Leadership and Decisions

Here you are, the Leader of your group! The word "Leader" is fairly popular these days, but does it always apply? I'm not sure. One thing I know for certain, no matter how much the word Leader is used, you still may not find "Leaders" where you work. I know many people who still deal with "Bosses" who strictly hand out "orders" and tasks. Anyway, now that you're a Leader, where do you start? While I'm no "leadership" expert, I'll tell you where I would start. Take pen or pencil to paper, or electronic pen to tablet, and write out an evaluation of the people on your team. Gut instincts based on what you have seen and heard. Once the evaluation is complete, mark out some items where the individual could use improvement. Again, go with your gut instincts, but don't be confrontational. Be honest while showing you care. And if you really don't care, well then, maybe someone is a problem who should be removed. This is a very tough part of leadership. As part of the evaluations, you will identify the person or people who you need to give some latitude to make decisions. Here's another tricky part, they then go out and make a decision which either does not end well, or you do not agree with. Well.... poop happens! The best part of these wrong or poorly executed decisions is the learning opportunity which follows. Quite simply mistakes are there to be learned from. At some point in every life, a poor or mistaken decision has been made. The lesson you learned may have been harsh, but you learned and likely did not forget the pain associated with the decision. Same goes for the business world. I was once told, "If you've never made a mistake, then you've never done anything." I agree! When you put faith in your people to make a decision, let them make it. If the end result is nor great, the discussion about the mistake needs to be private. Chastising a mistake publicly is a sure-fire way to ensure another decision will never be made by that individual. Also, stand behind the person who made the mistake if you're called to the carpet to justify it. A mistake was made, and a remedy was put in place. Yes, from my own experience, I can tell you this will not work with every person who is "in charge" but, hopefully, the people who you work with will see the support you offered and understand the outcome. Leading is about more than offering Counsel and throwing around witty and philosophical quotes, it has a great deal to do with support and defense of you people. Do not fear the wrong decision, learn from it.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely mine and do not represent the beliefs or opinions of Quanta Services or any of its known associates.