Leaders need to Define, Clarify and Communicate

I believe it is because we have a need to always complicate everything in our lives and businesses that we cause ourselves a whole lot of unnecessary stress and discomfort. It is more often than not the simple solution or option, which delivers the best results in the end.

Action Idea:

Clearly define and communicate the outcomes every staff member is required to achieve? Ensure that every staff member has the specific skills, knowledge and attributes, required to successful support the leader to achieve the outcomes they desire
Develop measurement criteria, which will allow the leader to consistently measure each team member’s performance. Each team member must have a crystal clear understanding of their role in delivering on the vision and what is required of them every day. They must be also able to easily measure their performance as often as necessary to see if the actions they are taking is aligned with the outcomes they need to achieve with and for the team.
Develop a culture within their team and organisation, which will support the overall vision and each individual. When the culture supports the vision and each team member has the right attitude and attributes to support the vision success is inevitable.
Fill your Organisation with the right Calibre of People

The most important role of any leader is to find and keep the best possible staff, who can support their vision, which they have set for their team or organisation. It then becomes obvious that becoming a powerful recruiter and retainer of good quality staff is one of the most important roles any great leader must possess. The success or failure of any leader or organisation is dependent on the people within the organisation, thus filling your teams with the right people must be approached with finesse and deep thought.

Finding the right people

Most leaders I speak to say that they inherited the people in their team and as such there is very little they can do to change things. In the short term they are correct, but they should not allow the fact that they have inherited the wrong people, to keep them trapped in a cycle of poor team performance. The best way to start is to first create a very clear picture of what the perfect person for any position would look like. Carefully define their characteristics, skills, knowledge and most importantly what attitude they must have. You can never know if someone is suitable to fill any position unless you have created this crystal clear picture of what you are actually looking for. Look at any recruiting drive as an opportunity to discover people that are an ideal match for any position within your organisation.

You must clearly define the following areas:

What outcomes is this new staff member responsible to achieve? What skills, knowledge or specific attributes will they need to achieve these outcomes?
What measurement criterion will you apply to consistently measure their performance? They must have a clear vision of what is required of them and they must be able to measure their performance as often as possible to see if they are on track.
What is the current culture within the organisation and what attitude and attributes must the new person possess to fit in with the current people.
Know Exactly what you want

It is impossible to make any positive changes in your team, if you do not know exactly what you want and precisely who the perfect people are to fill each position in your team or organisation. The best way to start this process is to first write a very detailed description of the outcomes you want each person to achieve. The more detailed the description of the job requirements, the easier it will be to identify the right person to fill that position. This allows you to get clarity on exactly what you need from any new person and allows you to define how you will measure the performance of the person that will fill that new position.

Create a Roadmap for your Teams Success

This detailed description is in effect a clear outline or road map for every member of your team; they will have a clearly defined framework, clearly defining your expectations and they will also understand their individual job requirements too. Once you are clear about exactly what each person in your team or organisation will need to do, it is wise to then define the type of attributes, knowledge and skill this person must possesses to carry out these tasks every day. The more each team member is able to contribute to the overall culture, which supports the overall vision. The easier it will be to succeed as a team.

This definition must first carefully consider the current people within the organisation. Those people who possess the skills, knowledge and ability to move the team toward achieving their vision. Any new person, who you want to bring into the team, must have the right attitude and mind-set, to fit in culturally with all the existing people, who are suited to help the team achieve the overall vision.

Find the Right Person

It is rather obvious that unless you know exactly what you are looking for in the new person, it will be impossible to find the right person. It is always far easier to invest time into clearly defining what you want from the new person and getting the perfect person, than it is trying to retrain and mould the wrong person, after you have hired them. When you fill your teams with the right people, who possess all the right attributes to meet the needs of the organisation, everything just works and everyone does what they need to do to promote success within the team or organisation. It is far wiser to recruit the right people in the first place than it is to try to change the wrong person after you have hired them.

When you have a clearly defined picture in your mind about exactly what you are looking for in any new employee you are equipped to start searching for them and when they show up, you will be better equipped to know that they are the right person for the job.