The ability to FIRE the correct people.

On your "Daily Leadership Tip" for today, we continue our discussion of 
"Decisions That Will Make (or Break) You As A Leader!"

Yesterday, we talked about decisions in "hiring someone." Today, I will share with you some thoughts on how to "fire someone."

Yes, this is a very important decision that, as leaders, we need to make from time time. This type of decision is even harder to make than the hiring decision. 

The reasons are many, but basically are:
1. We consider our team members as part of our family.
2. We want to be liked by everyone.
3. We know this is going to negatively impact the person and their family.

So, how do develop the mindset to actually fire someone?

The same way we made the decision to hire them. Do not look at job performance, etc. (unless, of course, that IS the reason). Look at the character of the person. Usually, there is a "toxic" relationship with others in the group.

The methods of letting them go vary, and I may get into that later. But making the decision to do so, is definitely one that will either "make or break you" as a leader!

For a more detailed discussion of this topic, read the entire post on my website at: 
http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/decisions-that-can-make-or-break-you-as-a-leader-pt-2/

This week, I will be discussing some of the "Decisions that will make you or break you, as a leader!"

Today, I will discuss your, "Ability to hire the correct people."

This is a lot harder than it seems! Often, you will make this decision simply off of the information THEY give you. As a leader, it is your job to try and dig around a bit during the interview. Process their mannerisms, their confidence - basically, evaluate their character in addition to the skills and background.

Because if you do not do your part in this area, it WILL negatively effect your business in the near future!

For a more detailed explanation of this topic, please read the entire post on my website at: http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/decisions-that-can-make-or-break-you-as-a-leader-pt-1/

This week, I have been discussing “24 Positive Leadership Qualities” and also “12 Negative Leadership Qualities.” If you focus on improving the 24 positive qualities and reducing or eliminating the 12 negative qualities, you will become a successful leader a lot faster than just learning by chance!

Monday:   I introduced the topic and we discussed the first 8 Positive Qualities of Successful Leaders.

Tuesday: I continued the discussion by explaining the next 8 Positive Qualities of Successful Leaders (#9-#16).

Wednesday: I concluded the discussion by sharing the final 8 Positive Qualities of Successful Leaders (#17-#24).

Thursday: I discussed the 12 Negative Qualities of Successful Leaders. I emphasized the importance of focusing on the improvement of the Positive Qualities while trying to decrease or eliminate the Negative Qualities in your leadership style.

I hope this week has helped you in identifying what qualities you have been demonstrating in your leadership style. 

I have a FREE, “Blueprint for Successful Leaders Checklist”for you. No optin or email required!  Just click this link and download it. This ebook / checklist covers ALL that we covered this week and is in a convenient format for your reference.

For a more detailed explanation of each episode this week, read the entire posts on my website at: http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/blueprint-for-successful-leaders-pt-5-friday-wrap-up/

We have been talking this week about the “Qualities of Successful Leadership.” So far, I have given you 16 of 24 positive leadership qualities taken from surveys of employees and team members. These are qualities that these people have said they appreciate in those that lead them. Today, I will go over the final 8 positive leadership qualities on the list of 24.

I hope that you are getting a lot out of this series. As a leader, you need to constantly be working on improving your own leadership abilities. You will never really, “arrive” at a level where you will never need to improve. Don’t believe me, ask your wife!

#17: The ability to make decisions. Decision making is a critical skill for effective management and leadership.

#18: Understanding your teams perspective.  A very important skill you can develop is to look at the situation from different perspectives. Look at things from the customer perspective, you team's perspective, your competitors perspective and your peers perspective (in addition to your perspective).

#19: Be Consistent in Your Expectations: This goes both ways. One, your expectations of them. That what they did yesterday, the day before and last month is still what is expected from them today, tomorrow and into the future (unless situations change – in which case, you need to make sure the new expectations are explained in advance). Two, their expectations of you! They expect you to treat everyone with respect and equally (i.e. No Favorites)! 

#20:  Empower Others to Succeed:  Great leaders are great at empowering others. I like to say it like this: “A leaders job is to empower others to achieve every mission as if it was the team’s ideas that made it successful.”

