A leader may hold the title, but it's the person who leads who excels at coaching and getting the most from his or her employees. If you're on a leadership team, which person are you?
Although many leaders understand that coaching their employees is a large part of their job, few profess to excel at leading, managing, and creating accountability (LMA™). And I've never had a business owner tell me that the reason they started their business was because they loved to manage people. It's no surprise then that "people issues" are one of the common frustrations of leaders, owners, and managers.
5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Become a Better Leader
If you're an owner or leader, ask yourself these questions and take action to become a better leader for your team:
1. Do you know what your team members value most?
Ask them. Ensure that they understand and value what you value most, that they have the qualities and characteristics of people you need to consistently provide value to your customers.
2. Do you know who your leaders are and what they are supposed to be doing? Do they know?
Create an Accountability Chart with clearly defined major roles and accountabilities for each seat.
Clarify the roles and responsibilities for each leadership team seat. If they have any direct reports, LMA (Leading, Managing and creating Accountability) should be listed as the number one role. Then let each leader know that they have the responsibility, accountability, and authority to act and lead their people.
3. Do you know how they are doing it?
Create clarity by giving everyone a number that they are responsible for driving and achieving. In companies running on EOS®, these numbers are called Measurables and are designed to provide clarity about how each employee contributes value to the organization.
4. Are you placing greater value on loyalty and "hard work" than on results?
Give Rocks to your team members every 90 days to help them prioritize how they spend their time and energy – and understand the importance of completing projects that help the organization improve.
5. Are you being held hostage by a toxic employee?
Develop a strong bench to avoid a sense of dependency on people who aren’t good for the company or its culture. Don't kid yourself, everyone knows that you're being held hostage. You're losing credibility every day that you allow it to continue.
I had an owner tell me recently that all his best people were developed within the company and that they rarely went outside of their organization to find talent. He gets it. A great workplace is one with great leaders who coach their people – giving them the opportunity to do what they do best and providing them with room to grow.
Next Steps
- Download a free chapter of How to Be a Great Boss to learn how to be a better leader and manager for your people.
- Watch this recording of our How to Be a Great Boss webinar on YouTube.
