Karen Raisch-Siegel, the executive director of LifeWorks of Southwest General, shares leadership reminders she’s learned over the years.
I was fortunate to attend Battlefield Leadership — a Little Bighorn Leadership Experience — several years ago. To this day, I can feel the excitement of being on the field of Custard’s last stand during a rainy, windy day in eastern Montana. Those few days taught me so much. It was what I took away that has helped me and my team, especially these past few years. Below are some of the things I learned:
To be an effective leader our teams need to be able to trust us. To build trust we have the Three C’s — competence, character and caring. Competence is knowing our jobs and communicating clearly. We possess the knowledge and skills to get the job done. Character is being loyal and having respect and integrity. Caring is being empathetic, sharing risks with our teams and facing challenges together.
Opinions do count and it’s important the team understands their role. Where do they fall in the decision-making process?
- Provide input.
- Have a vote.
- Be a decision maker.
What is our hallway reputation? Think back to your school days and how we all had reputations. If you were to walk down a hallway lined with your team, what would they say about you? What we tolerate we condone. What are your leadership quirks? Make sure your team knows.
The Four Agreements are great guides for leaders:
- Be impeccable to your word.
- Don’t take it personally.
- Don’t assume things.
- Always do your best.
E + R = O which means Event plus our Response equals the Outcome. What’s important to remember is the “R” factor we control. We need to manage our response by pressing the pause button. We can press pause any time in the formula.
Your response to events creates culture, and culture is driven by leadership. People then behave a way that culture dictates and this drives results. All excuses are good excuses. That’s why we accept no excuses. What’s yours?
