Is anyone else tired of the attitudes we are seeing from some of our leaders in this country today? New isn't always better when it comes to mindsets and it is time we get some old school attitudes back in the minds of leaders to restore companies to strong growing entities.
Courage
Leaders set the tone for decision making, vision and direction of an organization. If every decision is met with a pause and question of "Is it safe?" bold moves are not going to happen. To compete in the global market, bold moves are required and yes mistakes are going to happen but waiting on someone else to lead the charge is not being a leader. Take courage in your decision making. Have the internal strength to take risk and try new things. A little reckless abandon is needed when working toward new growth and finding fresh ideas.
Confidence
I don't want a surgeon to tell me "I think I can do that operation successfully." I don't want a pilot to tell me "I am pretty sure we won't have any more technical difficulties in this flight." And I don't want an organization leader to tell me "We can't spend any money on X even though we really need it."
If you are not confident you can't lead a company through these challenging times. You have no business in a leadership position. Confidence is required by the one everyone else is looking to for guidance. Confidence is what makes the impossible possible over and over again. Confidence establishes believability in the mission and vision of the organization. Without those employees are no longer performers, they are paycheck collectors waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
Commitment
Golden parachutes are for people with no courage, confidence and commitment. If your leader will only take the job with that clause, dump him. Commitment means a willingness to ride the rough ride as well as the calm ride. It means stability and focus. It means the leader is planning on making the best things happen and not leaving until it is accomplished. It means personal investment. If a leader has no "skin in the game" he isn't committed. A golden parachute bail out is a safety net, meaning the leader is expecting to fail and wants a soft landing.
Centered
The mantra for today's business world is life balance. Not in my leader. I want a mono-maniacal focus on his or her passion which should be the position they hold in their company. Life balance is for the masses, not for the best of the best. Olympics athletes aren't balanced -- they are nuts for their sport! If you want to be the ultimate at something, face it: you have to be almost obsessive about it.
Creative
When I am working on strategic planning with a CEO and she tells me she just wants to dust off last year's plan, there is no creative motivation. Think what changed since last year? We are in a completely different business environment. What will the business world look like in three years? Does anyone have the comfort level to just dust off a plan from the previous year? Everything needs reviewed, reworked and revamped from year to year. Creativity is king in the market place for all businesses. If the leader in your organization has forgotten how important creativity is to the success of a business, remind them. Place a box of crayons on her desk; maybe she'll get the point.
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