Word Count: 941 words
Time to Read: 3-4 minutes

In the news, we read countless stories of rampant political corruption, financial mismanagement, government bailouts, pandemic layoffs, investment fraud and unadulterated corporate greed.

As leaders, we must avoid potential pitfalls, making a concerted effort to keep people motivated and productive, while building teams and reducing stress.

To maintain a healthy, disciplined work force, take eight steps:

Step 1: Flaunt your honesty.

Today’s leaders must be honest, forthright and “ooze” integrity. Workers want their leaders to be role models whose allegiances and priorities are beyond reproach.

Leaders must have a strong character and integrity, which means “walking the walk” and “talking the talk.” The moment they bend the truth, they lose their credibility—and they’ll never get it back.

Step 2: Focus on your people.

People make a company. Without highly motivated and inspired employees, you will struggle to survive and thrive.

Great leaders motivate people to work together and achieve goals, instill confidence and earn employees’ trust—a commodity that can never be bought.

Step 3: Develop a vision.

Have a clear, compelling and inspiring vision—and communicate in a way that motivates and inspires people to work as a team toward common goals.

Clearly define and paint an exciting path to the future, while providing ethical and logical reasons as to why you’re moving in a specific direction. Articulate a clear framework and provide a cogent message that delineates each person’s role in realizing the vision. This builds support and enthusiasm, creating a culture where people are aligned and eager to help achieve goals.

Spark people’s imaginations of what the future holds.

Step 4: Correct negative habits and behaviors.

People leave organizations because of the boss. Poor leaders create a climate of negativity, coupled with rare—or no—praise and recognition. The inability to keep one’s word, poor treatment of people, taking credit for others’ successes, and blaming others to cover up mistakes a leader has made—are behaviors that result in high turnover and a lack of engagement by those who stay.

By failing to delegate or empower people, poor leaders then micromanage others’ work. Their inability or refusal to develop a culture of trust deprives people of opportunities to grow. If this behavior goes unchecked, there may be a point of no return that destroys a once-productive company. Poor leadership is often correctable— if swift corrective action is taken.

Step 5: Invest in training.

Most first-rate leaders aren’t born with extraordinary abilities; rather, they develop their skill sets by learning, practicing and refining them daily.

Leaders must commit to working hard, adopting a positive attitude, and seek constant learning. They must remain flexible, adapting their leadership style as circumstances dictate.

Aspiring leaders must create a development plan, put it in writing and then “work it.”

• Read the best books and attend the best training courses. Vary courses so you can experience a spectrum of skills.
• Learn the areas in which you must improve. We see some of our weaknesses, but it’s impossible to identify all of them. Working with a coach is a powerful way to improve your skills.
• Learn what your company looks for in its leaders. Study a competency model that identifies desired strengths and characteristics and practice them. If no such model exists, seek out successful leaders, and talk with them to understand how they became successful.
• Volunteer to lead small projects that provide useful leadership experiences. You’ll gain confidence and enhance skill sets.
• Use 360° feedback and other assessment tools to identify leadership competencies and skills. This provides a valid measure of the areas that require work.
• Always be curious. Seek new opportunities and experiences; try something out of your comfort zone.

Step 6: Develop leadership programs.

Use coaching to enhance the capabilities and performance of leaders, high potentials, and top producers. When leaders coach, people become more confident and motivated, which leads to higher performance and productivity. Leaders build relationships of trust when they support people so they can be all they can be. Organizations with a strong coaching culture develop higher engagement and performance.

A coach will ask: At what do people excel? What are the weaknesses, potential, limitations, desired directions? A coach works one on one with key personnel to stop bad habits and start positive ones. Participants can discuss what’s working—and not working—in confidence, and the coach holds them accountable and supplies support.

Step 7: Retain high performers.

Great organizations view employee retention as a competitive advantage, and they work hard to retain their most talented people. They understand that talented people are their most important asset.

Retention starts with culture. If you want to keep your top talent, you must create an inspiring and energizing culture of which they can be a part. This means having an organization with shared values, openness and honesty, thereby creating trust and allowing talented people to share ideas, and then recognize and reward their successes.

Step 8: Have fun!

You and your people should be excited and energized about going to work every day. After all, you spend one-third of your time at work.

Fun in the workplace must be part of your strategy. Working hard and having fun are not mutually exclusive. So, appoint two CFOs; the traditional CFO and the chief fun officer, who creates ways for people to have fun at work.

People rarely succeed at anything unless they have fun doing it. Having fun also impacts the bottom line. Fun breeds creativity, energy, productivity, innovation, and profitability—a win for all concerned.