Download - Ten Commandments for Leaders
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR LEADERS
Make the strategic decisions, chart the course and LEAD, dammit! Don’t just manage the tactics and numbers. There’s no autopilot here, even if you have an experienced, successful team.
THOU SHALT LEAD (REALLY)
THOU SHALT HOLD ALL ACCOUNTABLE
Establish standards, goals and metrics and hold all equally accountable to the same standards – evn your top performers. (And yourself.)
MODEL WHAT YOU SEEK IN OTHERS
Teams take their cue from their leader. What you do, how you conduct yourself, how you speak tells your team what you expect from them. Being the first to arrive and the last to leave tells your team you value hard work.
THOU SHALT EDUCATE
You are in a leadership position because, presumably, you have more experience than your team. SHARE your experience and knowledge with your team, both as a team and as individuals on an as-needed, but regular basis. The more knowledge they have, the better they will perform.
THOU SHALT EMPOWER
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Empower your team to make the battlefield decisions they need to make not only to close the deal, but to enhance their position with the prospect. Nothing says “I’m a worker bee” more than your reps having to tell the prospect “I’ll check with my Manager” every time they ask for something.
EMBRACE ERRORS OF COMISSION
For they are teachable moments. If an error occurs in virgin territory, teach but don’t discipline. These kinds of errors indicate a training gap, or that your reps are doing exactly what you want – exploring new prospects and new solutions.
PENALIZE ERRORS OF OMISSION
Absent any compelling reason, errors of omission are caused by rushing, not thinking or even not caring. None of these are acceptable. If you give your best everyday, you have every right to demand that from your team.
THOU SHALT EDUCATE MORE
Jack Welch said “Hire people smarter than you.” How do they get that way? My first management trainer said “You make yourself promotable when you train your replacement.” The smarter you keep your team, the smarter they’ll make you look.
WATCH THE METRICS
But don’t lose sight of the goal in doing so. Numbers are a means to an end, but the human factor can blow it all away.