Every leader has the commitment and obligation to ensure the personal, professional and spiritual improvement of those around him. It is a responsibility that as people we must assume.
The leader will agree with his team on the long-term objectives of the company.
- You have to be very selective in selecting these targets. They must be difficult, very demanding, but they must be realistic and achievable. If they were not like this, the organization could ignore them as absurd.
- They must be very precise objectives. The company has to concentrate its resources on achieving very specific objectives. You should not fight for widely dispersed objectives as you would run the risk of not achieving anything.
- The objectives must be quantified ( be # 1 by market capitalization, double sales in three years, gain 4 points of market share, etc.). They are not worth mere ideas, imprecise, lack of specification (be the best, grow, diversify).
It is essential to take into account the opinion of those who are going to require these goals, listen to them, know their arguments, pay attention to them. Goals imposed from above, in which the people affected have not been consulted, are not very motivating.
Once these long-term goals are defined, smaller short-term goals will be set.
These smaller goals lead towards the achievement of long-term goals.
These immediate goals increase the pressure on the organization (the long term can be seen as something very distant and could lead to some relaxation).
On the other hand, the achievement of these partial goals contributes to increase the morale of the employees.
Although it is essential to firmly adhere to the defined action plan and be very persistent in its achievement, the leader cannot give up flexibility, to take a turn of the wheel at a given moment if an opportunity arises that should be taken advantage of.
Once the goals have been set, the leader will give autonomy to the different departments to proceed as they see fit (the person doing the work knows best how to do it).
Autonomy encourages employees to assume responsibilities, make decisions and be accountable for their results.
Encourage creativity.
The leader cannot intrude on the minor details of the work of his subordinates.
These could feel uncomfortable, pressured, undervalued.
Only in those cases in which the performance of a department is not up to expectations, the leader can dig deeper to see the reasons for this failure and fix the relevant changes.
When departments function autonomously, it is interesting to establish a communication system within the company that allows sharing experiences.
If a department has developed a working method that is effective, it could be useful in other areas of the company as well.
Finally, departments must be given the necessary means to be able to meet their objectives.
You cannot ask the production department to lower the manufacturing cost, to improve the quality of the products, and not give them the right tools, the necessary technology, the required training.
Nor can the commercial department be asked to gain market share and not give it an attractive product portfolio with which to compete.
Being a leader is not a position or an award to show off, it is a commitment, a responsibility and an obligation, we must not forget that "every position is a burden." We cannot be indifferent to atrocities, injustice and the growing threat of a lack of values, today men and women determined to change the way of life of society are needed. It is a great challenge, yes, but the hope of a better world should encourage us to be the leaders of this great company.
