Lessons to Build Effective Leaders

In my experience and observations the best way to build a successful organization is to focus on building your people. These 100 lessons focus on the best practices to build your people and grow a successful organization whether it is a business, nonprofit or government organization.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was challenged by some friends to write a story in six words. He responded to the challenge with the following story: For sale: baby shoes, never worn. Hemingway has inspired the Six-Word Lesson series of books.

"Six-Word Lessons to Build Effective Leaders: 100 Lessons to Equip Your People to Create Winning Organizations" is part of this six word lesson series published by Pacelli Publishing.

These brief and highly condensed best practices are for busy leaders and managers who just want the essence of the ideas now.....and maybe more information later.

Hire and Retain the Best People

• Right person for the right job
• Job description defines who is needed
• Screen candidates with key job elements
• Don’t wing it; interview with purpose
• Fit employees like hand and glove
• Turn over rocks. Learn before hiring
• Hire more home runs; reduce strikeouts
• Invest in onboarding for successful integration
• Grow your employees; build your organization
• Constantly upgrade your team and talents
• Reduce excessive and costly turnover mistakes
• Weak or inadequate management causes failures

Motivate Employees with Mission and Purpose

• Leadership must have passion and motivation
• Expect excellence. Don’t accommodate poor performance
• Power your business plan with involvement
• Share real information across the organization
• Take safety seriously and reap dividends
• Leaders must define and nurture culture
• Root out demoralizing practices and culture
• Define and communicate your secret sauce

Power Your Organization with Effective Communications

• Build a culture of shared communication
• “Need to know” undercuts employee empowerment
• Rules of thumb to communicate change
• Method of delivering the message matters
• Talk with, not to or at
• Communications: Erase negative and unproductive communication habits
• Run meetings that people like attending
• Outcomes need positive not negative descriptions
• Stories help us learn and remember
• Newsletters worth reading bind the organization

Bake Trust into Your Organizational DNA

• Accomplish the mission and share success
• Keep your word--the universal rule
• Share information openly; build trusting relationships
• Walk the talk; troops will believe
• Own your mistakes and build trust
• Support people; they’ll support the organization
• Meet deadlines; others count on them
• Excellence is performing above the norm
• Maintain an open and honest environment
• Exercise authority fairly, consistently to everyone

Empower Everyone in the Organization

• Know the mission; make better decisions
• Share the glory; get things done
• Extend power to stop the line
• Teach your employees how to fish
• Keep the monkey off your back
• Empowerment: Value every person’s ideas and suggestions
• Clearly define organization structure and authority
• SMART goals provide clarity to everyone
• Show people which numbers matter most
• Teach budgeting skills to empower staff

Teach the Art of Effective Delegation

• Delegation is necessary to grow smoothly
• Know what you want, then delegate
• Provide needed authority to achieve success
• Are the right tools in place?
• Team delegations need extra care/processes
• Delegate with the RACI delegation checklist
• Learn the art of letting go
• Don’t assume managers have delegation skills
• Use feedback mechanisms to maintain progress
• Beware poor delegation practices and fallout

Mentor, Train and Coach Your Team

• Show you care; take personal interest
• Deeply embed training in your culture
• Teach coaching skills to your managers
• Mentor and grow leaders and managers
• Encourage education, skill development and growth
• each management 101 to your team
• Focus on people, not technical skills
• Identify and build your next generation
• Look out for counterproductive training approaches

Build Winning Teams at All Levels

• Use teams for many organizational purposes
• Chart a clear path and course
• Involve teams in building teamwork skills
• Knock down silos with teamwork culture
• Power continuous improvement with Kaizen Teams
• Focus leaders on building their teams
• Use management teams for growth acceleration
• Limit management team to executive purposes
• Build teams and teamwork with tools
• Constantly do maintenance to grow teamwork
• Seven is the ideal group size

Create a Powerful Culture of Change

• Fear is the roadblock to change
• Build in a change communication plan
• Continuous improvement fertilizes a change culture
• You can’t change unless you measure
• Use SWOT analysis to facilitate change
• Learn afterward with an AAR system
• Apply LEAN to embed continual improvement
• Change: Replace corrosive attitudes that undermine change
• Become a “learning organization” that adapts

Focus Leaders on Effectiveness not Efficiency

• Effectiveness: getting the right things done
• Manage your limited asset of time
• Outward contribution will move the needle
• Build on individual strengths, not weaknesses
• Determine and focus on meaningful priorities
• Analyze, hone your decision-making skills
• Avoid the consensus trap for decisions
• Build your organization with KISS design
• Use Pareto Principle to focus priorities
• Keep the door open for managers
• Startups demand leaders with extra skills