|
Click Here for more
articles
|
|
|
|
Five
Leadership Secrets for
Challenging Times
|
|
by: Ed
Sykes
|
We
consistently face new and ever growing challenges in the workplace such
as reorganizing, downsizing, and “left out sizing.”
We are
faced with the question, “How do we lead in this storm of
change?” It may seem difficult at times and the decisions we
make
define our short-term and long-term outcomes. I will share with you
five leadership techniques guaranteed to keep you on track during these
difficult times.
1 Integrity.
I put this first because the lack of integrity will make or break you
as a professional, as a leader, as a person in the long run. The lack
of this will turn yesterday’s heroes in today’s
villains.
For example, “MCI was the apple of the business
community’s
eye. High revenues, high profits, and high growth; MCI was beating the
competition hands down.
Then it was discovered that there were gross accounting irregularities
that accounted for the astounding profits. You see, management made a
decision, “Do I continue to sustain good growth and be able
to
look at myself in the mirror or do I cook the accounting books and
spend the rest of my time covering up this integrity deficiency? The
real shame of the MCI situation was that AT&T, Sprint, and
others
in the industry had to cut costs and lay off thousands of employees to
compete with MCI’s false numbers. The lack of integrity at
MCI
not only affected the company but also the livelihood of thousands and
the industry as a whole.
I was recently speaking with a recently retired City Council member who
is well respected in the community. I asked her what the secret was to
her success while on the council? She mentioned that one of her
political adversaries said to her, “While you were on the
council, I didn’t like the way you voted, but I respected the
way
you voted because you were consistent with your votes and had the
city’s best interest in mind.”
Ask yourself what decisions that you make are right for the long term?
Be consistent in your actions, whether it is with management, your
team, or your family.
2. Knowledge.
With change happening faster and faster every moment, it is extremely
important that you gain the knowledge to master these changes. You owe
it not only to yourself, but to your team and management. As I always
say, “It’s not having the right answer,
it’s that you
have the right answer faster than before.” Many times during
my
teambuilding programs a student will say, “I didn’t
know
where to find the answer.” Then I will say, “That
is an
unacceptable answer.” Because part of being a leader is
acquiring
the skills to find the right answers. With the Internet, classroom and
online training, mentors, etc., the knowledge is at your fingertips.
Challenge your team members to use the same resources to acquire the
knowledge to master their challenges. By acquiring this knowledge, you
will be able to navigate your team through the ocean of change and
achieve your goals.
3. Decisiveness.
You have seen them. They wait for information, then more information
before making a decision. Then they need more information to support
the information they already have.Then they need a committee to analyze
the information. Then they wait for the perfect time to make the
decision.
Well, you know what I mean. Anyone you know? Make the decision! Good
things happen when you take action; you grow, you adapt, and your team
grows. There is no perfect time to make a decision. Leaders make
decisions based on past experience, putting into action the decision,
and staying and adapting the decision if needed. But make the decision.
The worst quality you can show your team is indecision. What do you
think your team sees when you can’t make a decision? Make the
decision and go for it.
4. Vision.
This is the ability not only to see what is the present - anyone can do
that - it’s the ability to see the future. Outstanding
leaders
can not only see their team for what they can do now, but what they can
become, and paint the picture for them. These leaders are consistently
communicating and coaching their team members to that vision. One of
the best ways, and least used methods, to convey your vision is the
team meeting.
Every meeting should start out with the team vision, mission, and
goals; and the rest of the meeting should tie into the vision. For
example, the motivation portion of the meeting should tie into the
vision, the information portion of the meeting should tie into the
vision, the training portion of the meeting should tie into the vision,
etc. Also, invest time to develop your team members’ personal
visions and show them how they can accomplish their personal goals by
tying into the overall vision. By consistently communicating the
vision, your team will move with purpose, feel they are personally
making a difference, and achieve their goals sooner.
5. Unselfishness
Stephen Covey, in his successful book Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People, wrote that a true leader must be a servant to the ones he or
she leads. The leader must be able to “give of oneself for
the
good of the team.” In other words, be unselfish in words and
action. Be unselfish in praise of others, in public, especially in
front of management.
Be unselfish in the ability to take time to listen, really listen to
your team’s concerns. A recent management survey said that
the
average time management invests doing “pure
listening” to
employees during the year is a mere two hours- just two hours! What was
meant by “pure listening” time was listening with
eye
contact, acknowledgement, and not answering the phone while listening,
not speaking with another person while listening, etc. Be unselfish in
the ability to help your team. Whether it’s the ability to
readily assist with a difficult telephone call, jump in and remove road
blocks for team members, or “be there” for a team
member
during challenging moments. Believe me, your team will remember those
moments and excel for you.
Now I challenge you to put into action just one of the leadership
techniques I mentioned above to achieve your vision, your mission, and
your goals in the future.
Copyright © 2003 Ed Sykes. All rights reserved
About the author:
Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and success coach in the
areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service,
and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com,
or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com,and
signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook,
"Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."
Circulated
by Article
Emporium
|
|
