You Are Responsible!

??One of the biggest mistakes a Leader can make is surrounding themselves with YES Men or Women only! Those that will never tell you the bad news or they think you’re wrong! The ones that point out other’s mistakes but never their own. So, if your making that mistake remedy it!

? This applies to leaders at all levels from the Lead Tender on a job, to the Chief Operating Officer of a major corporation. If you want those you lead, to give their all, quit spouting bullshit: Such as, we practice a Zero Tolerance Policy or we are in business to serve you. 1) You will not fire your most valuable employee for the same infraction as your least valuable! 2) You are in business to make money; it is your fiduciary duty! If numbers one and two are NOT correct you will not be a long-term successful leader. That is the difference between truth and bullshit.?

? Yes, we all know that at least half of all Laws, Rules and Regulations are not enforced, or are only selectively enforced! So, every time you spout things that everyone knows is bullshit, you diminish yourself and your ability to lead. No where is this more dangerous than in your companies Safety Officer! And yes we all know that safety Laws, Rules and Regulations are no different when it comes to enforcement.

? To damn many people will follow a leader, even a me, me, me bad one! We have dug the hole we are in collectively; It Is Well Past the Time We Stop Digging! Let’s be honest with ourselves and do a little Critical Thinking self-examination, each of us. When I say Critical Thinking this is what I mean: ”Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.” Start with an internal audit of your company rules and procedures. Assign people you trust to not put your business on the street. It is my bet you’ll find both rules and procedures that conflict with each other. Step one, get rid of rules and procedures that conflict, make them as clear and as simple to follow as possible.

?In my opinion, if we don’t do this we are continuing digging the hole. Once we have stopped digging, we can start figuring out how to get out of the hole we have created for years.

Post Script: If it were just you and me talking, believe me, you would hear it in a less sugar coated way!

Sincerely John Carl Roat