Be Tough-Minded on the Issues without Being Brutal With People

Unfortunately, many Executives I’ve met during my career tend to think that you can’t be tough-minded on issues without being brutal towards the people on their team. I have found that counterproductive.

Don’t get me wrong, times are tough and they call for tough-minded leaders. Leaders who want to win and are willing to do what it takes to win with a sense of urgency and who are willing to lead their teams towards greatness.

Here are some ideas that have worked for me in doing this:

1.     You must demonstrate that you care about your employee’s agenda’s before you can expect that they will care about the company’s agenda.

2.     Constantly interact with your team. Ask these two questions often: “What can we do better?” and “How can I help?”

3.     Implement some of the things that you hear in your team interactions. Use these to create team “wins” that can be built upon to create bigger “wins”.

4.     Set high standards. Challenge your team to greatness, create a connection with them and push them to achieve extraordinary results.

5.     Don’t accept people as they are. See your co-workers’ potential and care enough to push them past self-imposed limitations to realize that potential.

6.     Think “we” and not “me”.

As I discussed in my last blog entry, use unplanned “interruptions” and your “management by walking around” as an opportunity to offer help and move the business forward by pushing your team to ever greater accomplishments. Use these six ideas to be tough on the issues while not being tough on your people. If you had these types of interactions with your teammates two or three times a day that would mean 500 to 750 times per year of you extending your influence throughout your team. I can’t imagine that not having a large positive influence towards winning and team greatness.