In my book,
The Five Little RTO Pigs, one of my 5 steps to getting
CLEAR on your Business, People and Systems is DARE to Lead.
DARE is an acronym for
Direction
Accountability
Responsibility
Example
When discussing this idea with one of my clients who was already a great leader, she said to me:
You've given me the confidence, conviction and Permission To Lead because I thought I was doing really well.
But now I can see from our coaching sessions, how a few tweaks to what and when I communicated changes to the team, and then standing behind my decisions (even if some people don't agree with them), that I have truly stepped up and embraced my CEO role with more clarity and purpose.
And my team thanked me for it.Now you might be wondering why this is the change staff are looking for?Because they are craving strong leadership which simply means this:
Don't be all talk and no action, and don't keep changing the goalposts unnecessarily.
They simply want
clarity to know what they can and can't do, as well as providing them with the tools and systems to do their job.
They want to be
valued; and know their ideas will be heard, considered and implemented where possible.
And when it's not possible, they want to know
why – and it's OK to say because I've decided not to for the moment.
Remember: You don't have to disclose absolutely everything to your team about the operations of the business. But you do need to keep them updated – even if for a while, that answer is - 'it's parked'.
And here's my final thought:I strongly encourage you to give yourself
Permission to Lead so you start building a Leadership Legacy for your RTO which is one of positivity, strong decision making and action taking; rather than being a leader whose intentions are good but results unfortunately in being labelled by your team as an 'All Talk and No Action Leader'.
And if you need a bit of help with this, you might consider taking on board advice from President Bartlet in the TV Show:
The West Wing when he talks about his decision to hide his MS condition from the American people.
I was wrong. I was. I was just – I was wrong! Come on, we know that. Lots of times, we don't know what right from wrong is, but lots of times we do and come on, this is one. I may not have had sinister intent at the outset. But there were plenty of opportunities for me to make it right.
No one in government takes responsibility for anything anymore. We fluster, we obfuscate, rationalize. Everybody does it, that's what we say. So we come to occupy a moral safehouse where everyone's to blame so no one's guilty. I'm to blame. I was wrong.
As always, leadership begins and ends with us.
P.S If you need any help and support in starting this step, I know a fantastic specialist RTO Business Coach who would love the opportunity to help you, your team and your business.
Dedicated to helping you run a simple profitable RTO business
Tamara