Leadership Rules To Remember: Part 3 of 3

If you missed part 1 or part 2 of this series, check them out here:

• Leadership Rules To Remember: Part 1 of 3
• Leadership Rules To Remember: Part 2 of 3

1. Lead the change, and be EXCITED about it

In a world that’s constantly changing, the best way to lead your team through change is to LEAD it! DECIDE to change! Also, get EXCITED about the change, and the awesome end results that change will bring. If you’re not excited about some awesome end goal that will be brought on by the change, how can you expect your team to be?

2. Look for what’s RIGHT, expect the BEST, and get more positive results

Have you ever heard the term “you get what you expect?” Well, it’s TRUE! If you expect the best from your team and focus on finding things that they’re doing WELL, you will get a lot more positive results from them, not to mention have a much better relationship.

3. Focus on the Positive

You always have two options with any situation. You can talk about the negative situation (or the lack of something) or you can talk about the POSITIVE opposite of that negative situation (the thing that you DO want). Focusing on the POSITIVE opposite gets you the best results, in every case. So for example, don’t say “I hate it when you’re late” say “I really appreciate when you’re on time!”

4. A real leader grows other leaders; they make themselves (gasp!) replaceable

There was a time (after one of my first management roles) where I thought I was the bee’s knees because the business all but fell apart when I left. How silly was I?! Very. I know now after many years of experience and education that a truly great leader would have grown other leaders who were more than capable of running the business in my absence. A real leader grows other leaders – you always need more leaders – leaders are not necessarily the “boss” of other people, but they are leading the company/team/clients toward your goals/mission/vision. Also, there will come times where you expand or have opportunities, or someone gets sick/hurt, where you do need a leader to step into a management role! The more leaders, the better!

5. A leader leads by example whether they intend to or not

This is one of my sayings in business because it’s a very powerful way of saying “your people are always watching you!” Whether it’s your team, your clients, or someone in your life who looks up to you, they are always watching what you do. You are always leading by example, whether you intend to or not. Be conscious of the great responsibility you have to be a positive example, and role-model the kind of behavior you want from others who are watching.

6. We instinctively teach the way we learn, but we have to teach/coach to all learning styles

People learn in different ways: some of those ways include visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic. In my experience, we tend to TEACH the way we learn. This means that if we learn by listening, we probably expect others to learn while we talk to them. Since everyone has different learning styles, you may be missing out on the opportunity to connect and help someone on your team really understand/learn something. The safest bet is to try to teach (or coach) in all styles: show them, have them do it, tell them, and have them read/write it. You can also ask people what way they learn best, and coach them in that way. Finally, just remember to check yourself often, because you’re most likely going back to the most comfortable form of teaching for you, which will be the way you most like to learn (not necessarily the way your audience does).

7. ASK FOR AND IMPLEMENT FEEDBACK

If you’re not asking for feedback you’re missing out on HUGE opportunities to improve, gain more business, have happier employees, and increase your bottom line. Why anyone would “try and see if it works” when they can do research to find out the answers, is totally beyond me! You’ve heard me say it before, and you will DEFINITELY hear me say it again: make DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS as often as possible! Take the guesswork out of business by asking for (and implementing) feedback. Employees should be asked how happy they are at work, and what would make them happier. Another great question for employees is “what would you do to improve things for our clients if you were the owner of the business?” Clients should be asked (at a minimum) why they like to do business with you. Other really helpful questions to ask clients (during a survey, interview, or focus group) include: what could we do better? What do you love about us? What would make you choose a different place to do business?

8. Create & reiterate compelling visions

One of the most important parts of successful change leadership is to create and reiterate a compelling vision, for that particular change. Since we are in a constant state of change in business, I encourage you to ALWAYS be creating and reiterating your compelling and enticing visions – for your people. You need to paint a wonderful picture for people, so they know what we are working towards. If there is no rosy end result painted for them, many people will wonder why they’re even doing what they’re doing, and as a result, underperform. Bring peoples’ attention back to the compelling vision often, and whenever possible, ask THEM what vision/end result they’re excited about working towards – often it is similar to yours, but if it comes from them it is even MORE compelling 🙂

9. Intention. Intention. Intention

Oftentimes I tell my clients, “don’t worry, being a good leader is just being a good person.” By this I mean, if your intentions are good, you are going to do well as a leader. There are SO MANY examples of how this works in business, it is hard for me to pick just 3… but since I know a lot of you hate to read (ps congrats on getting this far) here we go! 1. when you go into a sales meeting, and your genuine intention is to find your prospective client the best solution – it works. When you go in with the intention to “make a sale” it doesn’t. It feels bad for everyone involved! 2. When you go into a coaching meeting with the intention of finding a way to achieve the result you both want to achieve with your employee – it works. If you go in, intending to shame them or make them feel bad, you won’t get the result you want. In fact, you’ll probably get the opposite of the result you want. 3. When you do your marketing/advertising/branding and your intention is to “trick people” – it doesn’t work. When you do marketing/advertising/branding with the intention of authentically sharing who you are, and attracting clients who are a great fit for you, it works! Clarify your intentions over and over, to get better results. IF your intention is not a positive one, start over.

There you have it, some of the most effective rules I’ve come up with over my 18 years in leadership. I know they will serve you well, so review them often, implement them as often as possible (it’s always possible) and start enjoying great results!

If you feel you need some help increasing your profits, contact TMH Business Coaching and Consulting today for a confidential, free, no obligation consultation to propel you forward. Also, please feel free to add yourself to our weekly coaching tips email!