Leaders get perks. Leaders have power. Leaders have wide latitude in what they want to do and what they assign to others. That much is obvious, most notably to the leaders themselves. But what is often swept under the rug and omitted from corporate policies, is that leaders have responsibilities to you. In fact, great leaders are best defined by what they give far more than by what they get. What are a leaders most important responsibilities: 1. Test an assignment, a project or a duty before you assign it to someone else. When Southwests former CEO Herb Kelleher was writing the playbook for his airlines flight attendants, he first served as one himself. The peanut-serving co-founder starred in a TV commercial about this but most of all he established the underpinnings of a world-class culture. Herb won the love and loyalty of his team by demonstrating that he would do what they were asked to do, even if others thought it beneath the stature of a CEO. 2. Be the last to take a raise or to accept a bonus. Only after all of your people are treated as fairly as possible, if there is still money in the bank, then reward yourself. 3. Never allow customers or clients to diminish, embarrass or disrespect a member of your team. The greatest show of support you can display is to terminate abusive relationships and forego the financial gains that went with them in order to preserve the dignity of the people that you lead. 4. On the flip side, do not permit the bad-mouthing of challenging customers and clients. I have always told my teams that when a client complains -- even if the issue seems unfounded or absurd -- Lets put it on the table and discuss it. In virtually every case, there is at least a kernel of truth in the complaint. And we should be big enough to learn from it. 5. Take the time to mentor those who genuinely want to learn from you. If someone working for you wants to grow, you have a responsibility to help them...even if they are new to the business and far down the pecking order. 6. Related to this, have the courage to let the best and brightest on your team run past you. To exceed your capabilities. To take on the major deals/challenges/relationships you might have clung to in the past. Great leaders make themselves dispensable Link: https://linkedin/today/post/article/20140923110630-10136502-the-six-responsibilities-of-leaders?trk=mp-reader-card&_mSplash=1
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 08:25:32 +0000