Being a Leader

[Gymjunkie]

I wonder about this thing of leading a company to success. How do you guys do it (those who have a company and are in charge of some people, whether partners or employees)? He have the vision, the goal. Would the good leader let everyone's opinion be heard but still sometimes take responsibility and act on what his instincts tell him? Or team opinion rules?

What's your style?

I'm wondering because I'm totally new to this and will eventually have to be a leader of a team. I am interested in being a good one so I want to hear others experience with it and improve myself

Cheers

[mkzhang]

I think a leader (beneath all the definition and the other bull crap you read in books about sharks, the compromise teddy and etc), is about perception.

The perception that everyone you work with feel like they are the most important person to you, and they have the leverage over you.

But you in actually, having a strong vision and focus, uses what you perceive as their motivational factors, and manipulate it in such a way that they believe by working towards a common goal, they are in fact helping themselves to their own agenda.

The most important qualities you should have are:

Focus (don't lose sight of the long term and short term goals despite the quagmire and politics)
Calmness (don't get mad or aggravated easily, don't make rushed decisions)
Strategy (being able to plan ahead, know the effects of your action on others, know how to play people off each other, and know how each step you do or each thing you say will lead to your ultimate goal)

[Russ H]

I've never thought of myself as a leader.

But I seem to volunteer for a lot of things. Which kinda means I get elected to boards of directors and things.

So I guess I lead.

I also have more than 10 employees, that I manage on a daily/weekly basis.

So I guess that makes me a leader too.

And I wound up being on the cutting edge in a small, cottage industry (residential electronic design), so I was interviewed by all kinds of newspapers and magazines.

They considered me a leader.

I still don't.

I do consider myself an innovator. And a creative guy.

I'm fascinated by growth, and I love to help things grow.

I've learned how to be a better "manager" (ie motivator and "boss") to our employees.

But, in all honesty, I still feel like I stink at being a manager. Or a leader.

My whole life, when others would hesitate to do something (lead fund raisers, help the guy who was having a seizure), I'd jump in.

Not because I felt I was a leader.

But because it needed to be done. And no one else was volunteering.

So does that make me a leader?

I don't know.

I guess the only thing I can pass on is this:

-Share your passions with others.
-Make what they do part of "your dream"
-Better yet, make your dream, their dream.

And listen.

Listen a LOT before talking.

(I'm still working on that last one, but it's real important).

If you don't listen, you won't be able to hear what your staff is trying to tell you.

And sometimes,
if what they have to tell you is really hard,
you need to learn how
to have them be comfortable enough
w/who you are
so that they will come to you
and tell you what is wrong.

THAT-- that is only a small part of being a leader.

But it's what I'm working on,
these days.

-Russ H.

[kurtyordy]

A good leader sets the direction/destination, and relies on the wisdom/experience of his team to figure out the best way to get there.

The worst thing for a leader to do in any organization is to waver on direction. People will follow a passionate leader who says- here is where I am going come follow me. They are running to something.

look at most political races, the winner is usually the one setting a direction and not wavering regardless of attack. The one say "I am for this". The losers are usually the ones say- "They are wrong" One is leadership, the other is Monday morning quarterbacking.

So if you want to lead, set off in a direction, if no one is following, start working on your leadership skills.

[Gymjunkie]

I
My whole life, when others would hesitate to do something (lead fund raisers, help the guy who was having a seizure), I'd jump in.

Not because I felt I was a leader.

But because it needed to be done. And no one else was volunteering.

So does that make me a leader?

I don't know.

All the posts been great but this one stood out to me.

I feel like I don't always need to be in center of attention, but when the time comes and no one else takes action, I will do it. I know it needs to be done and I'm willing to take responsibility for that.

If you do that enough, I honestly think that makes you a leader Russ H. Maybe the quieter leader, not the spotlight-craver, but a leader nonetheless..

Thanx million guys for wonderfull posts, Speed+ for all!

[mkzhang]

All the posts been great but this one stood out to me.

I feel like I don't always need to be in center of attention, but when the time comes and no one else takes action, I will do it. I know it needs to be done and I'm willing to take responsibility for that.

If you do that enough, I honestly think that makes you a leader Russ H. Maybe the quieter leader, not the spotlight-craver, but a leader nonetheless..

Thanx million guys for wonderfull posts, Speed+ for all!

That's called focus You know it needs to be done, other does as well, but no one wants to because its hard and arduous. It takes someone who can focus and enforce that focus on a long term to be able to get others to follow suit.

