The other day, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a manager. Most of them were learned the hard way, and I have the scars to prove it. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes over the course of my career, but I’ve also learned something from just about every one of them. Make enough mistakes, like I have, and you begin to figure out a couple of things.
Here are a few key lessons I’ve learned over the years:
Stand up for those you lead. Being a true leader puts you out in front of the troops. And when you’re up front, you’re most likely to take a bullet — it comes with the territory. You can’t lead from behind!
There are times when you need to take a stand for the people you lead. It may mean taking the heat for a mistake made, fighting for a well deserved raise for an underpaid team member, or arguing for much needed resources, but your people must know you have their backs. It builds trust and loyalty. You simply can’t lead if you don’t back your people.
Communicate directly and consistently. You’re the leader, people want to hear from you. You must communicate with your team members directly, openly, and consistently. I’m a firm believer that honesty is the best policy when it comes to communication. Let people know what’s going on — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Many leaders try to shield or protect their people from bad news. Instead of sharing difficulties, they keep them to themselves. The problem is that it isolates the leader and prevents anyone else from helping solve the problem. Keep your people in the loop. Bring them into the inner circle and you’ll be amazed at what YOU’LL learn from communicating openly and directly with them.
Seek the counsel of others. It can be lonely at the top. You need to have people you can confide in and get advice from. It’s important to build a network of confidants you can turn to when you need input or perspective.
No one has it all figured out. No one has all the answers. No one knows everything about everything. Find bright, experienced people you trust and develop a group of advisers you can turn to when you need help. It’s not a sign of weakness, as some might think, it’s just a great way to improve your decision making.
Reward loyalty. Give me the choice between a superstar who is loyal only to himself and an average team player willing to do anything for the greater good of the team and I’ll take the team player every time. Why? Because I know the team player will be loyal to me and his teammates. He will put others before himself. That type of loyalty must be encouraged and rewarded.
Loyalty to one’s teammates and to a cause allows a group to accomplish much more than any individual could achieve regardless of talent. Sooner or later, the superstar who is only loyal to himself will have the opportunity to choose between what’s good for the team and what’s good for him. He will pick himself every time and the team will pay the price. Reward loyalty.
You can’t please ’em all. One of the responsibilities of a leader is to make decisions that affect others. The pie is only so big. Cut the slices thick and give them to a few and many will be unhappy. Cut thin slices and give them to many and still many will be unhappy. You can’t win and you must accept that. It’s part of being a leader.
If you try to please them all, you’re going to fail. Sometimes being a leader means making the tough decisions and facing the consequences. It’s just part of the job.
Do the right thing. Above everything else you need to do the right thing. The bottom line is that you need to live with yourself. It might be tempting to cut a corner or push the limits of your ethics, but it’s never worth it. Your integrity is something easily lost with one bad decision — guard it carefully because it’s precious.
Sometimes you see others who have gotten ahead despite questionable scruples and question that fairness, but you must remember they’ve sacrificed their integrity for personal gain. That’s a high price to pay! Think about Bernie Madoff for a second. At one time, he looked like he had it all, but consider how quickly and far he fell because he was willing to lie and cheat. Do the right thing.
Like I said, I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes over the years, but each mistake I’ve made has taught me a valuable lesson. Sometimes there’s no other way to learn but the hard way. Hopefully, these six ideas can help you avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made!
Beautifully said!
Great stuff!