Having commenced work at a comparatively young age I've always believed that you can strive for anything in this life when you're prepared to work hard and lead by example.
No doubt my army Captain father instilled in me a strong work ethic and the value of pushing through the obstacles; I certainly watched him do just that. But the one thing I've never been able to overcome is my intolerance of poor leadership, and the expectation that I should.
Reading an article in recent weeks about the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos had been voted best-performing CEO in the world. Here is a guy who has made some epic mistakes but to his shareholders, he has still delivered an astoundingly high shareholder return despite Amazon's apparent non-profitability. Jeff set his eyes firmly on creating long-term value rather than brand popularity or big returns because, of course, he had the freedom to do so. He has a reputation for building great teams, putting revenue above profits and reinvesting back into Amazon, and it's people, giving shareholders a return second to none; and he did it by leading by example.
So what can every business learn from the achievements of the best-performing CEO in the world?
1. Give your Leaders permission to achieve their highest aspirations for both your business and themselves; get out of their way.
2. See mistakes as opportunities for your leaders to do better and to come up with unique solutions. We've all made our share of bad calls, haven't we?!
3. Give your leaders the budget to invest in innovation. Don't fall into the trap of “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”. If your leader has put together a strong business case to improve systems and processes to increase revenue, you're guaranteed to fall behind if you don't.
4. Provide tools which maximise results and minimise effort because everyone has a 'burn-out' line and when crossed your IP will walk out the door.
5. Employ exemplary talent and invest time with them, praise them for their achievements and get to know them.
6. Listen and ask how you can work best together, find out what buttons need to be pushed to get the best out of them and give them the freedom to express their thoughts.
7. Always lead by example.
8. Inspire and take your leaders with you on your journey to achieve your vision for the business. Let them inside your thinking and be open to new ideas which might just be more visionary than yours.
9. Acknowledge what you're not particularly good at and hire people who are brilliant in these areas.
10. Surround yourself with positive people all of the time.
Have a great day!
Vicki-Anne
Director – Creative Recruiters
m: +61 413 453 563
e: va@creativerecruiters.com.au
Interested in more of our leadership tips? Follow our series on YouTube here!
Want more information on how Creative Recruiters can help your business? Contact us now!