When it comes to "people" I wonder if their happiness matters - do I even care if they are engaged or not. If it mattered, would I rehire them or better still, all of them? Jim Collins had a question about whether the right people were on the bus.
It is no surprise that relationships matter - with that comes two key words - love and forgiveness. In fact, I believe that until I settle any relationship issues left unattended, they will consume a tremendous amount of emotional energy.
To make it even more complicated, these relationships go outside of our own space within our corporate walls. If I am to grow fast I will need to develop relationships with key people outside of my organization. Who are the key people in my industry? Can I find 25 names or even possibly more? Maybe one set of criteria could help me narrow the search a bit more - who are the people and the brands they represent that will be impacted by the vision I aspire to achieve.
I believe that one of my highest priorities will be having a healthy top leadership team. Who are the right people, for the right roles and are they able to do the right things. I will only know if they are doing the right thing if I have established clear accountabilities and metrics.
I suppose that I will know I have people challenges if I am not enjoying being part of the team or company I am leading.
How can I determine leadership team health? It is something that is important to me. I want to understand how people function in their environments and how they will make decisions. I believe that will give me a way to effectively choose the best people for positions on their leadership teams.
“In retaining employees and keeping them engaged, we’ll cover the five activities of great (vs. good) managers:
• Help people play to their strengths.
• Don’t demotivate; dehassle.
• Set clear expectations and give employees a clear line of sight.
• Give recognition and show appreciation. • Hire fewer people, but pay them more (frontline employees, not top leaders!).”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't
