Leadership is a relationship. It runs on a method.
Six principles sit under everything we teach and coach. None of them are new. Very few companies practice them on purpose.
The job of a leader is to serve the people doing the work. When Jacob ran maintenance, his job was to make sure his crew had the right tools, the right parts and what they needed every day. They knocked out the work, and that made him successful. Everything else we teach grows out of this one.
The crew does not work for the supervisor. The supervisor works for the crew.
Skills peak. Once you are a master electrician, you are not learning more about electricity; only the jobs change. Traits are different: integrity, loyalty, duty. They can only be coached, and they decide whether a crew follows someone. Most companies promote on skills alone.
Competency gets people promoted. It is not what keeps a crew.
Every relationship at work runs like a bank account. Noticing what went right, asking and listening, trusting someone with the tricky job: those are deposits. A correction is a withdrawal. You need three positives before you can address a negative and have it land.
If all your people ever hear is what they did wrong, that is what they carry home.
A problem here, put it out. A problem there, put it out. Most companies get very good at it. Very few take the time to make sure it goes smoother the next time, and permanently. Prevention is one of the biggest lines of this program.
Handle the conditions on Monday and Thursday's fire never starts.
Effective leadership comes down to long-term relationships with the people you lead. Some leaders are naturals. Most are not, and they do not need to be. A relationship can be built with a method, the same way a line is set up.
Not a personality. A practice.
Getting people to work hard because they are afraid of losing their job, or afraid of the boss, is the easy way to lead. It works for a while. Then the good people leave, and the ones who stay stop telling you the truth.
People do their best work for leaders they trust.
Where to start
Some skills can be trained. Others can only be coached.
If any of this sounds like your floor, the first step is a conversation. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.