We often mistake love for a feeling...It's not a feeling, it's an action. In fact, it's many actions and it's leadership at it's finest!
Before I get to the actions that make up love, let's define love...Love is patient and kind. It doesn't envy or boast, it's never proud. It doesn't dishonor others, it's not self-seeking or selfish, it's not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn't delight in evil or dishonest gain. Instead, it rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres...Love never fails.
Leaders need to love people...Yes, they have to care enough to want the best for those they lead.
It's even love that gives them the toughness and hard edge they need to challenge people to be their best, to set and raise standards of acceptable behavior. This is true in parenting, business, sports and religion...It's a leaders love that powers their belief and confidence in people. It's love that emboldens them to challenge people to learn, grow and improve. It's a leaders love that gives them the courage and strength to hold people accountable and it's love that helps them be open, honest and transparent.
It's a leaders love for people that causes those people to trust them and follow them in the first place. It's love that gives the vision a leader needs to know where they are going and how to help others get there with them.
When leaders fail it's because they didn't love people or lost their love of people. It's love that enables a leader to influence and inspire people to be more than they would be without them.
If you want to be a leader...Love more!
By Mike Moore
Be accountable...Take responsibility! Create and support an open, positive, risk taking environment. Have the courage to be open, honest and direct. Don't send messages, say what you mean and mean what you say. Focus on solutions, not fault finding or assigning blame. See unwanted results as an opportunity to coach and teach to improve individuals and the organization. Don't be defensive. You don't have to have all the answers...Just help people find them.
BE EXTRAORDINARY...REJECT MEDIOCRITY
Set and raise standards...Keep raising the bar. The lowest form of behavior you allow defines who you are as a leader. Blur the lines between job assignments...The mission is everyone's job. Don't allow average attitudes, thinking or behavior. Assign and monitor all work to teach and coach using specifics situations. Hold people accountable...Starting with yourself!
BE CARING...DO WHAT'S BEST FOR PEOPLE
Coach attitudes, teach skills and manage actions to help people learn, grow and improve...Don't overreact! Make people more important than results and manage people's attitudes before they become actions that produce poor results. Don't accept or allow average thinking or behavior...Reject mediocrity! Care enough about the person to challenge them to do what they don't want to do, that will help them grow, improve and become the best they can be. Be a servant, do what's best for people don't just try to please them.
BE AWARE...PAY ATTENTION
Make people more important than things, results or accomplishments. Make taking time for people a priority to validate and show your respect for them. Ask people's opinions...Pay attention and listen. Reward extra effort...Pay attention. Make people feel important...Pay attention and pay complements. Don't avoid conflict, it will serve you and the people you care about, but be kind, compassionate and respectful. Listen to people to validate them and their efforts, growth and accomplishments. Did I mention pay attention? Be mindful that people will treat each other and your customers the way you treat them.
BE A CHANGE AGENT
Be a change advocate...Lead the change. Encourage others to embrace change! Ask people how they and the organization can improve. Question everything...Never except or settle for the status quo. Make learning, growing and improving the primary goal. Hold people accountable to change so they'll learn, grow and improve...When they don't or won't, then, change your people.
By Mike Moore
We've all heard actions speak louder than words. That's because what we do, not what we know or say, produces our results. You've also probably heard insanity defined as, 'Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result'. I want to add to that, 'Doing something the easiest way and expecting excellent results'. So, it's actions that separate mediocrity from excellence.
These are truths we all know but only peak performers and leaders use to their greatest advantage. By definition, mediocrity creeps up on and overcomes the majority of people and has to be overcome to become extraordinary. You cannot expect mediocrity, or the status quo, to produce excellence.
Knowing these truths, why do people keep doing what they've been doing while wanting better results, a better life or a better company? Why do the majority hold on to and even fight to protect their routines or status quo? Our habits or routines either serve us by generating the actions that produce the results we want, or trap us in our own status quo which keeps us doomed to produce the same, or, even worse, diminishing results.
What drives people to create the routines or habits that fill their day? Why do most people create routines that lead them to produce average results? Why do most people in the same field of endeavor act so similar and have similar routines? The answer to these questions will give you the power to overcome average by creating new routines that will produce improved results.
Uncovering the motives that produce your daily routine is the first step in changing it. Knowing how to disrupt your routine will allow you to break free from the habits that are holding you back. By managing the motive of your routine, you'll empower yourself to generate the new routines and habit needed to improve your results.
For over 20 years I've been studying people, their motives and routines. I've been interviewing individuals and asking groups of people why they do what they do each day at work. This has left me with one definitive reason average performers create their routines. The answer is to find the easiest, or most efficient way to do what they have to do each day.
As long as a person's motive is to find the easiest, most efficient or most comfortable way to do somethings, they will never produce more than mediocre results. The easiest way to do something rarely produces the best result. In fact, it's usually the worst way.
Most people working at the same job will create similar routines that produce almost the same results. They will avoid the same challenging tasks, the one's that produce the best results.
Sometimes, more creative and intelligent people use these skills to find easier ways to do their work. This often produces below average results from what should be top performers. Other highly skilled people may produce just above average results, while doing their job the easiest way but never producing excellence even with their superior skills. People's motives and routines must change to raise their performance and make them extraordinary.
To overcome mediocrity or the status quo, the motive driving your routines has to change from, finding the easiest way to do your job, to finding the best way to do your job.
Changing up your routines also keeps you from becoming bored, losing energy or being so focused on doing what you usually do (your own status quo) that you develop tunnel vision and miss new opportunities.
Improved self-esteem and self-confidence along with increased passion and energy are some of the additional side benefits to, 'Doing things you don't want to do.'
Passion and curiosity to challenge the status quo always proceeds finding the best way to do anything that produces excellence.
By Mike Moore
Every leader needs to be aware of the traits and relationships that instill the attitudes, inspire the actions and increase the skills of the people they are responsible to lead. Below are five key traits of leaders that will unlock your people power and help you become a great
It takes more than being honest to be trustworthy. Honest is a first step but being open and direct in your communication is also necessary. In addition, if you have to be asked more than once to get something done you aren’t trustworthy. If your people are going to trust you and therefore believe in you, they need to know they can depend on you.
A leader needs to set high standards and then hold people accountable to meet those standards. People want to be part of something they can be proud of. When standards aren’t set and people aren’t held accountable, good people become discouraged and leave your company. Without high standards and accountability, you’ll be left with only mediocre performers who don’t like to be held accountable or take responsibility.
To lead effectively you’ll have to choose to care enough about your people to coach their attitudes, before they become poor actions, which produce unacceptable results. Stop focusing on things and focus on people. You cannot lead things, only people, and if you want things to improve, people have to improve first.
Make time for your people. The excuse, “I’m to busy”, isn’t good enough. Pay attention and listen to them to validate them. In addition, they usually know more about your business than you think they do and often more than you do.
Don’t just embrace change! Be the champion for change. This will keep people motivated, energized and renewed. Managing change keeps veteran employees from becoming complacent, helps people keep learning, growing and improving and ensures your business will remain relevant to your customers.
By Mike Moore