#21:  Adapt to change:  Much of what happens to us, in business and in life, is truly not under our control. So, besides death and taxes, the next guarantee in life is CHANGE! So your ability to adapt to a changing environment will be put to the test in building your team’s ability to change as well. This change must not be dramatic. It must not be done “willy-nilly.” It must be anticipated. It must be planned for. You must do your research and get your team to buy into the change.

#22: Be organized:  One of the great attributes of an effective leader is organization. The ability to always know what is happening. To follow up on prior discussions or projects. Not allowing anything to “fall through the cracks” and be lost. If you do not have a solid organizational system in place – develop one!

#23: Lead by Example:  This is one of the top leadership traits from the military. A leader will never command his/her soldiers to do something they would not be willing to do themselves. Sometimes, their team may think, “I bet he/she would not do this.” – but they simply forget that the leader had “to do this” at some point in their career!

#24: Show patience with those you lead:  A great leader will be able to lead without making every single decision a “life or death” issue. If you have planned for, anticipated and trained for various scenarios, you are way ahead in the game. When something does happen, you already have an idea of what to do. You just issue the directives to the team. They have already rehearsed these scenarios as well. They know what you are doing and why.

These “24 Positive Leadership Qualities” will help you to focus on what matters in developing as a leader. These are the traits and qualities many employees and team members have identified as being important to them. I have added my commentary after each to give you an understanding of what each quality means. 

12 Negative Leadership Qualities NOT Desired in Leaders

It’s one thing to focus on the positives (as we should). But as leaders, we should also be aware of certain things that will corrode our relationship and lose our hard earned respect from among those we lead. This list has been compiled to give you some areas to be aware of. Areas that you should work to minimize in your leadership style.

By avoiding, or at least minimizing, these things, you will move ahead quickly in earning the respect of your team.

1. Harsh: Some leaders, especially new leaders, want to achieve goals and see results. They are driven. They feel this is what they are supposed to do. So they begin to push (and push hard). They want the deadlines met no matter the cost. After all, they are there to get results! Yes, it is very important to achieve the desired results and meet the deadlines, but if your team members avoid you like the plague, you may want to rethink how you are coming across.
2. Short Tempered: Many leaders can easily mistake anger for projecting power and seeing the employee’s tremble in fear as a sign of respect. It may do wonders for your ego, but create a toxic work place for your team. 
3. Stern:  A leader who is always being serious, never smiling, never interacting with others except in business mindset, will demoralize a team quickly. It’s important to remember you are dealing with people – individuals, each and every one of them.
4. Controlling: Leaders who think they “know everything” actually may not know as much as they think. If you, as a leader, continually try to one up someone else’s opinion, soon, they will not share their opinions with you.
5. Ruthless: Being ruthless (throwing a fit when things do not go your way) is not a sign of a great leader. It is a sign of a spoiled brat in a management position! If you are cutting down others in order for you to justify “looking bad” or you are undercutting others to try and further you career – YOU are not a leader! This is a major taboo in leadership!
6. Vindictive: Leaders who never, ever want to be questioned – and then feel threatened when they are, may become vindictive in their retaliation. It is their attempt to “keep control,” usually by belittling or driving someone into quitting and leaving the group. They feel they are justified in this “for the good of the group.” In actuality, they are driving a deeper wedge into the team. The team members will feel they cannot ever ask a question for fear of losing their job. These types of leaders will ultimately fail – miserably.
7. Manipulative: Bad leaders have become expert at scheming and pursuing their own agenda (be it promotions or just extra money or sometimes, just for their own amusement). It is a game to them. Unfortunately, these leaders do not understand the hurt feelings and resentment that is built up in the team.
8. Tolerant of Mediocrity: These leaders care more about how people “think of them” than they do in achieving team goals and increasing performance. They do not want the team to dislike them. So they are always being “buddy-buddy” and accepting less then ultimate performance.
9. Relishing the “suck-ups:” Some leaders get carried away with those that caress their ego more than getting the job done. They will continue in subpar performance and then “kiss up” to the boss to try and make the boss look good, in order to have that performance accepted.
10. Being “Suck-Ups” themselves:  We’ve seen them. People who are always sucking up to their boss. Bad leaders can (and will) do the same thing. They are trying to protect their jobs and trying to look good to their superiors just like the “suck-ups” do to them.
11. Micromanaging:  The micromanager is always looking over the shoulder of those they lead. They second guess every decision. Highly controlling, they demand every piece of information be passed before them f

Your "Daily Leadership Tips" for today - Yesterday, I covered the first 8 positive leadership qualities. I’m not going to go back and cover them all over again today. I will just refer you to go back and read or listen to them for yourself. 

