13 Leadership Principles
From my perspective, there are two types of managers; one who manages things, and one who leads people. It is the people's side that has always piqued my interest and held my attention. And I’ve learned it is the tougher challenge by a wide margin.
While learning what works and doesn’t work in leading people, two overarching ideas have become apparent to me:
You cannot lead if no one follows. And no one follows if they don’t trust you.
Well duh! you say. But how does one develop trust? One doesn’t bargain for someone’s trust. Or insist on it. It isn’t bestowed. You cannot demand someone’s trust by virtue of position, title, rank or birthright. Trust must be earned. And it must be earned over extended periods of time. It must be earned by consistent and long-term application of well thought out principles and behaviors.
To that end, I have collected the following 13 principles and I keep them posted on my office wall as a reference and reminder. They are my Baker’s Dozen if you will.
1. Hire for work ethic, initiative, alacrity, and creativity. The rest can be taught.
Have you ever hired someone who had great skills but it was nearly impossible to get them to apply those amazing skills? Alternately, have you ever been hesitant to fire someone who is a poor performer because they are ‘just so dang talented’? Don’t get me wrong, skills and experience are important but not if you can’t bring them to bear on the task. I want someone who will work hard and effectively even when I am not looking. No, especially when I am not looking. I want someone who is a self-starter and doesn’t need me to give them a task list. I want someone who is teachable and eager to succeed. I want someone who will find a solution when one might not be readily apparent. And by the way, alacrity is a great word. Look it up!
2. If you bring me a problem without also bringing at least one possible solution, you’re just complaining.
This one relies heavily on the success of principle 1. I don’t want people on my team who expect me to be their problem solver. If someone comes into my office with a problem and I provide a solution (any solution) they will expect the same response in the future. If they do a little thinking about the solution before coming to see me, a remarkable thing happens – we become collaborators. When this happens, they have ownership of both the problem and the solution. It takes a bit of practice, but next time someone brings you a problem, ask them what they think should be done. If they say something like, “I haven’t really thought about it”, invite them to go think about it and come back at a later time to discuss.
3. Give people the right tools to do their job well, then sit back and prepare to be amazed.
You cannot do the job right with the wrong tools. This seems painfully obvious, but you see it every day in the workplace. Dated software, worn-out hand tools, obsolete processes, bad lighting, insufficient training, uncomfortable workspace, yesterday’s hardware...the list goes on. You make an attempt to hire the best people, and then you give them poor tools and you seem surprised when you get poor results. In the long run, tools are cheap and people are expensive. However, when your people have the right tools, they will use them to incredible effect and the results will indeed amaze you.
4. Always provide the best tool you can afford. You will never be disappointed.
Although this one seems identical to the one above it is indeed different. Sometimes even the correct tools can be of poor quality and don’t last very long. Then we are forced to either repair or replace them. This activity consumes valuable time and is rather frustrating for the person attempting to use the tool. I realize that budget constraints don’t always allow for the purchase of the best tool on the market but that does not prevent us from buying the best tool we can afford. Personally, I have yet to be disappointed by a quality tool. I have, however, been frequently frustrated by poor quality tools and their failure to perform the task for which they were purchased – usually during my most dire need.
5. Hurry up and screw up. You WILL make mistakes, so make them early and often. This is the quickest path to the solution.
Ah, this is one of my favorite principles. Indeed it is probably my mantra. As I coach and teach undergraduate engineering students, this is the phrase you will most likely catch me repeating. Often, we are so afraid of failing that we go about our daily tasks in a rather timid manner. And even though we try hard not to make mistakes, they inevitably happen. Sometimes they are small and private and sometimes we crash and burn in a very public arena. I work with hundreds of students each semester as they generate ideas and develop product prototypes. And when they fail, I literally shout with excitement and congratulate them and give them high-fives (much to their initial surprise). When this concept is followed to its logical conclusion, we should then celebrate our failures. And doing so is actually kind of fun!
6. Never say blah, blah; when blah will suffice.
There is immense power in brevity.
