As a leadership trainer, the final day of a series of classes can be bittersweet. The class has bonded and benefitted from learning and sharing other’s experiences. Personally, I make the last day count. Not with a whimper, but with a bang. The final class is a crucial student retention milepost.
That being said, a final class I conducted a few years back, took a memorable turn, and it had nothing to do with a graduation speech I typically used to send off the leaders.
At the end of class, just after I provided the graduation speech on how much power leaders possess in creating a positive place to work, my primary contact asked me to have a seat. He then gave me a small token of their appreciation for the knowledge I bestowed on their leaders. It was a list of quotes I had repeatedly emphasized during the class series. These quotes are simple to remember. Since I pride my business image and brand on making the complex simple, I was genuinely pleased to see leaders gain so much from uncommon, common-sense expressions. I keep this list of quotes from my client posted in my home office.
Why am I sharing this list with you today? Two reasons: Regardless of our age, we all want to know we are making a difference. It is one of the strings that bond all generations. Also, I share this list with you today because I think leaders on all levels need a refresher. A famous coach once said, “I have to tell my players 7 times what I expect…and that is just for the bright players on my team.” Yes, repetition is the mother of all learning.
See it, Say it!
Team members like to hear on the spot how they are doing. No team member should have to wait until a performance review to hear how they are doing.
To be unclear, is to be unkind!
Everyone wants to know if they have a piece of spinach wedged between their teeth. Not letting people know how they are doing because you are afraid of hurting their feelings is not being nice to them.
Practicing management without a license!
When leaders make a choice not to apply the fundamentals of leadership and treat people with dignity and respect.
Common sense isn’t common!
What’s common to you may not be common to your employees. Team members have not been raised in your house.
It’s not what I want, but what the job requires!
Leaders don’t make things personal with employees. Focus on the job description.
If you are not coaching it, you are allowing it!
Leaders, if you are unwilling to approach a team member over the behavior or performance, your silence is projecting agreement.
Slim and none, slim just left town!
This is a comic way of saying there is no chance or possibility of something happening. Example: Leaders often do not recognize employees because they are afraid of overdoing it. When’s the last time you heard an employee say, I quit, get too darn much recognition? Slim and none, slim just left town.
Are you unwilling or unable?
Is a team member lacking the skill or will to do what you want them to do?
Delegating goes one way; it goes south!
If a leader attempts to delegate a task and then turns away at the first sign of friction, they are forgetting they have the power to delegate and reprioritize team member’s tasks.
These cliches or expressions might sound simple, but it is amazing how often leaders forget to apply them. The most effective ways to work with of all generations are simple things to do and keep in mind Leaders Are MADE, Not Born.
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