Today, I will take on the next 8 of our of the 24 positive leadership qualities.

1. Knowledgeable
2. Credibility
3. Persuasive
4. Charisma
5. Team Builder
6. Clarity of Purpose
7. Problem Solver
8. Positive Attitude

As you continue to work on and to develop and improve in these areas, they will become part of your personality. You will be able to function in these areas at a high level automatically. That is when you will be considered a successful leader, and you will not even have to strive for it!

For a more thorough discussion of these topics, please read the entire post on my website at http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/blueprint-for-successful-leaders-pt-2/

On your "Daily Leadership Tips" for today, we are going to be talking about having a "Blueprint for Successful Leaders." In order to determine what "successful leadership is" - you need to know what qualities successful leaders possess. After reviewing several surveys, I've compiled a list that will help you to rate yourself and identify what qualities you already possess or are in need of improving.

Today, I will be going over the first 8 qualities:
1. Vision
2. Role model
3. Integrity
4. Enthusiasm
5. Passion
6. Show appreciation
7. Trust
8. Be a good listener

For more information on this topic, see the post on my website
http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/blueprint-for-successful-leaders-pt-1/

What is Leadership?

What makes someone a good leader?  That is a question that has plagued many a person!

A leader has nothing to do with your position at work. That is management. A definition of “Leadership” is a “process of persuasion.”  You lead by earning the trust of those whom you lead by demonstrating and showing interest in them as individuals while keeping the focus on the accomplishment of the organizational goals (i.e. “the mission”).

You may have heard the expression, “Leaders are made, not born.”  That is true. However, it is possible for someone who is a poor leader to train and become a better leader – if not a “good leader.”  The military is a prime example of that method of training!

This week, we will cover the different styles of leadership. There are the “main three” (which I went over in detail a few weeks back). Then there are some “different categories” that help define things a bit further.

I will also go over some of the “Leadership Qualities” that define what an “Effective Leader” will display. These are the things you can work on to improve your leadership abilities.

For more detailed information, please read the entire post on my website at:
http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/developing-effective-leadership-skills-pt-1/

Styles of Leadership             

A great leader is one who has established a personal relationship with those whom the leader is working with. 

In leadership “parlance” it is called, “Authoritative Leadership.”  That simply means leading the organization towards a common goal while managing and energizing team members while doing so. Another term for this is “Empowerment.”

An “Authoritarian leader,” on the other hand, is one in which a single person takes control and makes all of the decisions (with little or no input from those in the group). All choices are made based on their own ideas.

The third type of leadership style is called a “Laissez-Faire” leadership style.  This is where the group makes the decisions with little or no input from the “leader.” This IS a good style to use when the leader absolutely trusts the team and has little to no oversight or involvement with their activities. This method of leadership should ONLY be used with highly experienced team members that need very little supervision.

For a more detailed explanation of these leadership styles, read the entire post on my website at:
http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/developing-effective-leadership-skills-pt-2/

Qualities of Effective Leaders

Leadership isn’t easy. There are good times. There are stressful times. There will be times when it seems everyone is against you. But, great leaders will always be able to lead their team to a successful end, no matter what the situation is.

Honesty. Honesty in your personal life a necessity. It is even more necessary in leadership.

Clear Communication. Followers need to clearly understand your goals, values and your expectations.

Confidence. An effective leader must have the confidence to lead through difficult situations.

Inspiring. Effective leaders are inspired by their business and pass that inspiration on to their team members.

Positive attitude. An effective leader stays positive, even in the face of adversity. Staying positive set’s the tone for the team attitude, which directly affects those you are leading.

Decisive. Effective leaders make decisions that impact the people they lead and the company.

Conscientious. A good leader is organized, compassionate and thoughtful. 

Sense of Humor. A leader with a good sense of humor goes a long way in helping to create a positive environment.

Creative. When decisions need to be made quickly, an effective leader thinks outside the box for a solution.

Open. Effective leaders encourage their team members to share ideas and allow each one be valued.

For a more detailed explanation of these qualities, please read the entire post on my website at:
http://rthibodeau.com/2019/03/developing-effective-leadership-skill-pt-3/