Care For Your People

Empower your people to develop their own leadership skills.

The people within your own group--whether that group is a company, department, or team--are critical for achieving your vision. Motivating them, caring for them, and leading them is your primary duty.

Make sure they are with you. Once you are certain your people understand the vision, the mission, and the steps to be taken en route, create a sense of urgency about your shared endeavors. Keep your people excited about what they're doing.

Be prepared for resistance to change. Most people dislike change, even when they know the change is for the better. Rather than ignore that fear of change, recognize and deal with it openly.

Acknowledge and celebrate successes. And continue to celebrate successes, right up to the end. Celebrations can be large and small. A cheer for all, a lunch or picnic, t-shirts or caps--anything to keep spirits up.

Keep people informed. People don't like feeling excluded from the news of progress or of problems. By keeping your people updated, they will be ready to help solve problems as they arise.

Remain committed to the vision. Your commitment will be a model for everyone in the group. If they see you working hard to attain the goals, they will join you.

Empower your people to develop their own leadership skills. The benefits of supporting and trusting others can be enormous. You will gain loyalty as well as experienced and productive employees.

ACTION POINT: Understand the importance of caring for and developing your people.

Managing Oneself

...most of us will have to learn to manage ourselves.

History's great achievers--a Napoleon, a da Vinci, a Mozart--have always managed themselves. That, in large measure, is what makes them great achievers.  But they are rare exceptions, so unusual both in their talents and their accomplishments as to be considered outside the boundaries of ordinary human existence.  

Now, most of us, even those of us with modest endowments, will have to learn to manage ourselves.  We will have to learn to develop ourselves.  We will have to develop ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution. And we will have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a 50-year working life, which means knowing how and when to change the work we do.

ACTION POINT: Develop your self in the area where you can make the greatest contribution.