Titles Are Not Reality
"Leadership is an action, not a position."
- Donald Mc Gannon
(1920-1984)
Broadcast Executive
Sometimes I
think that there are few things in the workplace world worse than a bad
leader. These are the people who hold a
position but have no idea, and many times could care less, what it means to
lead. Bad leaders hurt productive work,
cause morale to slip and make coming to work a dreaded task. Ten bad employees will do far less harm to
your business as will one bad leader.
The key is not to put that
person in a position in the first place.
In the past, if you worked, and not necessarily hard, and stayed with a
company long enough you would get a promotion.
That practice has proven over and over again to be a failed one. So what is a company to do in order to find
the right people to lead? Here are a few
simple things to put into practice in your hiring and promoting practices.
#1. Hire The Right People
People, even business owners,
tend to hire people we like. Someone
comes in for an interview and we have great rapport, they are friendly and we
just like them, so we give them a job.
Bad decision! Have a job
description with you, not for them, but one you can follow and use for a
guideline. If they are unable to perform
the tasks you need done with excellence, then do not hire them. It is better to hire an excellent worker you
may not care for personally than a friend that will run your business into the
ground.
#2. Never Promote By Seniority
When you are looking for the
right person to promote to a leadership position, first, look for the leaders
in your company. Do not – EVER
– promote someone just because they have been there for a long time. Leaders lead, so look for the person that
others are following. Leaders work hard
and step out in front of the crowed. If
you have a person, which could even be a brand new employee, who others follow
naturally and they do their job well and then more than is expected; that is
the one to promote.
#3. Let Your Leaders Lead
If you have to micro-manage your
leaders, you do not have leaders. When
you find someone who can lead, let them alone to lead. If you have had bad leaders in the past you
may have had to step in and do the work yourself just to get by. By hiring a component leader that problem can
go away and you can do your job while they do theirs.
To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was
impossible for too long, read On The
Journey To Achievement by John Patrick Hickey. You can get a signed copy for yourself and
get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/.
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