Can you increase your profits by being a “SLACKER?” It may seem counterintuitive, but the answer to that question should be an unqualified “Yes,” if slacking means slowing down to reflect on these concepts of successful leadership:
Taking the time to slow down and pay attention will speed up your profits. So, be a “SLACKER:” Renew yourself and your leadership skills by practicing these steps.
S - STOP:
Develop Your People Like You Do Yourself and Develop Successors.
Leaders set the tone in encouraging a culture of development. They are good role models for developing employees, they believe that development is important, and they make professional development a priority. The best leaders see learning not as an expense but an investment. Untiringly develop your people and yourself.
Great leaders know that their most important job is to develop their successors and maintain the vision and legacy of leadership. The leaders who are most effective at developing their successors have employees who are more likely to stay satisfied with their job, more committed to the organization, and more productive. Choose those you believe have the values you wish to encourage and the talent to learn the leadership behaviors you believe are important to the future of your organization, and then give them personal developmental attention. Yes, it takes time. However, remember your leadership mission: vision and legacy.
L - LOOK/LISTEN/LEARN:
Encourage Commitment by Relating Interpersonally with Clear Expectations.
Develop trust and people will follow you. Demonstrate a true concern for the perspectives of others. Committing to listening, rather than trying to convince, is a major step in developing the kind of trust that makes good leaders great. An honest two-way interactive dialogue demonstrates that you care and are willing to invest in hearing people out. When people see that you are committed to them, they will commit to you.
Leaders use their communication skills to produce enthusiasm and foster an atmosphere of open exchange and support. They are adept at energizing people to see pathways that accomplish objectives despite challenging conditions. Leaders establish clear performance expectations and hold people accountable to deliver on their work promises to themselves, their team, the organization, and their stakeholders.
A - ALIGN ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS WITH GOALS:
Create a Learning Environment.
The vast majority of people we work with crave a learning environment where they can learn and grow, while performing their day-to-day duties. Many leaders understand this concept but fail to implement it, due to time limits or competing priorities, and never get around to it. Great leaders know that for a project to end properly, it must begin properly. As a result, successful leaders take the time to incorporate learning as an essential part of their normal job responsibilities. They create learning environments so that, on each work assignment, they can help employees creatively anticipate and find solutions to specific challenges.
C - COMMUNICATE:
Pass on Your Skills and Knowledge as well as
Pass Along Job and Development Opportunities.
Great leaders provide one-on-one coaching and mentoring and ensure that these new skills align directly with the overall organizational vision and strategy. Helping others grow in this manner contributes to a distributed sense of ownership and buy-in at all levels.
K - KEEP YOUR GOALS IN MIND:
Establish Clear Measurable Goals and Objectives and
Recognize/Emphasize/Leverage Strengths.
Leaders set a vibrant high-performance organizational culture through clear, measurable goals and objectives and effective interpersonal relations focused on real dialogue, lots of input, and honesty. Dialogue implies deeper conversations, rather than one-way information handoffs.
Successful leaders are well known for recognizing, emphasizing, and leveraging strengths and what is working toward the organizational goals and objectives. (The opposite approach focuses on weaknesses and what isn’t working, which ultimately leads to demoralization, distrust and attrition.) Focusing on successful behaviors teaches and encourages the employee to do more of the same, by recognizing and appreciating what is working, which produces greater engagement and momentum for change. That doesn’t mean that you never discuss performance gaps, but when you do, focus on specific suggestions for improvement or development related directly to job performance. The data clearly shows the number one reason why people thrive in an organization is because of their immediate supervisor; unfortunately, it’s also the number one reason they quit.
E - ENGAGE, ENLIGHTEN AND INSPIRE:
Become Knowledgeable About Actual Employee Performance.
Leaders who are knowledgeable about their employees’ performance build considerable trust and respect. Most would say that this is a “no-brainer,” yet in our experience, and the research clearly supports this hypothesis, only 30-40 percent of employees report that their managers communicate performance standards and provide fair and accurate feedback to help them do their jobs better. Don’t tell them, involve them. People learn best when engaged in the learning process.
R - REFLECT, RESPOND AND REPEAT THE PROCESS:
Provide Voluntary, Detailed, Immediate, and Positive Feedback.
Most employees believe that formal performance reviews do not help on-the-job performance, yet they crave feedback, especially on strengths. Most managers view formal performance reviews as a once a year administrative requirement, rather than as a powerful lever to positively influence employee performance. Only 35 percent of employees rate their manager as above average in providing feedback and report that they provide only general, non-specific praise. Great leaders catch their people doing something right and point it out to them in a detailed and timely fashion.
So, be a SLACKER! Establish a results-driven organizational culture amongst and between management and employees. Understand when a command-and-control perspective is needed and when a coaching perspective would be more productive. Take the time to stop, look, and listen. Make the conscious decision to maintain dialogue within your work teams so you will achieve breakthrough improvements in manager-employee-customer relationships and outstanding on-the-job results.
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