Leadership Matters

So Many Ideas for the Marketing Minute This Week!

I am so proud of everyone who jumped on board twitter last week – and you might have noticed – I haven’t done any tweeting! Turns out I am new at it too!  But we will all get there.

I have had a ton of ideas this week for the Marketing Minute, and decided to share a version of my sister’s newsletter – she is a corporate consultant on leadership and her stuff is good (she’s really funny too, but it probably doesn’t show up here.)

Even if you are only leading yourself, there are a lot of tips you can put into practice – in fact, the article was filled with so many great tips today you are only getting tips 1 -5 – you’ll have to wait til next week for the rest.

Leadership Matters

By Nancy McGuire, McGuire Consulting, Inc
(Be sure to contact Nancy by clicking above if you need any help with leadership development!)

There is no one way to be a perfect leader, but there are many ways to be a great one. If you have leadership responsibility, even simple actions can mean the difference between outstanding and poor results. Here are the first five of 10 of the most basic ways to ensure that you’re being an effective leader:

1. Ensure everyone knows why you are there. Whether you’re running a meeting or leading a large organization, make certain that everyone knows your purpose. Say it aloud. What do you want to accomplish? Trap: Don’t become so fixated with your objectives that you don’t recognize when they need to change. Evaluate your environment and assess whether the objective needs to be altered. Tip: When things run off-course, which they invariably will, use your objective as a means of getting the team re-focused.

2. This is work — expect people to do something. If someone has agreed to do something, hold her to it. Trap: If you are working with people from other organizations, you may not be aware of their own workload and priorities. However, if your project is dependent on their contribution, you still need them to deliver as expected. Don’t let that work dump into your lap. Tip: Check on the status of the work, and reinforce its value. People actually enjoy sharing their progress and seeing how they contribute to the end result.

3. Don’t just simply track progress — offer help. When your team hits stumbling blocks, help to overcome them. Trap: This doesn’t mean you have to determine all of the potential solutions. Part of your role as a leader is to help your team members find their own answers. Tip: When the solution requires you to help (get funding, gain executive decisions, hire additional resources), make it clear that you own that action.

4. Be known as someone who actually makes a decision. Teams need direction and decisions to be made. Trap: Consensus management isn’t always the best leadership style. Many decisions need to be made by the leader alone. Tip: To facilitate your decision-making, encourage your team to provide alternatives with associated pros and cons. This increases the chances of buy-in on the team, even if the members didn’t make the decision themselves. [Mary's Note: I think you all know how strongly I feel about decision making - make the decision - and move on!]

5. Follow up and follow through. Track progress. Deliver what you say you will. Trap: Many projects fail because milestones weren’t measured along the way. Look at your own deliverables to the team, and ensure that you are making your own commitments. Tip: Reflect back on the history of the project. Are there areas where deadlines are repeatedly missed? These may be areas where you, as the leader, need to intervene.

The truth of the matter is – I love all of these tips!  Which tips are you using in your business today???

Have a great rest of the week!

-Mary