Managing to Succeed as a Boss and Leader!

What Great Managers Do With their Employees, To Add Value to Their Company

Here’s where the rubber meets the road in successful businesses where people feel valued for their contributions! Managing people is all about developing other people to bring out their unique:

• talents
• gifts
• personality
• knowledge, and education
• skills

to meet the needs of their position at work.  Great managers develop and release their employees by assisting them through training, coaching, directing, supporting, encouraging, and delegating.  Lee Iaccoca managed to lift Chrysler Motors back from varying challenging issues including labor disputes and bankruptcy.  Through it all he managed to maintain his value of “succeeding at the people level”.  What this meant was that he insisted, and I quote:  “In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words,

“PEOPLE – PRODUCT & PROFITS.
PEOPLE come first.”

If fact one of my very favorite quotes states that to be a superb leader, or manager:

“You need to develop the skill of:
MAKING OTHER PEOPLE FEEL IMPORTANT.”
Dr. John C. Maxwell

In fact,

“No man will make a great leader who wants to
do it ALL himself,
or to get the credit for doing it!”
Andrew Carnegie

Again, management isn’t about you.  It’s about what you can do with and through others to build and develop them, while simultaneously meeting the mission, vision, and strategic plan of the company. J. Paul Getty, the wealthy oil mogul, when asked what was the most important quality of a successful executive replied:

“It doesn’t make much difference how much other knowledge
or experience an executive possesses.  If he is unable to achieve results
through people, he is worthless as an executive!”

Are you hearing a similar theme?  As a leader, it’s about extracting from your people, their very best on behalf of the company, in ways that honor, value, and build them. You get to make a difference in someone else’s life.  Because of you, they can gain a new skill, learn a new competency, or even be directed toward their dream position and ultimately live a fulfilling work life.  You have the opportunity to “be” the difference in each and every employee who calls you their boss. So, it’s important that you get the right perspective on your position, and learn what great leaders/managers say and do to create great employees.  A great leader says, as they work with their employees, “How can I make those around me more successful?” In fact, one of the very best questions you can ask yourself to evaluate why you are a leader, to discern what your motive is in carrying the title leader/manager/supervisor while you support, coach, direct, and lead the people under you is:

“Am I building people?
Or, am I building my dream
and using people to do it.”
Fred Smith of Federal Express

This question goes to the heart of why you are in this role, what your motivation is.  In fact, when you correctly understand what your “Job Description” is, you will begin to understand that everyone you work with is hungry. Yes, that’s right.  They’re hungry to be understood, to feel worthwhile, important, and ultimately in their own way, to be recognized as valuable . . . valuable to you and to the organization you both work for.  And you know you’ve reached this level of leadership when instead of feeling like you’re going to throw-up when you’re reading or hearing something like this, that speaks to the soft side of business, – like I myself use to feel;  instead, hearing this now resonates with you, motivating you to work toward finding out how you can genuinely meet the unspoken needs of those who are a part of your tribe, who call you boss.

The One Skill That Will Make You Seem Like a Real Life “Hero”

I DARE YOU TO TAKE THIS LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

I never said a complete thought but that the conversation was overridden, and my train of thought either finished by him or completely aborted.  And, I can guarantee, he was clueless as to what he was doing.  I could tell he was use to being given free, complete reign of every conversation, and why not, he was THE BOSS their leader.  Highly intelligent, moving at the rate of the Daytona 500, with more vision and energy than most exude in a life time.  I’m use to this.  It’s the typical MO of my success driven entrepreneurial clients who are the leaders of their world.  Works 24/7 with endless ideas and metabolism.  But with all the fervent, feverish drive, they’re usually missing the very glue that keeps people energized and willing to continue with enthusiasm to play on their team.

I’m  guilty many times myself.  I’ve spent years learning, practicing and failing using this “ONE” grand leadership skill that can transform not only the person, but the very climate of an office overnight.   When you use it, you become the most brilliant person anyone has known.  People will not only like entrepreneurial,leaders,leadership, leadership skills, listening, leadership influence you, they’ll think you’re just fabulous, even when you’ve never mentioned a word about what you do, or who you are.  I’m sure you already know, it’s the are of LISTENING.  Now, I didn’t say hearing, I said listening.  You can hear the train, answering the phone, and hearing the headlines on TV all at the same time.  But listening, that’s an art.  Think you already do it?  We’ll see.  Take the 48 hr test.  Yes, I said test.  You think you’ve got it so together?  Take the next 48 hours and go on a fast.  No, not from food, from talking about yourself.  I dare you.  Don’t give an opinion, don’t share an accomplishment an idea or any vision.  Don’t talk about yourself.  That is, of course, unless you’re asked a question, but even then, be brief and amazing with your answer.  Keep a log.  Write a slash every time you fail, but don’t give up.  We’ll talk next time about the value and benefits you’ll receive.  Then let me know how you do.  And if you’re really hot stuff, try it for a week.  Then we’ll know just how much you want Leadership Influence!

How Not to Become the #1 Nightmare of Employees “A Very Bad Boss”

HOW NOT TO ACT AS A LEADER

Suzy Welch relates her article “Work Nightmare No.1: The Very Bad Boss , from O magazine, how to take yourself out of the vortex of victimhood. She claims that you can escape the prison you’ve created for yourself by discovering the freedom that comes from owning your own performance and attitude.  Now, let me give this a twist this and  new bent on this theme.  Unfortunately, I confess that at one time or another I was this nightmare boss.  But I’m learning, and believe me, this means you can as well.  So, let me ask you candidly:  Can you avoid becoming the jerk every employee hates, and dreads working for?  From this article, I’ve listed some of the qualities to avoid that engender feelings of despair among staff:

1. being critical
2. withholding
3. bullying
4. displaying resentment instead of proper correction
5. unforgiveness
6. disorganization
7. a bad temper
8. screaming at people
9. self-centered motives and actions

Sometimes we learn from what “not to be” as a leader, in order to become the person others respect and gladly follow.  Take this action step:  For one week, at the end of each day ask yourself how you responded to the various urgencies that happened between you and your staff.  Copiously go through this list and take a brutally honest profile of yourself.  If you’re coming up short, it may be time to enlist a coach .  Why a coach, because if they’re good, they’ll hold you to this process, keeping you accountable for your actions and attitude, good and bad.  Do this, and you won’t find yourself sideswiped by a disgruntled employee who quits, or worse yet, who files a dreaded lawsuit.