Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2014. The references to almost 14 years as a journalist and to currently writing for Inc. describe the author’s situation in 2014.
John Brandon spent half his life managing companies and teams of people, until his career took a turn in 2001, when he left that profession to become a journalist, in a way acknowledging a wide range of failures as a leader. It was during almost 14 years as a journalist, interviewing business owners, consultants and leadership gurus, that he realised all the mistakes he had made as a business leader. He is now an excellent columnist who writes for Inc. magazine.
And this time he shows us 14 ways to become better leaders when running companies and teams.
1. Admit your mistakes quickly and without hesitation.
Brandon says it took him many years to learn to say “I’m sorry” as a way to improve communication and strengthen his leadership skills. In his words, for years he believed that part of leadership was hiding any weakness: if he made a mistake, he pretended it was a misunderstanding or someone else’s fault, thinking his reputation would be ruined, because of the mistaken belief that the mirror everyone else looks into can never be wrong. So if you have made a mistake, admit it quickly. People will respect and admire you for it. A leader is respected far more for humility than for superiority.
(Read: How to be a more persuasive and charismatic leader)
2. Admit that you don’t know all the answers.
Superiority and pride are two bad things for leadership. A leader should act more as a servant than as a superior figure. Like anyone else in the business, nobody has all the answers, so good leaders recognise when they don’t have them, go out and look for them, and then find the answers the team needs.
3. Analyse first, act later.
Gathering all the information takes a long time, and there is a sense in leadership that pushes you to act quickly and not fear risk, but there is only a short step from bravery to stupidity. While you are paid to act and solve problems, not to sit around, the truth is that we make the mistake of acting before analysing or studying the field in question. As Brandon puts it, he often approved projects and new hires before studying them thoroughly, a mistake leaders should avoid.
4. Be quick with positive feedback, but slow with criticism.
Young employees need constant encouragement. We live in a fast, complex, highly competitive world, and people are swamped with tasks and short of time. That is why a leader must understand the importance of pointing out wins, however small, and if you are planning to criticise, think carefully about the impact of that criticism first.
(Read: 4 differences between a leader and a manager)
5. Ask personal questions.
Brandon admits that one of his biggest challenges as a leader was fighting his own introverted personality. He didn’t share much about himself, his family life or his aspirations. Today he knows it was a mistake not to try to understand his team’s aspirations and motivations, and not to connect with them much more on a personal level. When all is said and done, a company is about people.
6. Look at potential.
“It was a mistake to look at the set of skills listed on a CV instead of searching for clues about the potential of the people on my team.” I should have interviewed fewer candidates and talked to them more, so as to keep more ambitious and daring people, unafraid of risk and eager to grow. You will never find that on a CV; you have to spot it beyond the piece of paper.
7. Fire quickly.
It is also a leader’s job to let someone go immediately. Most of the time I consulted HR about how to deal with specific problems with certain workers, and I was wrong, because when it comes to dismissals you have to move very fast. Why? Because the troublemakers were destroying the team as a whole. As a leader, never hesitate to fire someone on the spot.
8. Become a mentor.
Team success is not about hiding what you know, but about creating other great leaders by becoming their mentor and teaching them what you know. I should have devoted much more time to this.
9. Share good ideas quickly and often.
Ideas came to me very often, but sometimes I held them back, at times so as not to overshadow anyone else on the team, and at other times because I wasn’t sure the others would find them interesting. Most of those ideas were lost in silence, when they could have encouraged other people and fostered a better dialogue.
10. Promote from within, but promote slowly.
Knowing that team members can be promoted within the company is a great incentive, but I have often made the mistake of promoting someone who was not ready yet.
11. Don’t just communicate; enable as well.
A good leader doesn’t just communicate the company’s best practices and the goals it wants to reach. A good leader helps reach those goals by giving the team the means it needs to achieve them, making the process easier and supporting the team along the way.
12. Reward creativity.
I have seen many managers who seemed uncomfortable having creative people on their team, and who rewarded employees financially for trivial tasks and projects, when they should have rewarded those who came up with alternative solutions, thought creatively and improved the company’s productivity.
13. Celebrate successes in a big way.
Some people think that reaching a goal is, after all, what employees are paid for. “Over the years, I have learned that a team success is something to appreciate and celebrate in a big way. We should have celebrated some of our goals with a banquet and trumpet parades around the office. By not celebrating, I probably contributed to a lack of motivation to try harder on the next project.”
14. Use your energy wisely.
It is surprising how much time you can waste even while being busy all day. There are many trivial tasks that drain all our energy. You need to know which ones they are so you can get rid of them or delegate them to someone else, and focus on what is truly useful and productive and, of course, on what inspires you most.
Further reading
- 7 truths about leadership
- Myths and truths about leadership, part 2
- 3 books every business owner and leader should read
Featured image: The United States Army Band, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