7. If you take good care of your people, they will take good care of your department.
When you have been successful with principle 1, this one becomes nearly self-fulfilling. I even try to take it a step further and attempt, when appropriate, to get to know their families. Remembering and mentioning birthdays, anniversaries, vacation plans, life events, and other simple things can be very powerful. I try to help them make family first. I support them leaving early for recitals, soccer games and science fairs. I encourage them to go for doctor visits and parent/teacher conferences. Again, this relies on success with principle 1, but I have found that I always get ‘paid back’ and I usually end up way ahead.
8. Don’t let bad data stand in the way of a good decision.
This one is a little tougher to define. There have been several situations in my career where I just knew that if I went with the data, it would not end well. Primarily it was data collected through consumer-type feedback, whether through surveys, questionnaires or focus groups. I’m not suggesting this type of data is inherently bad but in these cases, it was apparent to me that the customer really didn’t know what they wanted. It reminded me of Henry Ford who is purported to have said that when surveyed about better transportation, all the respondents wanted a faster horse. And if you know the data is bad, have the courage to dig a little deeper to find the good data. Importantly, I don’t suggest finding only the data that support your preconceived solution.
9. Get the ship moving. Course corrections are simple by comparison.
In nearly every worthy endeavor, I believe our most costly mistake is a delay. We often wait until things are ‘just right’ before we begin. This can be catastrophic. We wait and wait, and wait until we know all the facts and by then we are approaching our deadlines so we must sprint to the end. We do this under the guise of patience or avoiding mistakes, but you already know my philosophy regarding mistakes. If we get started in a controlled way with the information we already have, we can make gentle and intelligent course corrections as we go. And these corrections take far less energy than the mad dash to the finish line. In short, if you wait for all the traffic lights to be green, you’ll never leave the house.
10. People rarely learn anything of lasting value from their successes. It is our failures that teach the indelible lessons.
I routinely ask students the following question. “How many of you, when getting back a corrected exam, take the time to review the questions that you got correct to discover why you got them right?” So far, I have yet to get an affirmative response. We all review what we get wrong and make an effort to learn from it. Take a few moments now and review the great lessons you have learned in life. I’m willing to wager they each happened as a result of a failure, more than likely a spectacular one. This idea is a close cousin to principle 5 and if you internalize them both, great things happen at a rapid clip.
11. The extra mile is NEVER crowded.
If you go just a little further than everybody else, the view is better, the fields are greener, and the opportunities are greater. It’s worth it, every time. Remember this: The minimum you expect is the maximum you will get. And in relation to principle 1, you can usually expect, and receive, a bit extra.
12. If you and I think exactly alike, one of us is extraneous.
“Kiss-up” employees and team members are such a waste. A waste of talent, a waste of money, a waste of time. If I put such a person on my team, I am simply boosting my ego, not my capability. This does not mean you and your team shouldn’t have the same goal in mind, or the same purpose, or the same end game. But team members should be diverse in skills, in thinking processes, in experience, and in method. And be capable of productive disagreement. Some overlap is valuable but a high percentage of overlap has little rate of return. I welcome contrary feedback and differing methods because it forces me to evaluate my own thinking – a healthy but extremely difficult task.
13. A leader’s main task is to remove obstacles that prevent truly great work.
If you’ve been successful with principle 1 you will find you are hard-pressed to keep up with your employees. This is simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. They will move ahead and progress fast. But in doing so, they will encounter obstacles at an increasing rate (especially if they are making mistakes really quickly). If you make it your primary goal to remove those obstacles as quickly as possible, the benefits are obvious. I am not referring to problems like in principle 2, which your employees should be solving themselves. I am speaking of obstacles that only you can remove by virtue of your position, rank, experience or influence.
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I won’t pretend that I am accomplished at all of these. In truth, the only ones in which I have any proficiency are principles 1 and 5. The rest are all works in progress, but on occasion when I am successful in applying them, it does indeed feel like I am becoming a better leader.
