Leadership: How to Get the Best out of your People – Part 3

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In the second part of this three-part series we tackled three important leadership behaviours of “Setting the Tone”, “Walking the Talk” and “Fairness.” Aspiring leaders often make the mistake of trying very hard to be popular or to be liked, rather than aspiring to be effective. Concentrating on being nice can turn you into a weak leader, when strong leadership is what employees need, as well as assertive leadership in some cases. It is natural to want to be liked, but let it be the outcome or side benefit, not a leadership objective. If you strive to consistently exhibit the 12 primary leadership behaviours then you will be popular and be liked.

7. Competence

Have you encountered a boss or a manager that you think is less competent than you? If yes, you were probably less motivated to take their lead. For leaders, this is a likely scenario if you are perceived to be incompetent by your people.

Being competent doesn’t require you to know how to do everything, but it does require you to know what to do and the ways to accomplish it. An inept leader has several occasions to be ineffective. Competency is not an ability that is achieved quickly. It entails a mix of experience and knowledge seeking and retention. There are three important areas of knowledge:

  • Operational knowledge – the way every business function works – areas where the business is weak and how to resolve them
  • Strategic knowledge – what course to lead the business, why and how
  • Compliance and risk knowledge – what government policies that need to be adhered to, like the Fair Work Australia, and the kind of business risk to deal with and how, like Workplace Health & Safety risks

Good leadership does not require you do it all alone. It involves knowing specifically where you are competent, strong and weak, as well as recognising what expertise you need and what knowledge to acquire. Competent leaders gain confidence, trust and loyalty, so if you are lacking in any strategic, operational, compliance or risk knowledge, then endeavour to expand your knowledge in your weak areas.

It is vital because it is the foundation of making good decisions and choices. It also allows leaders to see through the haze and determine real from fake. To quote the philosopher Socrates, ‘the person who clearly knows and articulates best what ought to be done is the person who will most easily gain the following of others’.

Finally, avoid upstaging or embarrassing another person when you show competence. At the end of the day, leadership concerns the success of your employees, not you.

8. Emotional Maturity

Also known as emotional intelligence, this is a leader’s knack for understanding and managing their emotions, and those of his employees. A highly emotionally intelligent leader recognises what they are feeling and the reason for it, and how to control those feelings so they don’t have a negative impact on others. You may also call this “self-awareness” and “self-management.” Specifically, this involves feeling calm under pressure.

Once again being consistent is essential in this case. Workers don’t like to have a boss who is Dr. Jekyll one day and a Mr. Hyde the next. They want to know what your expectations are for them, so communicate predictably. Using a communication style that is objective, pleasant, calm, collaborative, positive and respectful will let you get the best out of your people because they need to feel important. Negativity, yelling, criticisms, cynicism, interrupting, impatience and self-righteousness are examples of emotional immaturity. These behaviours undermine leadership.

Aspiring leaders usually have emotional maturity “blind spots”, meaning they’re not aware of how they are acting or communicating and how it is impacting their team members. Or worse, they know the harmful effect of their communication style and elect not to change. It’s weakens leadership either way.

So how do you change it? First, understanding the four major personality types, and how to recognise them, is vital. Second, you can improve your emotional intelligence through training workshops and online assessment tools. This is a life skill that offers relationship building benefits far outside mere good leadership.

9. Change Agent

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got,” Henry Ford once said. You need to lead change to survive and flourish in an ever increasing competitive business environment. Lead change until it is manifested in your business culture. Raise the bar and expand your business by encouraging a culture of constant improvement and initiative.

Change success is not limited to just setting a new path or creating a new strategy. For instance, you can outline the best development approach to implement. However, it usually fails due to poor implementation. This happens when leaders fail to involve the hearts and minds of the people tasked with carrying out the change.

Resistance is normally an employee’s first reaction to change. The reason is they become comfortable doing assignments they know, the way they execute it. Being comfortable makes them feel secures as they are bosses of their environment. Often they fear change because they think it will harm them or upset their comfort zone. They could also be feeling like they don’t have what it takes to adapt, their work may become more difficult, or they might fail to remain in control of their environment. The last one is significant.