[Gymjunkie]

That's called focus You know it needs to be done, other does as well, but no one wants to because its hard and arduous. It takes someone who can focus and enforce that focus on a long term to be able to get others to follow suit.

Hmmm... I don't think what Russ described is focus.. I see it different way. Just taking initiative and action, not being afraid of responsibility.

Now, the biggest question for me is - when a leader has a vision and has a to make a decision on tools to use to achieve it, does he make it public discussion with his team or just makes decision and then his team has to work on it?

[Russ H]

Hmmm... I don't think what Russ described is focus.. I see it different way. Just taking initiative and action, not being afraid of responsibility.

Now, the biggest question for me is - when a leader has a vision and has a to make a decision on tools to use to achieve it, does he make it public discussion with his team or just makes decision and then his team has to work on it?

Speaking only for myself and our teams, we DO share where we're going-- and why. And we ask them for feedback. We try to give them as much of the "backstory" that they want/need (in other words, we try to answer "why are we doing this?").

We do NOT share personal things w/our business team. And there are other things that we do not share-- our daily bank balance, applications for loans, current FICO scores, etc.

In other words, my life is not an open book to our team members.

But we do share with them our goals, and our passions-- if they are pertinent to what the team is working on.

We want them to have "ownership" of where we're going. We want them to "drive and steer the bus" with us.

Again, I don't really see myself as a leader of others. But I don't see myself as a follower, either.

I pretty much decide what direction I want to go in, and figure out how to do it.

And if I need others to help, I work on building a team.

The team knows that their work is integral to the success of all.

So besides "buying into the dream", there is peer pressure for all to succeed-- for all to steer in the same direction-- and for all to "pull their own weight".

Doesn't always work that way-- but when it does, it sure is sweet.

-Russ H.

[mkzhang]

Now that's all said and done, its great to have a good team, makes being the leader easier as well.

So great, you got a team together to do something but what if you have people on your team who are lazy and not motivated, or their agenda is to move against you, where your failure is the chance for them to succeed. So from there, what defines your leadership skills?

BTW this is not targeted, or flaming at you, Russ.

[Russ H]

So great, you got a team together to do something but what if you have people on your team who are lazy and not motivated, or their agenda is to move against you, where your failure is the chance for them to succeed.

Again, speaking just for our teams-- if one succeeds, we all succeed.

If one tries to backstab, or doesn't pull their weight, we talk to them about it-- privately.

We tell them it works this way: 3 strikes, and you're out.

First strike is the verbal warning.

Second strike is being written up.

Next time-- Fired.

After a few "talks" (giving them more than one verbal), we write them up.

It seldom goes past that.

If it does, we bring in the Donald.

Or at least, we channel his spirit.

Anyone who works against the team is not missed-- esp if we replace them w/a team player.

-Russ H.

PS Great question. Never took this as a flame, or aimed at me. I'll be the first to admit I know diddly about management and team building. I've just had to learn it-- and do it-- to forward my PLAN.

[djs13]

When I ran for office in 2009, the mayor of a large city bordering my town told me that a good leader still gets respect from some of his/her biggest enemies. That quote changed the way I gave people advice or constructive criticism.

I think alot of people are sometimes aggressive or rude in demeaning another person's idea in business or in government. Even if you totally disagree with the fundamentals of it, I think there is still a way to show that you listened to the other person with an open mind even though you disagree.

This mayor also told me that whenever you fail in life (mostly in terms of an election, but can also be used in business), don't blame anyone and run (or try) again! It seems so basic, but when good leaders fail they bounce back up and don't waste time on the past. I think this idea makes a great leader and is often overlooked.

[mkzhang]

Well put.

I just brought it up because lately I've been in situations where I am in the position of authority, but not the "source of revenue" to put it frankly. I have no direct threat to them.

People just plainly are not motivated.

Its a big pain, some times I don't really understand it myself haha.

Speaking only for myself and our teams, we DO share where we're going-- and why. And we ask them for feedback. We try to give them as much of the "backstory" that they want/need (in other words, we try to answer "why are we doing this?").

We do NOT share personal things w/our business team. And there are other things that we do not share-- our daily bank balance, applications for loans, current FICO scores, etc.

In other words, my life is not an open book to our team members.

But we do share with them our goals, and our passions-- if they are pertinent to what the team is working on.

We want them to have "ownership" of where we're going. We want them to "drive and steer the bus" with us.

Again, I don't really see myself as a leader of others. But I don't see myself as a follower, either.

