Business owners and key executives create their company culture and that culture drives their organization’s results. If you are a leader who is not getting the results you want, it’s important to make an honest evaluation of your communications skills.
Some cultures are created by default, passively letting people act autonomously based upon their individual preferences. The leaders are either unaware of what they are creating, aware but in denial, or aware but lost as to what they should be doing differently. You might say they are leaders in name (or title) only. If you are observing any of these symptoms in your company, there’s a good chance it is suffering from a leadership vacuum:
- Lack of accountability
- Low employee engagement
- Acceptance of poor performance
In contrast, effective leaders strive to actively create their organization’s culture and drive positive action by actively influencing their people. To provide some perspective on what this can look like, here are some comments on leadership worth considering:
Leaders get things done by clearly communicating their expectations and providing consistent, motivating feedback. But most of us have not been trained to be effective communicators. So where can you start? Here are four tips to get you started on a positive track toward improving your effectiveness when requesting action from your people: