Great Leaders See Problems and Crises as Opportunities

In late December and early January, I did a series of posts on what leaders need to do to help the people they lead to succeed.  These tips were related to one of the points I make in my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations: create a committed and engaged workforce.

Developing and communicating a clarity of purpose and direction is another of the 4 Secrets.  Organizational values are helpful in communicating clarity of purpose.  Values guide decision making.  They help people figure out what to do in ambiguous situations.

In this post, I will concentrate on one of the things great leaders do to use values to communicate their organizations clarity of purpose.

Lead by becoming a role model for your organization’s values with the people you lead.

Great leaders practice values driven leadership by becoming a role model for their organization’s values.  “Role model”, you say.  “That’s Mom and apple pie stuff.  Everyone tells you to be a role model, no one tells you how.”

Great leaders act as role models for their organization’s values.  They set the proper example.  They are committed to their organization’s values, and they practice them all the time, without exception.  The people they lead can count on this.

Great leaders know that bringing values to life is a behavioral issue.  They put their focus on what they do, day in and day out.  Great leaders realize that to be a values role model, they need to pay attention to everything they do – because everything a leader does, counts.

In order to become an exceptional values role model, great leaders focus on items.

1. How they spend their time.
2. Where they go.
3. What they say.
4. How they deal with problems and crises.

In this post, I’d like to focus on how great leaders deal with problems and crises in a manner that helps them become a role model for their organization’s values.

Great leaders know that problems and crises not present excellent opportunities for them to model their organization’s values; they also are a time when a leader demonstrates his true commitment to the values for the people he or she leads.   People, leaders included, show their true colors in times of stress. 

When leaders react to problems in a manner consistent with their organization’s beliefs and principles – it’s values – they gain credibility as a leader and the values gain credibility with the people they lead.  On the other hand, when leaders react to problems and crises in a manner contrary to organizational values, both their credibility and the credibility of the values is shattered with the people they lead.

When great leaders are faced with a problem or crisis, they slow down and remain calm.  The ask themselves a simple question.  “What leadership guidance do our organizational values provide me and the people I lead in this situation?”  Then they decide what to do

It’s that simple.  Great leaders keep their organizations’ values in their minds at all times.  They reflect on values prior to taking leadership action.

Slowing down in a problem or crisis can go against the grain.  Many leaders think that problems and crises call for warp-speed action.  Great leaders know that the opposite is true.  By slowing down, thinking about the situation and their organization’s values, they end up with making better decisions and reinforcing the importance of their organization’s values in the minds of their people. 

Great leaders don’t procrastinate – they act swiftly and deliberately to solve problems.  They just take five or ten minutes to think about the problem and plan a course of leadership action that will not only solve the problem, but will reinforce organizational values in the minds of the people they lead.  They know that these five or ten minutes are valuable; that leadership decisions made and actions taken in the heat of the moment, can undermine their credibility as a leader.  They avoid this by dealing with problems and crises in a manner consistent with their organization’s values.

In the past four posts, I’ve written about the importance of leaders acting as role models for their organizations’ values.  Here is a summary of the ideas I’ve covered.

• Great leaders spend their time in a manner that highlights and reinforces their organization’s values for the people they lead.
• Great leaders get out of their office and interact frequently with the people they lead.
• Great leaders pay attention to what they say – and don’t say – to make sure that their words reinforce organizational values for the people they lead.
• Great leaders slow down when things get hot.  They use organizational values as a guide for solving problems and addressing crises. 

By doing these things, great leaders are values role models for the people they lead.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming the life and career star you are meant to be.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Comments

[Nicholas Finnegan]

Loved this post because iy made so much absolute sense :D -nick, http://www.nicholasfinnegan.com/