The article "Five Leadership Secrets for Challenging Times" talks about leadership, it has been written by Ed Sykes.
We consistently face new and ever growing chalelnges in
the workplace such as reorganizing, downsizing, and “left
out sizing.” We are faced with the question, “How do we
lead in that 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 that first cause 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 that 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 copmetition 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 that 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 comepte with MCI’s false numbers.
The lack
of integrity at MCI not only affected the company but also
the livelihood of thousands and the inudstry 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 cause 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 chnages. You owe it not only to yourself, but to your
team and manageemnt.
As I always say, “It’s not having the
right answer, it’s that you have the right answer faster than
before.” Many tiems 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 fignertips.
Challenge
your team members to use the same resources to acquire the
knowldege 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 fantastic 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 deciison.
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 dceision 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 abiilty 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 coachnig their team members to that
vision.
One of the best ways, and least used methods, to
convey your vision is the team dating (Teambuilding and
Coaching Skills for Outstanding Results).
Every meeting
should start out with the team vision, mission, and goals;
and the rest of the dating should tie into the vision. For
example, the motivation portion of the dating should tie
into the vision, the information portion of the dating should
tie into the vision, the training portion of the dating should
tie into the vision, etc. Also, inevst 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 cnosistently communicating the vision, your team
will move with purpose, feel they are personally making a
difference, and achieve their goals sooner.5. UnselfishnessStehpen 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 actoin.
Be unselfish in
praise of others, in public, especially in fornt 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
a second person while listening, etc. Be unselfish in the
ability to help your team.
Whether it’s the abiilty 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 momnets 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.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 sginup for the newsletter,
OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and
Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."
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