The great majority of articles and newsletters dwell on the topic of what will change in the next twelve months. But predicting the future is a tricky business, which is one big reason why you never see a headline that says: “Psychic Wins Lotto.” I think a better question to ask is: “What will not change in the next 12 months?” If you can define those things and get really good at executing them, you have created a sustainable business strategy that puts competitors on the defensive. The things that won’t change include Team-Building, Training, Service, Selling, Accountability, Critical Thinking and Employee Engagement. So in this New Lessons in Leadership article I’d like to share 9 proven strategies and creative thoughts on those critical processes. You can go for a deeper dive on any of these topics in our two bestselling books Multiunit Leadership or Fundamentals . Thanks.
- Create an all-star team, not a team of all stars.
- Getting things done is the essence of a Leader’s job. “Strategy is a commodity,” said management guru Peter Drucker, “Execution is an art.”
- “No matter how smart the people are within your organization, you should always remember that there are a lot more smart people outside your organization.” –Bill Joy
- Store Managers are essentially player-coaches who have to both staff and play a professional game daily while simultaneously developing minor league (less experienced) team members. A strong brand Culture should be integrated into their DNA from the start. “A team is like a tree. When older players leave, a core of younger players and coaches remain to form new branches and leaves, but the culture forms the base and trunk. As players and assistants come and go, the values must remain the same. Those leaders are your base and trunk.” –Bud Collier
- Accountability is not a process or a tool. It’s what helps a process or a tool become effective. Accountability is also the bedrock foundation of leadership. And great leaders know that personal accountability is an inside job. To say “I’m holding you accountable” is pointless. What if, instead of holding others accountable, we held ourselves accountable and others able. Able to take charge, able to take action, able to complete the task, able to apply the coaching they received and able to effect change? This clearly points to training as the tool that gets your people to “able.”
- When it comes to employee culture, remember that no business has a culture; every business is a culture. Beware of legislated optimism (or sloganeering) around your company’s values; where realistic insight and accurate information is presented with a coat of whitewash and a veneer of abracadabra laid over it. If the culture you promise is false, new team members will see it immediately. And then how do you ever regain their trust? Preach what you practice, but Practice what you Preach.
- Winning is great, but there’s something greater than winning: its helping other people win. Teaching, training and developing them to overcome challenges and succeed at the daily hurdles they face is the stuff that engenders tenure.
- Leaders keep their ears to the ground and solicit frontline input continuously. The people closest to the problem usually know the solutions and the people furthest from the problem have to be informed. “You don’t fail by making mistakes. You fail by taking too long to find out about them,” says Russ Umphenour.
- What should be done eventually should be done immediately. “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”—Elinor Smith
- And let’s conclude with a thought on the art of casting a sustainable and effective Leadership Shadow: “leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”–Sheryl Sandberg
