Leadership (Collins Business Secrets)

They can’t see the wood for the trees.”

Passion is contagious and can spread rapidly through a team.

I love the origin of the word ‘enthusiasm’. It’s from the Greek word ‘entheos’ which translates into ‘the God within’. I prefer to think of it as ‘the spirit within’. A deep, profound energy that makes you work tirelessly to achieve your goals. So how do we create the right conditions for this magical virus to spread?

We probably have two sets of values. The first values are those that we tell people about. They are our ‘declared values’. The other set of values are those that people actually see in action – our ‘demonstrated’ values. A person who has a strong character is always trying to make sure that their declared values match their demonstrated values.

Courage is when you have choices.

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it all others depend.”

5 Provide relevant and timely feedback to all members. Don’t forget to give equal amounts of feedback to everyone. Don’t have any employee working in a ‘feedback vacuum’.

6 Consider time zones. If you want a full contribution then don’t arrange meetings when key members should be asleep. You’ll probably find they soon are!

7 Understand the cultures of those you’re working with. Get to know some of the ‘codes of conduct’ that operate in their cultures. Remember, for example, that in some parts of the world “Yes” doesn’t always mean “Yes”.

8 Think about what you say. Try and make sure that your words can’t be misrepresented or even taken too literally. Avoid local sayings and idiomatic expressions.

9 Be consistent in your rewards and recognition. Again, avoid favouring certain individuals over others

Start with everyone in one room. Getting them to meet first in person really alters the way people feel about each other.

2 Begin with some ground rules. Get people to sign up to some basic courtesies for working together. Establish rules about contributing, disagreeing and the general ‘codes of behaviour’ people should expect.

3 Ensure that you deal with everyone equally. Some people who are co-located with the leader can often get more favourable treatment. Make sure this doesn’t happen.

4 Get to know individuals outside the team meetings. Make sure you have one-to-ones with all the team members. Just the same way you’d do if they sat in the office with you

Play devil’s advocate. Either you can do this or get someone to take the role on. Challenge the received wisdom. Ask people to justify their thinking. Argue against the point from different angles

Use a ‘rotating chair’ to lead the meetings. Don’t always chair the meeting yourself. Have other people take turns to chair it. It changes the dynamic and shifts the emphasis of power in the team