Slingshot Leadership – Rules of Engagement
The best leaders not only perform well themselves, but perhaps even more importantly, they bring out the best in those they lead. Slingshot leadership is about just that – multiplying momentum, energy, and effectiveness to achieve a common goal. Described below are 12 crucial concepts that successful leaders understand and emulate.
1. Choose to be a great leader!
Becoming a great leader rarely happens by accident or happenstance. Most well rounded leaders are years, or even decades, in the making. Although it is a misnomer that practice makes “perfect”, it certainly makes you better. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell shares that “researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours. The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything …”. Even if your leadership aspirations are not so lofty, the point is that you have to work to be the best you can be. Unfortunately, most health professionals are ill prepared for leadership roles primarily because they have had so little quality training. Experience is invaluable, but we all know tenured supervisors / managers, that lead in title only. Make a conscious choice and effort to be great.
2. Embrace the art of organizational evangelism!
Regardless of personal style and personality, great leaders effectively communicate the organizations value in meaningful ways to employees and customers. When Guy Kawasaki , author of Enchantment, worked for Apple, his title was “Chief Evangelist”. This reflects the importance Apple placed on creating loyal employees and raving fans of their brand. Believe in the products and services you offer and share the message passionately with your people and the public.
3. Exercise the “leaders invitation”!
Whenever possible, position major decisions and requests of employees as an invitation. Simply extend a genuine “invitation” to followers, asking them to participate in a project or be part of a team, rather than dictating it. For example, instead of hiring a new employee and saying “we would like to offer you the position of X”, say “ we want to invite you to join our team as X”. When individuals accept an invitation to be part of something, they are more likely to give their commitment, not just their compliance.
4. Remember leaders are “keepers of the culture”!
Every business entity has a culture, whether developed consciously or not. Leaders “set the tone” for organizations through their priorities, their words,
their actions, their habits, and their standards. Creating and communicating well thought out company purpose statements and values are essential, but if these ideals are not imbedded in the day-to-day operations of the business, they fail to guide behaviors. Regretfully, despite prolific employee on-boarding strategies and positive feedback / reinforcement programs, a truism is that you often “get what you tolerate”. Holding team members accountable for living the culture is one of the most important roles of successful leaders.
5. Practice “full-spectrum” leadership!
The ability to remain grounded in the overall purpose of the organization, execute on strategic goals, drive employee engagement, and produce profits are just a few of the leaders core responsibilities. Making sure the work team understands and stays focused on the critical versus the important is another central and continuous challenge. These roles and others require leaders to assess the situation ahead and employ the type of leadership that will be most effective. Much like a golfer surveying the next shot and carefully selecting the most appropriate club from the bag, it’s imperative that leaders do not take a “one size fits all” approach.
6. Leverage the concept of “back brief”!
According to a survey, CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies report that one of their greatest ongoing challenges is effective communication. Clear, concise, consistent, communication sounds easy but can be difficult to execute. The “back brief” is a military term used to describe the process by which a person receiving the message repeats it back to the sender to confirm understanding. Experts suggest this winning habit can help alleviate 98 percent of verbal misunderstandings.
7. Understand “followership” is built on trust!
One thing all great leaders have in common is “willing” followers, not “obedient” followers. The most frequently reported characteristic individuals look for in a leader they choose to follow is trustworthiness. Being transparent as leaders and companies has perhaps never been more valued than in today’s cynical society. Remember that although you cannot always gain “agreement” from all team members on issues, gaining “understanding” from everyone involved, even if they disagree, is important. Uninformed or misinformed employees often plant seeds of mistrust unnecessarily because they don’t know the real / whole story.
8. Ignite discretionary energy!
Employee engagement has been identified as one of the single greatest factors that drive business success. In Gallup’s State of the American Workplace – 2013 survey, they found that only 30 percent of employees were “engaged” in their work. Engagement was defined as – “employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the company forward”. Said another way, it is evident when employees volunteer
“discretionary effort / energy” above and beyond their position descriptions. Creating such a work culture is a hallmark of top companies. The key to success – receiving positive answers from your employees to Gallup’s Q 12 questions, which can be found in the 1st Quarter issue of the CCCD newsletter.
9. Identify “pride builders”!
According to the Harvard Business Journal, many organizations are re-learning a few secrets to developing high-performance cultures. Known as “pride building”, these widely appreciated methods are surprisingly, rarely put into regular practice. Three specific measures can make a huge difference: (1) give more autonomy to frontline workers, (2) clearly explain to all staff members the “why” or significant purpose of everyday work, (3) provide better recognition and rewards for employee contributions. Virtually everyone wants to be proud of the work they do and it’s the leader’s job to support this sense of individual accomplishment / value as part of the collective whole.
10. Reward performance – promote potential!
During my recent six-year term on the IHRSA Board of Directors, as the current Chairperson of several REX Roundtables, and as an active consultant, one constant refrain I have heard from club owners and managers is that they “just can’t find enough good talent”. Compounding this epidemic problem is that many of these same operators have promoted high performing team members that were poorly matched and ill prepared for promotion and the accompanying responsibilities. For instance; a top producing personal trainer with a loyal client base, quite often struggles after being elevated to a leadership position, because it requires decidedly different skill sets. Great leaders are usually great talent evaluators and are absolutely committed to training future leaders throughout the organization. The fact that external hires are 61 percent more likely to be fired from a job than internal promotes should provide additional motivation for in-house professional development programs.
11. Always seek knowledge!
Successful leaders, especially those who excel at the highest levels for extended periods of time, are “life-long learners”. They continually pursue new ideas, helpful information, relevant data, and expert advice from a variety of sources. Why is it that those who seem to know the most about a particular subject are the same ones who are the most aggressively seeking additional insights? Perhaps because they know it gives them an edge and keeps them at the top of their game. Attending industry conferences, watching webinars, reviewing industry publications, participating in peer roundtables, studying outside the fitness industry but related magazines and journals, and reading top-selling business books are all worthwhile investments of time – even for the busiest of leaders.
12. Follow the “tell me ~ show me ~ involve me” formula!
This three-step leadership model is a classic that has never gone out of favor with leadership gurus. It works with young children and older adults. In the business world, clearly explaining to team members what you would like them to do, then demonstrating how to do it, and finally allowing them to actually do it is a proven, progressive process. Too often this approach is used during the training of new employees or in conjunction with a new system or software program, and then forgotten. Growing next generation leaders requires teaching them, mentoring them, and involving them in important initiatives and not just mundane daily operations. Most people want to be part of the process in the early stages and understand how they are contributing to the desired outcome. The higher level of involvement staff members have, the higher the level of ownership they feel.
Hopefully, this selection of rules of engagement will inspire you to practice just a little more at becoming the best leader you can be. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, but if these few rules can become signatures of your leadership style, it will have a monumental impact.
The truth is, leaders don’t always have to be taught, sometimes they just have to be reminded.