Leaders must eliminate their people’s fears so they can advance from an attitude of change evasion to change acceptance. How can this be accomplished?

First, persuade them that change is needed by conveying to them what is not working and what effect it is spreading and will be spreading across business performance and the business’ competitive position.

Second, make them realise the benefits from the change. These may include acquiring new skills, the reassurance of being a member of a more competitive organisation, or less issues they need to resolve every day.

Third, make them feel confident by showing that support will be available to them throughout the process, that a good change process will be implemented, and that their ideas and effort will have a massive role in the change success.

Once again, encourage a culture of change and constant improvement. Instil in your team to take initiative and think of better ways of executing tasks, daily.

Continue reading the part 4 of this article.

If you are considering outsourcing your bookkeeping, accounting and other business-related processes, but still allow you to make the big decisions and remain in control, contact PJS Accountants. We have has over 30 years experience with local Redlands and Brisbane businesses. Our team is at your disposal, always ready to for your call, to help you to stay in charge of all aspects of your business. Call us for enquiries on how PJS Accountants can partner with you to improve your business.

Leadership: How to Get the Best out of your People – Part 2

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Here is the second part of a three-part series on 12 important behaviours to develop to become a better leader. Ineffective leadership is among the top five reasons that hinder business development, because it’s tough to keep good employees when they work under a weak leader. Good employees want to work in an environment with good leadership. Conversely, mediocre employees are content with weak leaders because it is an environment where they can continue to under perform, and display their often stubborn and discouraging attitude across the entire organisation.

4. Setting the Tone

Tone is appropriately defined as the “feel” of the place. It is the first impressions that a customer, supplier or new employee gets upon first entering your place of business. For example, if you want employees that are motivated, energised and passionate, then those are the traits you should present. If you are negative, cranky, sullen, easily stressed or unresponsive, then it is most likely that those traits are displayed elsewhere in the organisation. Employees will get their behavioural cues from the person leading them. When there is a lack of a solid tone-setting leader, other voices become powerful. The underminers, the pot-stirrers and whiners have the chance to spread their message.

Culture is not taught, it is caught, which means your communication style and behaviour will be shown through your business culture. The buzz is created, or not, by the leaders. When it is finally time to again evaluate your business core values, you should clearly determine the expected tone. In one review of a client’s business core values, they identified the following tonal features: respectful, cheerful, constructive, energetic, positive and professional. Business owners want these tonal features implemented throughout their business. It has to start from the leader to be successful.

Tone also significantly affects customer service levels. The top service providers are those companies where tone setting is always implemented by the leader, and this is no fluke. This in turn is shown in how employees treat clients. Employees cannot be expected to present a positive, upbeat client experience, if they are undergoing the reverse in the workplace. Tone also has an effect on employee stress levels. Employee will also be stressed if a leader’s mood is tense, stressed or cranky. In turn, productivity will likely suffer and longevity will diminish.

So, “how is tone implemented?” First, determine the expected tone that all team members will share and embrace. Second, keep the tonal features a top priority to the point that you stop and think before responding to any communication or situation. It will be difficult at the beginning, but will come naturally over time. Third, set the tone daily. It should be done at the beginning of the day by performing a walk-around and devoting a minute to greet your team and being upbeat and optimistic about the coming day. Quality workers want to be headed by a person who radiate upbeat energy, positivity and optimism and shows that there is a solution to every challenge. Consistency is important. Don’t be negative, even if you feel it.

5. Walking the Talk

Quality leaders motivate their members because they involve their emotions. Trust is one of these emotions. It can take a long time to build trust and quick to destroy. Once it is broken it will not be easy to rebuild it. Trust is quickly broken when leaders fail to “practice what they preach.”

Think about a line manager or supervisor who requests team members to be productive and work hard, but takes a long break a couple of time weekly. Or a boss who says that all ideas and opinions are vital, but rejects them immediately. There’s also the General Manager who preaches about spending wisely, but buys pricey office equipment for his use. These may appear insignificant to the would-be leader, but leading by example is equally critical as leading with words, if not more crucial.

