Are you a Leader in Your Organization?
By Cynthia Bazin
Are you the owner of a business, or manage a large department at work? Or, are you looking to move up within your organization; to be a decision maker and oversee a large staff of employees? Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with true leaders, who have assisted me in developing my career. With these leaders as my mentors, I have learned a lot about how certain leadership styles can make or break how employees view management, and how it can directly impact the success of an organization.
Below are some of the essential qualities of a true leader. Who do you know that displays these qualities? Are you one of them?
· Delegate To Others: Do you appropriately delegate tasks to your talent within the organization or do you feel that tasks can’t be done as good as you can do them, so you tend to work “harder”, not “smarter”? Leaders put people in positions that have extraordinary talent, then empower them to do their jobs. Leaders must appropriately follow-up to ensure that tasks are being completed, and be available for support and guidance, but they allow people to do what they were hired to do for the organization.
· Praise The Team: Are you praising your employees both in private and publicly when something positive happens within the organization? A true leader will praise the work of the team, versus patting himself or herself on the back for the success. Leaders realize that without their employees working as hard as they do, he or she couldn’t be in the position they are in.
· Mentor/Coach: Are you developing your employees for the next level; where they wish to go in their careers? Are you available for employees to come into your office to ask questions, ask for assistance and support when needed? Do you have regular meetings with your employees to keep the communication lines open? Leaders are not intimidated by talent within their organization. True leaders are consistently coaching, mentoring and preparing their employees to move to the next level.
· Open To New Ideas: Are you open to new ideas, willing to try different things within the organization? Or do you tend to go the safe route and not think “outside of the box” and not take risks? Leaders are always looking to improve how things are done and “think outside of the box”; are open to fresh, new ideas. They prepare as much as possible for risk and potential for failure, but aren’t afraid to move forward in the anticipation of growing the team and organization in a positive direction.
· Accept Responsibility for Mistakes: When something goes wrong within your department of the organization, do you take responsibility for things that could have been done better by you or the team; or do you always put blame on others? If an employee of yours makes an error in judgment, do you take responsibility for the employee, correct the mistake and move on? True leaders take responsibility for themselves and their team. When something negative occurs, they quickly acknowledge responsibility for what he/she is responsible for, takes the appropriate action to correct the error, then immediately puts measures in place to prevent the mistake from happening in the future.
· Walk the Talk: If you tell your employees that guest services is the number one priority in the organization, are you the leader of this directive, by smiling and talking with guests, providing excellent guest relations? When the expectations of the company are that employees must have the highest level of ethics and professionalism, are you the example of these expectations? True leaders “walk the talk” and are the example for their employees to emulate.
‘Love your life and live it to the fullest. Just do it with your EYES WIDE OPEN. Know that I am keeping my eye out for you. ~Cynthia
Cynthia Bazin is a licensed Private Investigator and Security Consultant for the State of Nevada. Please contact her today for your next speaking engagement or any training needs on Safety & Security. She will ensure you have all the tools you need to keep you safe in 2008!
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