Gone are the days when a manager, supervisor, or boss could lead on the merits of his or her title. Employees are way smarter now. They will follow and serve any credible leader. If you lead solely by delegating, the question they’ll ask, including myself, is what do you do besides giving orders? The moment they get a hint that you are obsessed with delegating, mentally they will “unfollow” you like Twitter and dislike you with a “thumb down” on Facebook. Do you think they won’t? You can bet your next paycheck on it. Depending on their circumstances, they’ll stay with you for a while but not for long. They want to know that your leadership is a hit to stay committed to your company’s vision. Once your leadership becomes a hit, they’ll dance behind you like an energy bunny by “Keep going and going…” Today I’ll tune your ear to three things you can adjust on your leadership tuner to make ‘your’ leading a hit. You’ll read about delegating, credibility, and respect.

Don’t be obsessed with delegating. You want to use delegating with care but make sure it’s effective and fair. When you delegate you can get immediate feedback by asking your staff if they’re satisfied or comfortable with the work order. If they’re not, just ask for a suggestion. You want to do this to avoid the unasked question in your staff’s mind, what do you do besides telling me what to do? Just recently I spoke with an employee from a large corporation about how effective is his boss as a leader and his response was “The only thing he does is delegate. If he could have you wake him up, he would.” The same employee shared with me that he had a question and the so-called boss told him to go and ask a supervisor under him. I was just as embarrassed as the employee. The boss wasn’t willing to address it with me. The trick with delegating is to first establish an excellent rapport with those you lead. Don’t delegate when you haven’t correspond with your staff in months. If your staff only hears from you through someone in your inner circle, then you need to stop, go and mend the pieces with your staff because your leadership is out of alignment. Fixing this problem doesn’t have to be long. It could be as swift as a doctor’s visit. If you decide to take this advice don’t have another staff deliver the message, do it yourself. If you are an executive, don’t ask your supervisor to forward an email to your staff when you know how to move the mouse. Forwarding most emails, especially this kind, doesn’t require delegating. Sending a simple email to your staff will usher the message that you value their services and appreciate their help.

Credibility. This is critical. You can’t lead effectively without it. Once you make a commitment to your staff, follow through with it. You can’t set a deadline to deliver and don’t come through. When this happens you are out-of-place and have terminated the trust level with your staff. I always say this to people, “If words don’t matter to you, don’t use them.” Your word should be your bond. At the end of day if you don’t follow through with what you say, you’re leading in vain; and most likely your words are no different from hot air. There’s absolutely no excuse for not remembering your commitments. On several occasions I’ve heard supervisors use this phrase to their staff “You should have reminded me.” But they would never need a reminder from their boss. In fact, they always deliver or keep their bosses posted on any change. If you have a memory problem, please use the services available at your disposal. I mean this in a good way. You can use Microsoft Outlook to flag information, post entries on calendars and setup reminders. If you’re not into technology, now is a great time to start learning. As you’re learning, you can use your phones to set reminders or simple use pen and paper. Credibility is simple to build by start doing what you say. Even though I said it’s easy, it can become difficult when you’re not consistent and intentional.

Respect. According to Dictionary.com, respect means the willingness to show consideration or appreciation. It comes from the Latin word respectus – the action of looking back, consideration, regard, variant stem of respicere which means to look back. With all those colorful words that shape its definition, it makes me look back at a group of people who salute each other with the word very often. Jamaicans often use this word instead of saying thanks. The more you talk about or mention something, the more you add life to it. Respect is something you earn. Even though it doesn’t happen overnight, you can start working on it now. Here’s what I recommend, simple start by looking at your employees. Start making eye contact if you haven’t been doing so already. The look by itself shows recognition, respect and value. After you look, say hi, good morning or good afternoon depending on the time of the day. You don’t want to look at your employee as if they don’t exist. Each employee is an asset. Without them your vision can’t come into fruition because you simple don’t have enough hands. I recently met with a group to discuss some issues they have been facing. The goal of the meeting was to come up with solutions to increase the level of respect within the agency. Before the meeting began, I noticed the CEO walked in and looked right through the custodial engineer and greeted only the employee with the highest rank in the room. I was very disappointed and aghast. Saying hello to an employee, coworker or staff doesn’t require a lot of work. Even if you don’t like them, you have to show respect no matter what. My sensei used to say, “Uan, if you don’t like someone, you have to show them respect.” I heard that Suge Knight had a different take on this. If you don’t show him respect, he’ll make you. I don’t support inflicting violence on anyone, especially in the office. If ‘respect’ is at its lowest state in your agency and you want a change for the better, start by greeting everyone cheerfully. This might take some getting use to but start now. When you greet someone, you are sending three messages: respect, value and appreciation.

We have to constantly strive to do our best to leave a great legacy for the next generation to follow. This legacy should foster the embodiment of respect for all humans regardless of titles. Last Thursday night I watched Warren Buffet with his son and grandson live at the New York Public Library. The sweet odor of respect that lit the stage was simply delectable. The way they showed value for each person’s opinion was worth every second. Mr. Warren asked, “If you were in the womb today, where would you choose to be born?” He didn’t get an immediate response from Tom Brokaw but my answer would have been an environment or culture that embraces respect, value for each others contribution and shows appreciation overtly. Employees flourish in an environment where responsible delegating, credibility and respect for each other are visible. If you are an executive, you don’t have to speak to anyone to show your authority. Your authority and leadership are constantly on display. If you nurture the culture of respect, your effectiveness and employees productivity will break the sound barrier every time. And the level of respect you seek will swim up-stream like a thousand salmon towards you dying to give birth. If there’s ever a time we need effective leaders, it’s now. It’s imperative for us to lead from within, do what we say and show respect openly to others. The foul odor of disrespect should be permanently uprooted and expelled from every environment. When we show respect for others contribution, then their value, including yours, will lift from the ash as a phoenix and soar to new heights as an eagle. Lastly, as we pay attention to respect and value, our credibility will become unquestioned.

First released on October 28, 2013 Leadership