equal opportunity, improvement and success.

Now a story:

Imagine you were living in Africa and you were sent out every day to bring water back to the village by balancing a heavily laden pot on the top of your head. You’re also given a choice – you can go by yourself and carry the burden alone, or you can join a group who are doing the same thing, but doing it together.

Which would you do?

Some of you might say it makes no difference, because the work is the same in either situation.

Some of you would say the load is lighter when they work alongside others, sharing their stories, laughs, and relationships as they complete the chore.

This is the power of a team.*

*(Inspired from the art of Paul Nzalamba, an American batik artist who uses vibrant cultural images and colors to express deeply human themes of companionship, family, and learning derived from his native upbringing in Uganda, East Africa.)

Poor team skills on the part of the leader result in poor morale, limited commitment, and unrealized productivity. It causes individuals/teams to struggle, and carry heavier loads.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the Fault Lines Leadership Study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FaultLinesRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Fault Lines Study: The Biggest Mistakes a Leader Can Make,’ copyright 2013, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, and request our primary findings paper, ‘The Listening Leader,’ which includes ‘Listening Strategies for the Executive Suite,’ at http://www.jerrystrom.com/research/js_fault-lines.html .

This is the seventh in our series of articles on leadership faults which began in February 2013.

I could write this article about how important it is for a leader to have a vision. Then again, I could emphasize the essential nature of clear direction. Of course, I shouldn’t forget to look at the mission of the group, and the leader’s agenda. Did I mention goals? Oh yeah, and objectives? How about purpose? Priorities? Big picture? What about the strategic plan?

Now where was I?

As you can see, what I’m trying to illustrate is that leaders have a lot to keep in mind. So much in fact things can get complicated and confusing. Add a few urgent requests, problems, change initiatives, staff shortages, meetings, and you’re doomed. Who could possibly focus in this mess?

And that, I believe, is the state of leadership in many organizations today. Certainly plenty of leaders have come to the conclusion all they can do is what’s right in front of them … their immediate tasks. Tomorrow will have to take care of itself.

And that leads to some negative outcomes.

Why do I think this is so? Because that’s what a large percentage of workers reported in the Fault Lines Leadership Study.

They pointed out one of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to lack vision/direction/goals/purpose etc. This issue is in the top-10 of leadership faults, which shows just how common it is. The workforce has taken notice.

Without an eye on the future, leaders can become blinded and don’t know where they are going or why.

The most effective leaders use every directional indicator at their disposal

GPS is a very handy tool. However, I’ve heard some stories recently about people relying entirely on their automobile’s GPS system to guide them to their destination … with disastrous results (if you consider going hours out of their way disastrous). Had they only consulted a map, or gotten some verbal directions as well, much wasted time and frustration could have been saved.

They relied on a singular system – which failed them.

The reason organizations have so many directional indicators (mission, vision, values, goals, objectives, strategy, purpose) is that they all add a valuable layer of information. And, by putting them all together, they help complete the picture – confirming your course of action, and allowing you to focus your daily tasks toward a meaningful destination.

When leaders simply attempt to maintain the status quo their actions lead to stagnation, boredom and dissatisfaction on the part of the team.

But people desperately want to look forward to something.

So focus on explaining exactly where you’re going. Make sure your employees understand to what ends their work requirements are being driven. They’ll have more confidence in you, and more energy in which to accomplish their tasks.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FaultLinesRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Fault Lines Study: The Biggest Mistakes a Leader Can Make,’ copyright 2013, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, and request our primary findings paper, ‘The Listening Leader,’ which includes ‘Listening Strategies for the Executive Suite,’ at http://www.jerrystrom.com/research/js_fault-lines.html .

Leaders need to be aware of their mistakes – both of omission and of commission. This month we look at a fault that goes way back to our earliest days.

Some of us have evidently forgotten a basic schoolyard lesson – “you don’t grab toys out of someone else’s hands.” Remember that one? And the tussles that followed if you chose to snatch it anyway?

Admonishments were administered if we didn’t heed the advice. Continued violations were sternly met with the additional warning, “Keep your hands to yourself.” And occasionally, followed by a swat on the backside. All of this was done to make it clear that acting this way wasn’t acceptable.

The root of the issue is the common human desire for possession and control. Our inner-self screams, “Mine!” And calls out for the other to, “Let go!”

Well, according to the Fault Lines Leadership Study, bad behavior has migrated all the way from playground struggles to workplace leadership faults.

Here’s how.

One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is thinking they can do the job all by themselves. Or acting as a one man/woman team. When the work being done reflects on you, it’s easy to forget you’re there to oversee the work, not do the work. Big difference.

Overachievers, perfectionists, micromanagers, egotists, and probably quite a few well-intentioned, highly involved managers / supervisors / bosses, “take over,” squeezing out the people who are responsible for the tasks in the first place.

Failure to “let go” (remember the “Hands-off Rule”) results in worker demotivation and dissatisfaction. When the boss takes over, employees feel the lack of trust put in them, so they step back (or, equally as bad, are pushed to the sidelines) where they’re left to stand-by and watch – harboring secret resentments, and hoping for failure. Bosses who usurp their employee’s responsibilities undermine their own effectiveness.

Too bad too, since the sheer volume of things to be done makes this an impossible situation for a leader. You’re not helping when you get in their way. Don’t get between people and their work.

So hand it over please.

Leaders need competent, dedicated partners, who work independently, and collectively offer their individual contributions to the total effort. Success requires that everyone’s on board. Everyone’s given something significant to do. And everyone’s supported in its accomplishment.

Delegate, my friends, delegate.

And it doesn’t mean to disappear either. Get above the work, be aware of progress, and offer a helping hand only when absolutely necessary – when that happens, be sure to ask, “Do you mind if I help you with that?” This shows you actually know whose work it is that’s being done.

– Jerry Strom

Use Twitter to learn more from the study. Search quotes and findings by using the hashtag #FaultLinesRPT, or by following me: @JerryRStrom.

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http://www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published.

This article is based on the *’Fault Lines Study: The Biggest Mistakes a Leader Can Make,’ copyright 2013, by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find the Research Abstract, and request our primary findings paper, ‘The Listening Leader,’ which includes ‘Listening Strategies for the Executive Suite,’ at http://www.jerrystrom.com/research/js_fault-lines.html .