This is what makes a footy captain. Their actions on the field inspire their team members. They lead by taking the initiative to do things, especially the hard ones, which allows their business to come out on top. This is the same value parents implement daily to observe effective parenting. Parents rear their children by example because they are aware of their children watching them and listening to them.

Effective leaders use inspiration, trust, vision and excitement to push their team members forward. If your people don’t trust you, then interest will fade and productivity will decline. It will be hard for you to make your vision come true, all because your people don’t trust what you say. It is important for you as a leader to lead by example and walk the talk.

6. Fairness

Let’s be honest, we like to interact with some people more than others because we are more comfortable with them. We often naturally want to make friends with people who have same personality trait as us.

Being a leader in business or in other areas, you must be cautious with this element because since people value fairness, that is, no favouritism towards team members you “like.” Wanting to be treated fairly is a basic need in people. Be respectful and friendly to all your people but be wary of starting friendships with people who report to you. As an example, a National Sales Manager declined a dinner invitation from employees because he wanted to avoid appearing “unfair” in future employee promotion.

Fairness is not the same as, or should not be mistaken with, treating each person fairly. Treating people differently based on, for instance, their performance is acceptable. Think about the gun worker who works harder and longer than other workers and steadily contributes excellent results for the company. That worker will likely get disinterested if the “slacker” is treated the same.

Consistently communicating what success looks like, and conveying the complete background of decisions on such matters as employee promotion, task allocation and reward structures is the key again. It is essential that employees understand the basis of decisions so they feel that they are being treated equally. You can’t go wrong for being completely transparent.

Fairness is a major building block for respect, to the extent where good workers will resign if they feel they are not being treated fairly. The key here again is consistent performance feedback. Regular communication with your people assures them they have a voice and the freedom to talk about any issue relating to fairness within your organisation. At the very least, enforce your business policies equally to all employees.

The third part of this series will tackle “Competence”, “Maturity” and “Change Agent.”

‘Til then, rate yourself using the three leadership behaviours listed above and determine an improvement action for all that you can act on immediately to improve your leadership skill.

If you are considering outsourcing your bookkeeping, accounting and other business-related processes, but still allow you to make the big decisions and remain in control, contact PJS Accountants. We have has over 30 years experience with local Redlands businesses. Our team will be at your disposal, always ready to receive your calls and provide services, to help you to stay in charge of all aspects of your business. Call us for enquiries on how PJS Accountants can partner with you to improve your business.

Leadership: How to Get the Best out of your People – Part 1

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You will find literature on leadership in hundreds of books and thousands of articles online, but you have to dissect all the information to enable you to become a good leader and to get the best out of your people.

Leadership is said to be the Achilles heel of many business owners. They don’t fully understand it, they dislike doing it or they are incompetent at it. Therefore, it makes it virtually impossible to create a productive, collaborative work environment, or in truth expand their business. If you are a small business owner, getting leadership training and working hard to improve your leadership skills will enhance your business growth.

There are 12 main leadership criteria that you should always keep in mind and continue to work on, these are necessary, everyday behaviours, not personality characteristics. Every person’s leadership style will be slightly different, influenced by their personality type, and the behaviours enumerated here are independent of your personality type. In general, a good leader is confident, believe that they can be an effective leader and like everything in life, practice and dedication are what it takes to be successful at it.

Leadership Defined.

Firstly, what is leadership? It is defined as the ability to persuade a person to do what you ask, not out of fear but respect for you. It’s establishing a direction, and forming the behaviours of a person or team to achieve desired results or goals. Leaders get results because people admire, believe and are motivated by them.

Releasing the potential in your people that allows them to take ownership and responsibility is one of the main results of effective leadership. This is different from “management” because management entails directing things, not individuals. Managers mainly realise outcomes due to their position of power or authority, but this does not automatically mean managers are effective leaders.

1. Be Accessible or Approachable

What employees desire from their leader is to be valued, connected and respected. Those team members will surely make more effort and remain with their leader longer.

