You are the boss now it is all your fault

I have been talking a lot about leadership in several contexts lately. I wanted to gather all the thoughts together in one place. Maybe you can help add to this list.

Take the Blame

As a leader you are responsible for what happens on your watch. Failure of a project is always a failure of leadership. Even if you did not make the mistake, you either assigned the task to someone who was not properly trained; did not provide adequate time, resources, or support; or did not manage expectations well. No matter what happened you were given a position of responsibility and that means you are responsible.

Sure, it is tough listening to someone tell me I should have done something differently when I know full-well what my team-member should have done, but my job is to take the hit. People are willing to follow someone else precisely so that they do not get yelled at when things go wrong. If you pass the buck you are not keeping your end of the deal.

Give the praise

You take the blame, so you take the credit too, right? Wrong! You could take the credit but you will not keep your followers for long. They are working hard and you could not have done it without them. They did not have to follow you and they do not have to keep following you.

It is also makes a huge statement when you are brave enough to stand-up for your team in the tough times and give them all the credit in good times. It takes a lot of confidence in yourself to do that, and others recognize that even without saying it. If you have that much confidence in yourself others are more likely to have confidence in you too.

Praise in public

Praise is a huge motivator. Praise is not just nice. Call me Machiavelli, but it is also your most effective tool for getting maximum productivity. Praise in private doubles productivity. Praise in public increases it exponentially.

Correct in private

Someone who is reprimanded in public will either rebel or will adjust behavior but become cautious to the point of no longer being very effective. If, on the other hand, you can talk to them in private and let them know that you are calling this to their attention for the purpose of increasing their skills leading to promotion or other desired outcomes, they will be much more likely to listen.

Watch everyone’s back. Don’t stab it.

Say only nice things about other people when they are not around. This goes for your team-members, boss, and even your competitors inside and outside the company. This advise is totally for your own benefit. What you say about others, says more about you than it does about the person you are discussing.

It is a matter of trust. If I hear you criticize others when they are not around it makes wonder what you say about me behind my back. If all I ever hear from you is how great your friends and followers are, I am going to respect you more because you are associated with such amazing people. If your friend is a successful business person, I want to be your friend, so I can be successful too. If your friend is a wanna be, I don’t wanna be around you or I might catch whatever your friends and, by association, you have.

Play on words. Don’t prey on people

I explained teasing to our children by describing it as tickling the brain. We enjoy a good bit of joking on our family, but we focus making fun of language not of people. If you tease people it might not hurt at first but it is easy to get carried away or to wear them down and hurt them over a long period of time. The going too far is like a tickle that leaves scratch marks or makes it hard to breathe. Hurting someone over time is more like giving them a callous. You are creating a hard layer of hurt feelings that separates you from them making difficult for you to lead them effectively.

We have an awesome language that makes puns and all other sorts of word play possible. You can have limitless fun, without ever having to resort to insults. Sure it make take a little more thought, but you do not want to be known as small minded anyway. Show them how smart you are. Make jokes that are not hurtful and are genuinely funny.

Thoughts?

What advice would you add for new and developing leaders? Click here to comment…

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