The Leader Sets The Tone
“Do as I say” or “Do
as I do”? With some leaders, it’s fairly
obvious. Whatever they do and however
they behave, you don’t.
The more the question of “leadership” is studied, the more
we understand how NOT to do things. There
are still, sadly, people in leadership positions who don’t understand the
impact that their behaviour has on those who work for them and therefore, by
extension, their customers. “The fish”
as they say, “rots from the head”.
I often use this lack of awareness to distinguish between a
“boss” and a “leader”. Bosses aren't
aware of the impact they have. Leaders
are. Bosses use their “hierarchical
authority” to get things done; leaders draw people along with them. Bosses can threaten to fire you; leaders make
you want to do things. Bosses get the
bare minimum necessary to get the job done; leaders get extraordinary results
from ordinary people.
Now widen the circle.
Say you have a boss in charge of a business that relies on customer
service to provide its revenues. What
sort of service will customers see? In
some cases, it may not matter (if, for example, that business is a “monopoly
provider”), but in others, it will.
Customers can tell from the way your staff behave how well led they are,
and whether they’re driven by dread or by desire. The banking crisis of 2008-9 proved that
incentivising staff by means of higher bonuses or fear of losing their jobs led
them to behave in a way that brought the system to its knees.
The effects of ”Boss Behaviour” can be seen in how staff
treat:
- Each other
- Customers
- Others outside the business
In the end, it will impact
your business.
Think of the different businesses with which you interact:
how do you think the staff there are treated?
Yes, you can teach
your staff how to be nice to customers
through so-called “Customer Service Training” courses, but if you as a
leader treat them badly, that time, expense and effort spent in training is
simply wasted.
So how does a “boss” become a “leader”? Simply by treating others as he or she would
wish to be treated themselves. Get to
know them as human beings: their motivations, hopes, worries. Too many bosses view their staff as being
there to get things done, forgetting that they’re human beings as well.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Career, Customer Care, Leadership, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 08:39
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