Depending on their degree of talent, employees must be empowered to allow them to work at their best. If you’ve hired people with the right skill sets to carry out a task, micromanaging is not an effective leadership style. They dislike it because it doesn’t permit them to completely utilise their talents and initiative, and it stifles accountability and ownership. Being approachable, supportive and giving people sufficient space but specific guidelines is the key. When approached, give them your complete attention and don’t ignore them. Listen attentively and utilise strong motivational words or succinct phrases of inspiration such as “good job”, “get to it, I believe you”, and “I love your work”.

You have to be careful in managing your responses so you’re not resolving things or seeking solutions for your people. The chances are, if you do this, they will be constantly relying on you instead of working on their own to find solutions, and you will experience an never-ending stream of interruptions. Your ability to listen is vital. Listen and focus on understanding, not responding. Make sure that you don’t sound rushed or annoyed, or reject their concern or idea because that is not being approachable.

Be visible, always be approachable and consistent by learning how to manage your environment. Use strategies such as allocating certain time of the day to perform a walk around to various parts of the business, or setting aside an “open hour” for, say a couple of hours daily. Implement whatever is effective for you and the people who work for you.

2. Communicate Clear Expectations

There are three main reasons why people get upset. These are:

  1. Undelivered communication – there is something important that you want to say but were not able to, or you were howled down;
  2. Thwarted intention – you have set your mind to say something or do something in a particular manner, but were not permitted to;
  3. Unfulfilled expectation – you expect that someone is going to do a task to fulfil the outcome you want, but they fail to do it or do it badly.

The last one is significant because it aims at the core of performance management.

Effective leaders are always firm and calm when conveying clear expectations and limits for their team members to work within. These expectations are mainly centred on duties and tasks to be carried out, quality of goods or services, and culture.

Some team members “get lost” if leaders don’t communicate daily or weekly with them. Don’t expect your people to carry out a task if you don’t communicate your expectations clearly and consistently. You will be less upset or cranky if you are consistent in communicating your expectations.

Using the good old position description as your guide can help you in this situation. However, by modifying the structure to a table system so that every task on the position description has a parallel segment titled “what success looks like.” You can measure this as either qualitative like “all stock lines and patterns easily located within their place” or quantifiable like “20 new business appointments monthly.”

3. Hold Team Members Accountable

Some people can experience difficulty with this area, because of their personality type. For example, a business owner with a “South” personality is people centred, non-assertive, sympathetic and draws back from possible disagreement. This is their normal state. It is neither right nor wrong, it’s just who they are. “Southies” can have a hard time leading their people who have a “North” personality, who are fast-paced, assertive, confident, decisive, impatient and controlling.

If you find yourself in the “South” personality, you probably have to put more effort with this behaviour as it’s not likely to come instinctively to you. But it is essential. Never forget that people are hired to carry out certain responsibilities and be an asset to the business, not just to pick up a salary. It’s your duty as the leader to hold your people responsible for the briefs they are expected to carry out, and for the tasks they’ve been asked to do. If you fail to do so, you are fundamentally conveying that they can do whatever they like, which can result in long term frustration and stress to employers.

Hold your people accountable firmly, calmly and privately. Provide them with regular performance feedback. Utilise the new position description system you have devised to check the outcomes or desired behaviour (what success looks like). Criticising them should also be avoided, but convey your expectations again if necessary, the effects of persistent under performance.

In closing, rate yourself using the three leadership behaviours listed above and determine an improvement action for all that you can act on immediately to improve your leadership skill.

For Part 2, stay tuned for a discussion on the concepts of “setting the tone”, “walking the talk’ and “fairness”.

If you are considering outsourcing your bookkeeping, accounting and other business-related processes, but still allow you to make the big decisions and remain in control, contact PJS Accountants. We have has over 30 years experience with local Redlands businesses. Our team will be at your disposal, always ready to receive your calls and provide services, to help you to stay in charge of all aspects of your business. Call us for enquiries on how PJS Accountants can help you improve your business.