Have you
ever purchased a new car (or a new used one) and you’re all excited. You get to
play with all the options and technology that your previous car didn’t have.
Then all of a sudden you notice buttons or tabs that do not do anything. You
realize then these “faux buttons” are for equipment you do not have – seat
warmers, headlight washers, in-dash expresso machines, etc. Now after I got
over my disappointment, this got me thinking out loud about a key leadership
lesson.
Now stick
with me here, but in the same way all cars do not come equipped with all the
options, staff and team members (not to mention leaders) rarely come completely
factory equipped – there is always room for more optional equipment! Since that
is the case, as leaders, it is our responsibility to further equip people for their own sake
but for the sake of your enterprise.
In past blogs, I have shared the sobering
statistics from Gallup regarding employee engagement. Essentially only about 20
to 30 percent of staff of any given organization are producing a high levels.
The remaining 80 to 70 percent or nominally engaged, or worse, actively
disengaged. Just think about what this translates to in hard currency! Not only
are paying someone to operate at a lower capacity, that means critical work is
not getting done, sales calls are not occurring, and customer support response
is slow if not at all. In light of that, soft skills don’t seem so soft or
optional anymore do they?
Leadership
and personal effectiveness expert, John Maxwell, in his book Equipping
101 (part of the R.E.A.L. Leadership series) reminds us that “success for leaders can be defined as the
maximum utilization of the abilities of others". Since that is the case, YOU
have to build those abilities or capacities by DESIGN because rarely will they
develop by DEFAULT. John goes on to suggest some strategies for equipping
others more effectively. Here are just a few:
- ASK for increased effort – why should we expect others to produce at high levels if they do not know what those expectations are?
- DEMONSTRATE your commitment to everyone on your team by investing your time, energy, effort, and emotions in them
- ARTICULATE what the goals and metrics for success are. In other words, let everyone know what it means to WIN!
- DEVELOP others. Yes, this means training and growth experiences. This can include training for specific tasks and processes, technology training, sales training, and, my favorite, leadership training.
- EMPOWER others to then accomplish what you have asked them to do.
- Then hold everyone, including you, ACCOUNTABLE for the results.
Now, not
everyone on your team may respond or respond to a much higher level, but if anything,
it will get them thinking about what more could be done. It will raise their
awareness of current performance versus their potential. This will also
demonstrate that this MATTERS to you.
As always, if I can help you and the people you associate with
Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as
a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will
send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your
organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to
your organization!
Yours
in Leadership,
Bill
Faulkner
Co-Founder
– Out Loud Strategies
Independent
Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email = bill@outloudinc.com
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