In a down economy, when the job market is tight, it’s even more important than ever that senior leaders “do more with less.” This is especially true during the slow times. Leaders need to look and see what they do. What is it that you do every day? Do you have a regular schedule that you work and are you performing in a traditional manner? Do your staff members seem to do their jobs without too much direction? Has the quality of their work been affected by the way you are directing them? What can you do to improve performance? Leaders need to have their eyes opened.
I’ll give you an example. I was at the local shopping center when I saw a Skateboard store employee-test. Of course I thought, “How nice for him to have a chance to show off his skills by taking a test in front of the store’s customers!” Actually not unlike taking a skill test, it was a chance for the salesman to show off the many talents, skills, strengths and weaknesses of his sport. As a leader, the skater was trying to demonstrate, impress, and brand his talents to theme Sam’s and Bing’s customers. A chance to show off!
Do you “get out there” with your staff, do you involve them in the decision making? Senior leaders get involved with their employees and their staff. This helps them move forward as a team. When I moved to Florida from Maine, I could not recall still how much fun I used to have around my old company. I soon found out that if you’ve got the wrong people with the right jobs then you suffer. If people are involved with you, then they are bringing their talents, strengths, interests and weaknesses to your success. Get the wrong people and you will have a significant challenge on your hands in terms of learning how to develop your business. At the top of a company, my next job was to coach the sales team. When a sales people started to hit bottom, we would as a team sit and help them find new ways to close the gap.
Recently when my daughter and I were taking a trip with Tim, his new sales manager, we felt pretty lost. We thought we knew what Tim did. He had direct reports. He was involved in the training department. He was not involved in the shipping department. He was involved with the customer service department. Tim had his own position in that company. Now with a simple sign outside his company’s shipping facility we know – Tim does have a position. He understand what it means to sell. Tim understood the importance of his sales training, his role in the shipping department and his role with the customer service.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not being critical. Tim was not the right person for this position. However to achieve results within 1-2 years, he had to move out. He needs to be the right person for the position. Is this what you want? Are you the right person? Do you have the right
problems to solve? If you are the right person in the right job, you will get paid. If you are not, you will miss your chance. Get off the hamster wheel. Stop getting involved with those that are not right for you. 5.0 million people in the United States are currently unemployed. If you’ve got a team of people struggling, then become the leader. Stop searching or flawed people. Be the leader that needs to be the one in the spotlight.
Stop. Stop the search. Get involved with your people. Get involved in what they do. Get involved. The right people will have their tension. You will learn what it is about the team that needs to be adjusted. The right people will have their good days and bad days. Make sure you’re seen with both a view that’s closer to them. Watch your meetings. Your team will then be watching you. Get jayapoker!