Signs Of A Good Leader

Signs Of A Good Leader
Many business owners brag about their workforce, how good a
job they do and how they work side-by-side with the
business owner, indicating that the owner must be a great
leader because every time they walk into the shop everyone
is hard at work. However, the sign of a good leader is not
how well everyone works when they are on the floor. Rather,
the sign of a good leader is how well their people function
when they are not around.

Ethics has often been defined as doing the right thing,
even when no one is looking and one of the signs of a good
leader is when their employee are doing the right thing,
even when the leader is not around and there is no threat
of them showing up unexpected. Their people understand what
the expectations are and what they must do to meet those
expectations. Knowing the consequences also helps, but it
is more important for the employees to want to do a good
job because it will be appreciated, than knowing doing a
lousy job will get them fired.

A good business leader sets the example for all of their
people and anyone performing any type of tasks for them.
Whether they are employees or others in a volunteer
organization, most people appreciate having someone they
can go to for the times they need help, but also someone
who trains them how to perform a specific function and then
leaves them alone and let them do what they were trained to
do.

Getting a group of employees to perform when they are not
around is one of the best examples of a good leader.
Managing by intimidation does not work, at least not for
very long and most managers using that technique will
quickly be replaced, especially after all of the workers
protest and walk off the job. For the business owner, this
technique will have them spending more time hiring
replacement workers than actually teaching anyone.

To many business owners, they honestly believe it will take
more time to train someone to do a job that it would take
them to do it themselves. They have all, at one time or
another, commented that they do not have the time to teach
someone, and that it is faster to just do it. While that
may be true in a short-sighted kind of way, be taking the
time to share their knowledge and then letting someone else
do the work, it frees up their time for them to do other
things.

If there is any secret to being a good business leader it
would be not to simply assign jobs and expect them to be
done. At the beginning of a project, they should gather
everyone together and form a plan to complete the project.
Specific steps with specific timelines to gauge progress
should be established. Once the plan has been finalized,
the leader walks away and lets the group get it done. If
they need help, he is there but if they are part of the
planning process they have a vested interest in seeing it
completed on time.

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William Drapcho is owner of http://williamdrapcho.com and
writes on a variety of topics. To view his blog, go to
http://williamdrapcho and also sign up for his free home
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