12 Ways Senior Leaders Can Ensure Business Runs Smoothly When They’re Away
I don’t want to pass up the opportunity to share an article I read about 12 Ways Senior Leaders Can Ensure Business Runs Smoothly When They’re Away. Here are a few highlights:
Guiding a company’s operations and its team comes with many challenges, keeping senior leaders engaged every hour of the day. Like everyone else, though, there will be times when a leader has to be away from the job, whether because they’re on vacation, traveling for business, recovering from illness or another reason. That’s why it’s essential to have the structure and plans in place to ensure the company can run smoothly—even in your absence.
1. Focus On Structure, Systems And Strategy
For any company to run smoothly, there are three major things that have to be in place. The first is structure—a proper structure ensures that there is someone accountable for ensuring all tasks that need to be done are done. The second is systems, or an outline of the “how.” Detail how the work that needs to be done gets done (for example, in HR systems, detail how the company hires and fires). The third is strategy, which is the competitive advantage of the company. -?Othman Abdulrasheed ,?Business Leadership Consulting
2. Don’t Just Manage—Lead
Shift from managing to actually leading. Leaders set the trajectory, motivate and empower. They ensure their people are equal to the tasks at hand, providing the learning and resources to execute their mission. Senior leaders often fail to make this leap by relying on the habits that have led to success to date. The shift to leading requires a shift in self-image and habitual action. -?Tevis Trower ,?Balance Integration Corporation
3. Give Everyone An Opportunity To Lead
One of the things high-performing leaders can do to sustain momentum even in their absence is to commit to the ongoing grooming of their people for leadership. This requires that everyone is trained and given an opportunity to test their capacity to lead. Those who consistently show visible improvement in performance can be given more responsibility to lead. -?Abiola Salami ,?CHAMP
4. Create Confidence Through Monitored Leading Opportunities
An executive can create opportunities for leaders to “run the place” while they are in the room, creating confidence for moments when the boss is out. This could include rotating business review leadership and creating co-ownership of high-profile initiatives. The objective is to establish a shared understanding of business metrics and an agreed-upon protocol to course-correct when needed. -?Christine Grimm ,?Aria Consulting International
5. Have Employees Create Role-Based Continuity Plans
I recommend that senior leaders have their employees create a business continuity plan for their job roles. For tasks where the senior leader is critical, they should identify a backup plan or resource for when the leader is unavailable. The business continuity plan has two advantages: documentation of role operations as well as directives for when key stakeholders are not available. -?Karan Rhodes ,?Shockingly Different Leadership (SDL)
6. Hire A Trustworthy Team And Prepare Them To Lead
Build a wonderful team! Everyone needs time off, vacation and rest, and top leaders are no different. To ensure that the business thrives while you’re away, you must have a trustworthy and competent team in place. Surround yourself with wonderful people, develop them carefully and delegate to them to help them be ready. And when it is time, let them amase you with their competence, eagerness and loyalty. -?Agata Dulnik, Ph.D. ,?Global Leadership Experts
Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspective. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected]; or call me on 0467 749 378.
Thanks,
Robert