An Instant Guide to Leadership

1. It is the number one objective of a leader to communicate a vision. The team have to know where they are heading, and to buy into that destination. You may want to consult and research before announcing it, but from then on it’s yours. The plans about how to get there can be adapted over time, but the vision cannot.
2. Communication: tell people as much as possible about what is going on and why, both good and bad news. The more you trust them the more trustworthy they will become. Don’t try to keep secrets – word will get out anyway and then you’ll have lost the chance to be seen as the leader.
3. A key part of leadership is motivation – see separate list.
4. Build a team of different types: a good team needs a mixture, including pushy people, detail people, creative people, pessimistic people, caring people, etc. You may not like some of these types, but you need them all.
5. Have a weekly meeting with your team, so that you can maintain a grip of what’s going on, so that they don’t overlap what they’re doing, and so that they feel like a team and they feel that you are their leader. Just half an hour will be enough.
6. Delegate, which means letting people do it their way without you interfering. This can be really hard to do if you are a perfectionist, or if you worry too much about whether they will have the time to do it, or if you are so busy you don’t have time to explain it to them. Escape from the vicious circle and make the time! If they can do it 70% as well as you, or better, give it to them. Delegation is not risky if you keep an eye on progress and are there to offer support as needed.
7. Maintain a grip on progress by getting them to report to you regularly – the frequency will depend on a combination of how difficult and risky the work is and how competent they are at it.
8. Vary your leadership style according to the level of competence and motivation of each person. New starters need to be shown what to do, experienced under-performers need to be involved and consulted in order to increase their motivation, and those without either motivation or competence need to be coached: this means encouraging and working with them to increase their skills.
9. For top performers: consider empowerment, which means not checking on them at all. Trusting them! Still be available for support, but only if they ask for it.
10. Ask for feedback and listen to it. Constantly strive to be a better boss. Don’t let the power go to your head. Remember that ‘Perception is All’ so you can never say that what they think of you is wrong. If they think you could be better, you could be better.
11. Management by wandering about: spend half an hour a day seeing what’s going on. This will allow you to put your message across, and more importantly to hear theirs. But don’t get dragged into sorting out details – discuss any concerns (constructively!) with your line management on your return to your office.
12. Go back to the floor occasionally and remind yourself what the work involves. A day spent doing this will have all sorts of benefits – it sends a good signal, it allows you to take the temperature, and allows you to assess the details of the current methods and therefore to assess the quality of the management of those methods.
13. Forget about being liked. You can’t please all the people all the time. Concentrate on being fair. You may have to make unpopular decisions, for good reasons. Getting rid of someone could well be one of these. Failure to take the tough decisions will be seen as weak, and unfair (for example if someone is getting away with breaking them rules that the others have to follow).

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