Leadership To-Do List

Allow others to inspire. Find the how. Get out of their way. Be present even during challenging times. Have clear expectations. Don't expect to ever have all the answers.

Helping others is a privilege. Back your people up. Be bold. Never stop learning. Open door policies are for those who mean it. Don’t hide behind busy. It’s their career too.

Be inquisitive. 

Invest at least half of your time helping people. Hire passion. A team is more than celebrating victories. Don’t be a boss. Listen. Don’t hide when your people need you.

Grow their strengths. 

Let them shine. Be fair. Get to know what motivates everyone on your team. Seek guidance from those who are committed to helping you grow. Customer service begins with you. Never settle. Understand that it will be the most rewarding work you’ll ever have the privilege to do.

And it won't be listed on your business card.

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Don't Be a Boss

Allow others to inspire. Find the how. Get out of their way. Be present even during challenging times. Have clear expectations. Don't expect to ever have all the answers. 

Helping others is a privilege. Back your people up. Be bold. Never stop learning. Open door policies are for those who mean it. Don’t hide behind busy. It’s their career too. 

 Be inquisitive. 

Invest at least half of your time helping people. Hire passion. A team is more than celebrating victories. Don’t be a boss. Listen. Don’t hide when your people need you. 

Grow their strengths. Let them shine. Be fair. Get to know what motivates everyone on your team. Seek guidance from those who are committed to helping you grow. Customer service begins with you. Never settle. Understand that it will be the most rewarding work you’ll ever have the privilege to do. 

 And it won't be listed on your business card. __________________________________________________________________

No One Wants to Hear About it

It’s an interesting time. We are connected through mobile devices, websites, social networks, work relationships, personal connections, media, music, content, data, and yet when we stop for just a moment, we can feel alone.

I've had some fascinating chats recently with colleagues, clients, and friends about the everyday trials and tribulations of life. Money, relationships, career, bad things, good times, life stuff, and it’s interesting that one theme has come up quite often. I've heard this phrase more than most – “But no one wants to hear about that part.”

If They Only Knew

I was speaking with a well respected author a couple of weeks ago and she said no one wants to hear about the times when she struggled. On her first book tour she got nervous every time the hotel would try her credit card to clear for the incidentals. She was close to the wire and yet to most who knew her and many who know of her, she was wildly successful. She was a published author after all.

Recently I had a situation where things didn't go well. And then I had a call with a very good friend who told me I was not alone – in the way I was feeling or in the situation I was enduring. He wasn't glossing over it or my feelings but it was a good reminder that we are often stronger than we think.

We’re Not Alone

Advice from a wise friend came back to me recently. He told me about when he was going through his divorce. On those dark days he would go feed the homeless or help at a shelter. He said it may not be for everyone but the point was it gave him perspective which is something we seem to lose sight of the most.

We're not always strong. We don't have it figured out. We get scared and angry. We're people not machines and that affects ourselves and everyone around us. But you’re dealing with something right now and you’re not alone. Pick up the phone. You will find there are people who do want to hear about it and help you through it.

And that’s the best leadership there is – the human kind.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

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Lead with Their Gut

Have you ever thought of an idea then talked yourself out of it? Gladwell wrote a book about it. The thesis behind Blink was the power of thinking without thinking. We sense it’s the right call, and then we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince ourselves we could perhaps possibly be maybe wrong I don’t know what do you think am I over thinking it perhaps maybe?

We ask for opinions to endorse our idea and when we meet resistance, we often fold. Yeah, it was a dumb idea. It wouldn't have worked, Joe said so.

Your Gut is not Alone

I was speaking with a colleague recently and he proclaimed that his staff often comes to him with what they think are good ideas but they’re not usually that good. I think that’s short-sighted. Sure, having a clear vision of your company and understand how your experience has arrived at that decision is key but if you make time to ask someone to elaborate and expand their ideas, you might be surprised.

If you’re not familiar, Google used to allow employees to spend 20% of their time working on ideas that may or may not have anything to do with their day job. Many products have come from employee ideas. Some of them may not have been that great to start, but there is an environment to flush them out and see if their gut is on to something. Some (me) think they should bring back the policy.

What Do You Think?

There are plenty of data to clearly show how disengaged employees will be the most destructive element of any business. And it’s not always easy to measure. A late meeting here, sloppy work there, missed deadline here, and suddenly the quality of work suffers. There’s a malaise that just seems to hover over everyone’s desk. The days of all for one have been replaced by everyone for themselves.

Leadership is not easy. But it’s nearly impossible if you think your gut has to make all the decisions. If you’re in a leadership position, write down a list of the times you have asked for others’ opinion – and meant it – in the last month. Now take the next month and triple that number.

No One Bats 1.000

Some of their ideas may not initially be great, but have a close look at your batting average before you act too fast. And this is not to suggest you have to create a suggestion box where everyone's ideas are immediately accepted. Just adopt an open mind policy and see what happens.

If you rely solely on your gut to create ideas for your business, you will run the risk of creating a culture of employees carrying out what they’re told.

Their real efforts will be seeking employment elsewhere.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

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