Although there is a lot of information in the books about leadership and how to do things the right way to achieve the success we are looking for, sometimes it is also good to observe what the wrong things are and how to avoid them.
For my taste these are the deadly and most frequent sins that Directors have:
1. Assume that your employees know the goals and purpose of the company.
Both you and your management team have a great strategic plan designed. The question is who will execute that plan? Even the best plan is worthless unless it is understood and accepted as your own at all levels. Your workforce is the engine that powers your plan.
You must integrate your strategic plan to ensure that EVERYONE is in tune with the Company Plan and is willing to die for it.
2. Leave the selection and hiring process to chance.
In the best scenario, you will get a good employee in 14% of the cases. On the contrary, in the worst of these scenarios you will get a bad employee and may even get sued if things get complicated.
A good recruitment and selection system at all levels improves overall performance and helps avoid lawsuits. A clear and precise definition of what we are looking for and what we are looking for is key. In addition, a rigorous interview, and checking your references and professional background help the employer to form an accurate picture of the candidate's past behavior. This, together with a proper investigation of their attitudes, can avoid many surprises and save us many costs in the future.
3. Assume that your people are properly trained.
Failing to develop your people's talents with proper training is a massive waste of resources. Many companies spend more time and money negotiating and paying for maintenance contracts for their equipment and machines than they do training their staff. And yet they keep saying that their employees are their number one asset.
4. Not being able to evaluate and measure.
It's easy to get into the habit of “going about business as usual,” performing tasks from memory or doing things the same way simply because that's the way they have always been done. You must continually measure your key activities for the business. Are they necessary and relevant? If so then these activities should be measured and followed to determine their effectiveness as well as efficiency. If you can't measure it, don't do it.
5. Failing to provide adequate feedback.
Fear of conflict can lead leaders to avoid mentioning unacceptable behavior or to demand accountability. Systematic and constructive, goal-oriented feedback, through performance appraisals or through conversations in the course of daily activities, is necessary to ensure smooth operation and aid in the career development of employees.
6. Assume that things are being done well and that customers are happy.
Have you asked them? Assuming that your customers are satisfied simply because they have received no complaints is not necessarily an accurate barometer. Your business must have mechanisms and systems in place to encourage customer feedback. You must listen, and act on that information.
7. Not understanding the relationship between sales and marketing.
Even businesses with an excellent sales force must use marketing. Marketing, through its disciplines of public relations, research and advertising, is a key tool to identify new markets, communicate with your potential market and with your customers and spread and consolidate your brand and your message among all your stakeholders. The lack of active development of such strategies impairs their ability to compete. And if seven deadly sins are not enough, I give you another one:
8. Treat employees as if they were another material.
Any company that has experienced the high cost of employee turnover understands what it means to pay this toll: replacement costs, lost productivity, and low morale. If you treat employees like a material they will respond in the same way, that is, leaving you as soon as possible for the next best offer.
The questions we must ask ourselves are: Where are we on these points? Do we have those systems up and running? Do we know how satisfied our customers are? Do we have it measured? And a host of other questions that lead us to ask ourselves what I have always been remembering, and that as a business coach, I apply every day…
"You have to be crazy to think that doing things the same way that you will always get different results" (Einstein).
