Real Leaders Don't Boss (25 page)

Some concrete steps that you can take to enhance your real leadership positioning include:

Praising others when appropriate, and constructively counseling them at other times. Remember: a leader must also be a teacher.

Indemnifying the team concept, but not being afraid to take charge or give others the reins when appropriate.

Championing your people and promoting them actively.

Taking risks as appropriate. That means helping the organization and others excel by removing roadblocks and obstacles to their success.

Sacrificing for the team.

Being a cheerleader by continuously encouraging your staff to succeed.

Underscoring your team's importance to the overall success of the organization by appropriately conveying their contributions.

Regularly soliciting feedback from your team. After all, the workplace is hardly static; therefore, continuous learning and leading go hand in hand.

Worker discontent and distrust in today's workplace is a direct result of leadership failures.

Real leaders set the example and step out ahead of the competition. Leadership done right cuts down on workplace stress and promotes enthusiasm, loyalty, and productivity, and improves the company's bottom line.

A leader's vision and values set the stage, and as the leader lives those values and conveys that vision, they become ingrained in the fabric of the organization and, in turn, help foster its corporate culture.

Community, culture, and creativity working together in an organization fuel bottom-line success.

Real leaders step back and allow employees to take credit for ideas and actions. Leaders know the importance of assigning the pride of ownership to others. With ownership, employees generally are more committed to an idea or activity. It's a leader's job to suggest direction, ideas, and even guide the process to help employees come up with solutions.