Achieving long term success as a leader or manager is not as easy as it looks. While most can achieve short term results, the truly exceptional leaders and managers can do it consistently. That's not to say they never get anything wrong but, when they do, they put the learning to good use and get even better.
It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that everything is going really well. At the same time, there are probably some early warning signs that you could be losing the plot.
Warning Sign 1: You Are Losing A Lot Of Good People
Employees are the life blood of most businesses and the reality is it is your people assets, rather than the plant and machinery, that really make the difference. Good people who deliver great results will always be in demand, irrelevant of the market or economic conditions. If you start to see a spike in the number of people leaving, particularly your best people, waken up and find out the underlying reasons.
Warning 2: People Are Not Engaged
More and more organisations seem to be finding it a bigger challenge to get the level of employee engagement to the level they would like. Yet it is often simple things like seeking out ideas, listening to employees and taking action on the ideas that they are putting forward that make a huge difference to the levels of engagement. If people are not engaging, step back and consider whether it is down to the way you and the senior team are interacting, or not interacting, with employees.
Warning 3: Turf Wars Are Developing
When the chips are down, people will often go to extreme lengths to protect their position or the interests of their function or team. When this happens, it is easy for people to start to put the interests of the organisation a lot further down the pecking order than their own, or their functions', interests. When these battles start to emerge it is rarely good news for the organisation as a whole.
Warning 4: Customers Are Voting With Their Feet
Customer or client retention is hugely important in these tougher times. If you are noticing that you are losing a lot of clients or that complaints are increasing, it can be a sign that all is not well. The key is to discover what the underlying problems are and tackle them as quickly as you can.
The Bottom Line: There are a whole range of indicators that things are not going as well as they could. Being alert to them is key to adapting and continuing to be successful as a leader and manager.
To become an even better leader I invite you to sign up for my free audio e-course Leadership Success at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/leaders-main.html
Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements works with accountants, health professionals, teams and organisations to develop their management and leadership capability. With 25 years business experience in a range of sectors, he understands first hand the real challenges of managing and leading in the demanding business world.
http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/leaders-main.html
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