THE ONLY LEADERSHIP ADVICE YOU WILL EVER NEED!

The E in L.E.A.D.E.R.S.: EXPECTATIONS

“Setting the Bar Sets the Tone”

Can you imagine playing the game of American football, without knowing the rules of the game? From the name, you would assume that the game is primarily about a ball that comes into contact with the foot. If you were sent out on the field without the rules and without ever having watched a game, your expectation might be that you were to kick the ball past all those people and take it to the other end of the field. Well, if you were in Europe, that might be the case, but the game would probably be soccer, which is actually called “football” in French, Spanish, Italian and German.

Sports are often used as metaphors for our experiences, and in this example the metaphor demonstrates that the name of the game can often be misleading. The only way to play the game properly is to know the rules, and to understand the expectations– which may be that you should somehow get the ball over the goal line, but not by kicking it. Unfortunately, all to often in the world of work, people are put into jobs and are given far too little guidance as to what the expectations are, hence they really do not know what or where the goal is. This is where every leader must start…You must define what the expectations are for the unit and for every job in the unit. Without expectations, how can your staff know when they have achieved success?

The importance of expectations seems obvious, yet far too many leaders do not focus enough attention on this crucial first step in leading. The key to setting expectations is that they must be clear and specific, so that every associate assigned to that job understands them and is held accountable for them. It is impossible to hold your associates accountable if they do not know what is expected of them; it is also impossible to hold them accountable if you have no way of objectively determining if the expectations were achieved. Every expectation must be measurable, which provides you and your unit with an objective assessment of success and failure.

Much has been written about goal setting, and even more has been written about how the goals get established. It is not our objective here to sell one process or another. There are those who believe that goals that are set mutually by the associate, and therefore “owned by the associate” are far better than those that are mandated by the boss. Others believe that clarity, understanding and acceptance of the expectations are the essential elements that make for effective goal setting. Whatever the management style or philosophy, it is clear that without expectations being set, your staff will flounder. In that situation, you and your unit’s performance will flounder as well. You must, in what ever way works for you and your associates, make certain that every job, and eventually every person in those jobs, clearly have expectations that guide the work.

THE ONLY LEADERSHIP ADVICE YOU WILL EVER NEED!

The L in L.E.A.D.E.R.S.: LOVE

“Friends Like but Leaders Love”

How many times have you heard aspiring managers say, “I want to be in management because I like people”? The simple truth is, someone who does not “like people” is better suited to being a recluse than to being a leader of others. On the other hand, I believe that liking people can also be a major impediment to being an effective leader.

I suspect that many of you are now questioning my logic, so let me make it even worse. I believe that it is just great for you to like your dearest friends, but you must not like your staff, you must love them. I have not chosen the word “love” to be inflammatory. I truly mean love, not like. The difference between what I mean, and what you may be thinking is the key.

When I say love, obviously I do not mean erotic love. Nor do I mean the kinds of love that you have for your spouse or significant other; nor do I mean what you feel for your family members. Indeed, those kinds of love are (generally) unconditional.

Some of you know that “Aloha” in Hawaiian means Hello; some know it means Goodbye; however, it actually means neither of those, it really means Love. The Hawaiian culture uses the word “Aloha” to mean a type of love that we can have–and I believe should have–for all of humanity. This Aloha is the love we feel for other humans because they are uniquely human and that they are the most important beings on the planet. This love of people as humans is what I want you to have for your staff. You should love your staff so much that you care for them simply because they are humans and you want the best for them. On a societal level, that may mean the joy of liberty, equality, justice and the pursuit of happiness. In your organization, it should mean that you want them to achieve excellence in their jobs so that your unit achieves peak performance. What is good for their success will also be good for the unit’s success.

As a leader, do not like your staff. That may seem radical, but it is an essential element of your ability to lead. Liking a staff member may cause you to ignore mistakes made; and by disliking a staff member, you may ignore the things that are done well. Liking or disliking can cause bias in your thinking, and as leaders we must always remain focused on helping our associates to leverage their strengths and improve their weaknesses. If we can not eliminate bias, we can not accomplish that critical goal.