Five Leadership Secrets for Challenging Times

We consistently face new and ever growing challenges inthe workplace such as reorganizing, downsizing, and leftout sizing. We are faced with the question, How do welead in this storm of change? It may seem difficult at timesand the decisions we make define our short-term and long-term outcomes. I will share with you five leadershiptechniques guaranteed to keep you on track during thesedifficult times.

1 Integrity.

I put this first because the lack of integrity will make or breakyou as a professional, as a leader, as a person in the longrun. The lack of this will turn yesterdays heroes in todaysvillains. For example, MCI was the apple of the businesscommunitys eye. High revenues, high profits, and highgrowth; MCI was beating the competition hands down.Then it was discovered that there were gross accountingirregularities that accounted for the astounding profits. Yousee, management made a decision, Do I continue to sustaingood growth and be able to look at myself in the mirror or doI cook the accounting books and spend the rest of my timecovering up this integrity deficiency? The real shame of theMCI situation was that AT&T, Sprint, and others in theindustry had to cut costs and lay off thousands ofemployees to compete with MCIs false numbers. The lackof integrity at MCI not only affected the company but alsothe livelihood of thousands and the industry as a whole.

I was recently speaking with a recently retired City Councilmember who is well respected in the community. I asked herwhat the secret was to her success while on the council? Shementioned that one of her political adversaries said to her,While you were on the council, I didnt like the way youvoted, but I respected the way you voted because you wereconsistent with your votes and had the citys best interest inmind. Ask yourself what decisions that you make are rightfor the long term? Be consistent in your actions, whether itis with management, your team, or your family.

2. Knowledge.

With change happening faster and faster every moment, it isextremely important that you gain the knowledge to masterthese changes. You owe it not only to yourself, but to yourteam and management. As I always say, Its not having theright answer, its that you have the right answer faster thanbefore. Many times during my teambuilding programs astudent will say, I didnt know where to find the answer.Then I will say, That is an unacceptable answer. Becausepart of being a leader is acquiring the skills to find the rightanswers. With the Internet, classroom and online training,mentors, etc., the knowledge is at your fingertips. Challengeyour team members to use the same resources to acquire theknowledge to master their challenges. By acquiring thisknowledge, you will be able to navigate your team throughthe ocean of change and achieve your goals.

3. Decisiveness.

You have seen them. They wait for information, then moreinformation before making a decision. Then they need moreinformation to support the information they already have.Then they need a committee to analyze the information.Then they wait for the perfect

4. Vision.

This is the ability not only to see what is the present -anyone can do that - its the ability to see the future.Outstanding leaders can not only see their team for whatthey can do now, but what they can become, and paint thepicture for them. These leaders are consistentlycommunicating and coaching their team members to thatvision. One of the best ways, and least used methods, toconvey your vision is the team meeting (Teambuilding andCoaching Skills for Outstanding Results). Every meetingshould start out with the team vision, mission, and goals;and the rest of the meeting should tie into the vision. Forexample, the motivation portion of the meeting should tieinto the vision, the information portion of the meeting shouldtie into the vision, the training portion of the meeting shouldtie into the vision, etc. Also, invest time to develop yourteam members personal visions and show them how theycan accomplish their personal goals by tying into the overallvision. By consistently communicating the vision, your teamwill move with purpose, feel they are personally making adifference, and achieve their goals sooner.

5. Unselfishness

Stephen Covey, in his successful book Seven Habits ofHighly Effective People, wrote that a true leader must be aservant to the ones he or she leads. The leader must be ableto give of oneself for the good of the team. In otherwords, be unselfish in words and action. Be unselfish inpraise of others, in public, especially in front of management.Be unselfish in the ability to take time to listen, really listento your teams concerns. A recent management survey saidthat the average time management invests doing purelistening to employees during the year is a mere two hours-just two hours! What was meant by pure listening timewas listening with eye contact, acknowledgement, and notanswering the phone while listening, not speaking withanother person while listening, etc. Be unselfish in theability to help your team. Whether its the ability to readilyassist with a difficult telephone call, jump in and remove roadblocks for team members, or be there for a team memberduring challenging moments. Believe me, your team willremember those moments and excel for you.

Now I challenge you to put into action just one of theleadership techniques I mentioned above to achieve yourvision, your mission, and your goals in the future.

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and successcoach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stressmanagement, customer service, and team building. You cane-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at(757) 427-7032. Go to his web site,http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter,OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment andStress Secrets for the Busy Professional."

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