5.17.2010

Fostering Relationships: The Leader's #1 Job



Achilles is famous in Greek mythology for his ultimate strength and beauty.  He was the perfect warrior except for his even more famous heel.  A small arrow shot to his heel brought him down.

Every boss, supervisor, business owner, manager and team leader strives for perfect strength and leadership.  They all can be brought down with a number of different weaknesses and tactical errors, but there is one that is the ultimate Achilles Heel - either not knowing or forgetting to do Job #1...

A leader's #1 job is to grow and develop their people.

At a recent state human resources management conference I presented a workshop covering the six keys to getting employees engaged and keeping them engaged in their work.  A major take-away for the HR professionals was based on a question:  do the bosses in your organization have this #1 job in their list of core duties?  Do they personally invest financial and calendar resources to this task?  Their responses were interesting.  Some were shaking their heads yes.  Most had a look that said, "No."

The most important relationship in an organization is the one between a supervisor and their immediate team members.  When this goes bad or isn't healthy, people under-perform, cause trouble or just leave.  There are many reasons why a leader's #1 job is to grow and develop their people, but helping people meet/exceed expectations and enjoy their job is the best reason. 

If you are a boss and/or play a role in helping bosses understand how to do their job effectively, ask yourself that question.  If you don't give a resounding yes, make some changes.  Dedicate a majority of your time developing people and helping them understand expectations, develop their strengths, minimize their weaknesses and have what they need to do their job exceptionally.  Good luck.

2 comments:

Kavita said...

Relationships between all levels of employees in any organization are very important, as it ultimately affects performance. Leaders must put a little bit of effort into understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their employees. And in order to get them to work efficiently, leaders must give them responsibilities. As Vineet Nayar has said in his book ‘Employees First, Customers Second’, the potential of all employees must be tapped by fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in them. They should be given the power of making decisions, and this transfer of responsibility will happen by what he calls ‘Destroying the office of the CEO’. Here, he explains that employees must be given more ownership, and they should be made responsible, and thus answerable to all company tasks. And once they are given these responsibilities, and in turn when they meet/exceed their expectations, it will help them enjoy their job.

Unknown said...

Hi!This is awesome blog about leadership.Leaders work is to appreciate his team work and excel towards success.Thanks for reading.