Responsible Leadership Pillar #3-Know Your Team Inside and Out

You, as the leader, have the responsibility to get to know your team. I am not talking about in a social setting, but professionally. What are their career goals? What motivates him/her to excel? Without knowing these things, how are you going to effectively lead your team? Getting to know your team can pay huge dividends. If your team trusts that you are interested in who they really are, they will want to work harder for you. Also, getting to know who aspires to be in your position someday will tell you who you may be able to rely on during these tough times.

In this time of distress you must work with each team member to emphasize the critical need for stellar performance and ensure each is equipped to maintain composure under incredible amounts of pressure. Who are we kidding folks? Times are hard and we as responsible leaders have to be real with our staffs. Pressure is being placed on all leaders to increase productivity. We are being asked to do more with less.

It is your responsibility to work with your team and determine who will be able to step up to the plate and deliver your team’s next home run when the game is on the line.

Leading at Your Highest Level

Ever wonder how CEOs of large companies like Houston’ s Hewlett Packard or Apple Computers succeed at leading such cutting edge businesses? Ever wonder what they have that their competitors don’t? Well, the answer is simple- leadership skills. Not just any kind of leadership, but what experts like Ken Blanchard call High Performance Leadership. Mr. Blanchard and several other scholars of management and leadership contend that the quality output of a company is directly related to the quality of that particular company’s leadership.

Leadership is about influencing others by tapping into their power and potential to impact a greater good. Leadership should not be purely about personal gain or goals; it should have a much higher objective. What is a higher objective, you may ask? It takes priority over short-term goals such as profit and is considered honorable. Leaders don’t always take employee morale and job satisfaction into consideration. For some, results are the only thing that matters. But we are talking about the next level. At most Fortune 500 companies, leadership has a higher responsibility. Developing people-both customers and employees-is of equal importance to results. Therefore, leading at the next level is all about long-term results and human connections not just the bottom line.