When you’ve been around long enough, you see patterns in behavior, individual and organizational. And you hear people say things, and repeat them again and again, sometimes really stupid things.
When I say ‘stupid’, I mean misinformed, shortsighted, and simple plain wrong things that people hear and then repeat. Often they perpetuate fads and myths that stem from another point in time. These people often were at the receiving end of poor leadership – and now believe this is how leadership should be done.
I won’t repeat these myths. Instread, I share the hard truth that go against them:
1. Company culture is not tree-hugger stuff. It’s the bedrock of performance.
2. Your business strategy is only as good as your ability to communicate it.
3. If you don’t develop your people, they will find someone else who will.
4. If you don’t fire toxic top performers, they will destroy your culture.
5. The fastest way to annoy your best people is micro-managing them.
6. If you don’t give feedback, you rob people of growth opportunities.
7. No-one cares about what you say unless you back it with action.
8. How you listen to others shows how much you care.
9. Never expect anyone to work harder than yourself.
10. Look after your teams. They look after your clients.
Main Image by Markus Winkler