I pretty much decide what direction I want to go in, and figure out how to do it.

And if I need others to help, I work on building a team.

The team knows that their work is integral to the success of all.

So besides "buying into the dream", there is peer pressure for all to succeed-- for all to steer in the same direction-- and for all to "pull their own weight".

Doesn't always work that way-- but when it does, it sure is sweet.

-Russ H.

[GlobalWealth]

There are several good posts here, but there is one thing that seems to be missing.

If you run a company, or are the boss at work, or have a family, or are in any other head role, you are a leader. But the question is, "are you a good leader?". You can run your company and be bad leader, but you are not realizing all the success you could if you were a good leader.

A good leader:
Leads by example
Does what he says, says what he does
Sees the bigger picture
Leads by his vision and brings others into the vision
Gets his hands dirty when necessary
Lets subordinates do their job

A bad leader:
Leads by fear
Is inconsistent
Focuses on the negative
Is unwillingly to "get in the trenches"
Micromanages

Certainly there are other things to add to both lists, but if you have traits of a bad leader, you need to find a way to change your ways. You will never have a loyal team, or likely a team that stays, with those traits. Many of us probably have good and bad traits and we are all a work in progress, but if you can honestly evaluate yourself and determine your weaknesses, you can begin to correct them.

One other thing worth mentioning is success. An entrepreneur should never feel guilty for achieving success. Always remember, you are the risk taker and you deserve the rewards for your success. Of course you have a team of people supporting your business (if you have employees), but they are paid a salary, benefits, bonus, etc for their work. They did not take the risk and they do not deserve the large reward. As you accumulate wealth, this will become an issue at one point or another as you will have a longstanding employee who says something like, "I have been with you for 6 years building this business, I deserve to make XXX$." While this may be painful, this should be his last day. Let him go. He has now reached a mental point of entitlement and a feeling of being your equal. (of course this is assuming he is being paid a fair salary for his job). He is not your equal. He did not max out his credit cards, 2nd or 3rd mortgage his house, and live on ramen noodles for 3 years. He did not take the risk and doesn't deserve the large rewards. This is where a good leader makes the hard decisions.

My final thought on this is the good leader makes those hard decisions. They are called hard decsions for a reason, they aren't easy. But your job as a leader is to protect the company and the livelihood of your employees. You will be forced with making a decision like mentioned above at some point and it will be in the best interest of you and your company to make the hard choice. I had a manager working for me a few years ago (he was actually family to make it worse and worked for me for 8 years) and he made some bad choices and one of our biggest clients (about $3m/year in revenue) told me they no longer wanted that person involved with their account. I could have kept him with the company to deal with other accounts, but that was the wrong decision. It would have set a very bad example for the company and shown other employees I was more interested in nepotism than business. I fired him. It was tough, but it was right for the company. A good leader will be faced with choices. Your team looks at you to see how you react. Make sure you set the right example.

[tchandy]

This is a great post. Speed ++. I never want the spot light but try to provide input when I can. Since I finished college and held a few positions as president in various organizations and now I'm in the Army as a leader, leadership came with the job. I don't do it because I wanted to be president or in charge of a group, but because someone needs to take charge and give others direction. It's not always glamorous and there are days when you have no one to vent to depending on the size of your organization.

I feed off of input from my team. I don't think I'm the smartest guy but there are others who know more than me on various topics. I just ask them questions so I can make a better decision. So from that, communication is important.

The second part is passion. You have to love what you do. Not everyday is going to smell live roses. There will be some bad days and you have to get through it no matter how bad it is.

Lastly, you have to have a vision on where you want the group to go.
Your vision is the overarching theme for your group. With that you can stay focused and on track.

My two cents,
Tom

[AroundTheWorld]

I'm surprised no one has brought up Good To Great. Especially you, Russ since I heard about the book from you!

While the book is about a study of companies that went from "good" to "great" it is really about leadership. I found many of the things in that book to be very sound, and they applied to our own lives...

Here are some of my "random" thoughts on leading.

Put together the right team - the right people. Attitude is more important than a certain skill set. A person can always learn a skill, but an attitude doesn't change often.

Take input - in fact... debate vigorously. Then make the decision. Once the decision is made, never waiver.

Lay out the direction, expectations, priorities and deadlines very clearly.

Give people responsibility. They get smarter when you do.

[Gymjunkie]

Found this great quote from article about leaders:

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." – Jim Horning

The article is The 7 Signs of a Leader - A Must Read