{"id":265,"date":"2015-11-17T08:34:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T16:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/encouragement.com\/blog\/?p=265"},"modified":"2015-11-17T08:34:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T16:34:22","slug":"regular-maintenance-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/encouragement.com\/wordpress\/?p=265","title":{"rendered":"Regular Maintenance Required."},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a nonprofit organization I\u2019m particularly fond of that\u2019s facing a leadership crisis.<\/p>\n

After many years of success, healthy membership and participation, it\u2019s now in a period of decline. Some would say it\u2019s a recent occurrence, but I\u2019d suggest the warning signs have been there for a long time. The downward transition really began, as they all do, with a change in the way people \u201cfelt.\u201d (Key people. People who\u2019ve been the organization\u2019s stalwart supporters for years.) When feelings of disconnectedness, waning commitment, apathy, or \u201cjust going through the motions\u201d arise, leaders need to pick up on these vibes and act quickly. How fast and how far it falls \u2026 only time will tell?<\/p>\n

Admittedly, a shift in feelings is harder to detect than factors that show up on a spreadsheet, like the metrics of revenue, or attendance. But I believe discontent (with your product, or service, or your leadership style) will always precede performance measurables. Feelings are leading indicators, and they can best be detected early when leaders regularly interact with others, soliciting their opinions, insights, fears and concerns \u2013 fostering understanding and getting feedback. Organizations either go up, or down, based on how people feel. Don\u2019t depend on your accounting department to give you a heads up. Get ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n

Why is leadership faltering? Let\u2019s start at the top.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the primary reasons this organization is in trouble is because its senior leader has failed to value relationships. There\u2019s been virtually no investment in getting to know people, truly listening to them, and sincerely building the human bonds which support every organizational objective, goal, mission, vision, or imperative. Relationships are linked to successful leadership. You can\u2019t be hiding out in your office, or slipping in and out of the back door.<\/p>\n

Introversion is just an excuse.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have a leadership role, you\u2019re paid to know your people, care for your people, be engaged with them, and build strong relationships all the way down the line. This requires regular maintenance. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year. Don\u2019t get caught up in the excuse of \u201cI\u2019m an introvert.\u201d Lots of us are. But we can still create the commitment we need to support our leadership agenda by fully investing ourselves into the people we lead.<\/p>\n

This is not something you can put a little effort into once a month, or once a quarter. It\u2019s not an occasional event. It\u2019s your daily work. Neglect it at your own peril. So if you haven\u2019t yet made this a point of emphasis as a leader \u2013 be warned, start now. You may be late, but hopefully not too late.<\/p>\n

To achieve your goals, you need relationships.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Jerry Strom<\/p>\n

Twitter: @JerryRStrom.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit <\/em>http:\/\/www.JerryStrom.com<\/em><\/a> . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published. This article is based on the *\u2018The Buddy Study: The Linkage between Leadership and Relationships,\u2019 by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find short insights on Twitter at #RelationshipsRPT<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a nonprofit organization I\u2019m particularly fond of that\u2019s facing a leadership crisis. After many years of success, healthy membership and participation, it\u2019s now in a period of decline. Some would say it\u2019s a recent occurrence, but I\u2019d suggest the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership-articles"],"yoast_head":"\nRegular Maintenance Required. - Encouragement for Leaders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/encouragement.com\/wordpress\/?p=265\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regular Maintenance Required. - Encouragement for Leaders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s a nonprofit organization I\u2019m particularly fond of that\u2019s facing a leadership crisis. 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