Everything is top down leadership. Whomever is the top dog sets the tone and is responsible for everything – literally everything that happens. If you can’t accept this, don’t choose to start a business are take on a leadership position. I say this quite often; the best leaders give the credit to everyone else and assume all the blame when things don’t work.
I think leadership is really complex in execution but simple in terms of what the job entails. If you sit on top and train the people 1 step down from you well and show them the value of training those below them well – you have an organization that takes care of itself and is now in a position where it can take much greater care of the consumer. I am much more concerned with the impact of how business is done on my employees than the way in which process is executed.
Why would I care about people more than process? Isn’t everything about execution? Sure, but if the process is not being executed by the right people that recognize the personal benefit of being part of the organization, the end result will suffer. Engaged employees that see value in what they do simply do more and do better work than the alternative. This is not some theory, this is documented fact. You don’t need me to drop notes on this, just google productivity in the workforce and see the real numbers.
If you want things done a certain way, make sure you have the right people that appreciate the process and feel appreciated by you. If you skip the personal satisfaction points and just grind everyone on process, they will leave you when it is convenient for them and go be better employees for somebody else. Lack of care for the staff creates better employees for your competition.
You can see it in every industry, employees jump ship and take their previous employees information to somebody else or go open their own shop to compete with the former employer. This doesn’t happen because people are devious and just want what they want. These situations are manufactured by bad leaders. People want to do good work and be appreciated. If you won’t allow 1 or both, people will leave. So why not just create a good working environment that focuses on personal satisfaction for employees that provide a valuable service for the company that in turn allows the company to provide profitable services to the marketplace?
Many people are just not built for leadership. Many people know how to make money but they run meat grinders of a business that has massive turn over. I don’t know how people can do this? I wouldn’t sleep real well at night if I was constantly battling people that felt used by my business. I would prefer to hire the right people for the right job, train and treat them well, so they treat the customer well, and we all get what we need to feel satisfied each day.
We work more than we do most things in life. Our judgement is not separated between work and personal. If you are a bad boss, you are not the best person and vice versa. You can figure out what you want your legacy to be. I want to find a balance between personal satisfaction for myself and my employees while providing profitable services to the marketplace that also creates happy customers. It really is not too much to ask. I think it is the only thing any of us should accept from ourselves as bosses, or from our bosses if we are employees.
Brian Wright