Continuing my talk on the keys to effective leadership, (Listen, Educate, Assist, Direct, Encourage, Respect), I have talked about the importance of Listening to your team and Educating them. It is important to listen to your team and give them your full attention. This will gain their respect of you as their leader. It is also important to educate them. You want to succeed and you want them to succeed. So educate them so that they are not set up to fail.
Now that you have had some time to think about those steps, lets move on to the next 2 keys to effective leadership, ASSIST, DIRECT
ASSIST: : A mark of a good leader is one that will not ask a team member to do anything that they as the leader, would not be willing to do, or have not done themselves, if they are capable of doing so. You hire people because you need the help and do not have time to do everything on your own. However, there are times that your team will need your help. As hard as it to put down whatever paperwork you are working on to help them, it is very much so necessary. At the automotive shop that I work at, I have enough paperwork and administrative duties to keep me there 20 hours a day, but when a team member asks for my assistance, the administrative stuff is put on hold. I can be behind my desk one minute and under a car the next. This sets an example for the group and shows them how serious I am about working as a team. Lead by example. When I need them to help me in the office, or another team member needs their help, they are willing to lend a hand. They know by my example that teamwork is a must.
DIRECT: To direct your team is not to call them to attention, order them around, or do the task yourself. It is to guide them on the most efficient way to do it. This is a team effort too. “Your way or the highway” will most likely send your team packing. The best example that I can give for directing the team, is when you are handling a customer complaint. When one of my team members comes to me with a customer problem, I do not jump in and handle it right away. I give them the opportunity to resolve the issue. I ask the team member to explain the situation from their point of view. I then ask them to look at it from the customer’s point of view. I then ask them to create an action item that to present to the customer to resolve the issue with out losing the client. I found this way to be effective. Using this method, about 95% of our customer issues are resolved with out my intervention. Did I know about it? Yes I did, but all I had to do was get my team member going in the right direction to resolve it. I had to defuse my team member, not both the team member and the customer as well. This installs confidence in the team member too.
Assisting and Directing your team earns you respect as a leader. A great leader leads be example and is the best team player. Next time I will wrap up this series with the last 2 pieces of the puzzle. Encourage and Respect!