Lead like you mean it!

Recently I reconnected with an old business colleague through Linked In. It was so much fun to reminisce about the years we had worked together. Afterward I found myself thinking about the man who had been the president of our division at the time. He was an outstanding boss, the best I had ever worked for. It occurred to me that he is a great example of what happens when you live like you mean it (or lead like you mean it) in a business environment.

Dan (pseudonym) first joined our division as a regional sales manager. When I knew him he was our division president, and eventually he rose to become a senior VP in the corporate offices. Dan was an incredible leader who understood the inner workings of both businesses and people. He practiced “management by walking around”: wandering through the halls of our division from engineering to manufacturing, talking with people, getting updates, and spreading his business gospel. I had never worked for someone who could rally the troops, demand high performance and still keep everyone motivated the way this man could.

The more I observed Dan in action the more intrigued I became about what made him such a skillful leader. After watching Dan for over a year I couldn’t stand it any longer: I walked into his office on an impulse one afternoon and asked him what books or mentors had influenced his management style. God only knows what he thought of my unexpected intrusion, but happily he put aside whatever affairs of state were on his desk and spoke with me for a few minutes.

Dan said he learned 3 things an executive must do to ensure a business operates at its best:

Hire well. Find high-caliber employees who have the strengths, skills and experience required for the job.

Communicate expectations. Make sure each employee is extremely clear about what they are expected to do. Provide detailed goals and performance measures.

Clear the runway for their success. Provide the space and resources your employees need to do their jobs well.

Dan emphasized the importance of removing obstacles that were beyond the scope and responsibility of an individual or department. For example, he would run interference when dictates from corporate HQ threatened to derail his peoples’ focus on division goals. He stepped in as needed to ensure his managers worked together effectively despite conflicting work styles or inter-departmental rivalries. Dan would find ways to beg borrow and/or steal (all figuratively speaking of course) the money and resources his division needed while constantly challenging his teams to do more with less.

Dan lived his three management principals every day and he demanded as much of himself as he did of others. This made for a fast-paced environment that could be stressful at times but was also very rewarding both intellectually and materially.

Have you worked for someone who also knew how to lead like you mean it? What would you say made that person such an effective leader?

Click on the following link to learn more about the LIVE like YOU MEAN it! peak performance training. Or visit LinkedIn to learn more about my marketing and project management services: Power Source Now, LLC .