The Effect a Leader has on the Organization’s Performance

An awesome responsibility rests on the shoulders of leaders in every walk of life, as they influence outcomes on others and on their organizations

Subordinates watch every single move, every action you take.

Whatever you do or say is not only observed, it is internalized.

Think about this for a second.

Your behavior profoundly influences the performance of your organization, the behavior of individuals within the organization, and in many instances, how these persons behave when they go home.

What an awesome responsibility you carry.

Some subordinates will copy your behavior, some will reject it, yet others may ridicule your actions. The fact is that as a leader you have a major influence on the behavior of those around you, and those people not only affect those around them, but your organization as well.

A few examples. Let’s say you have a “tell” management style and that you use this style when appropriate and when inappropriate. What will be the result? In general, only low level persons will work for you. Higher level subordinates will only put up with this until it no longer suits them. “Telling “all the time as opposed to participating or listening, sends out many messages about you. These messages include- “Don’t use your initiative on anything. The boss will tell us what and how it should be done. You won’t get into trouble this way” The effect of this message is that nothing happens when the boss is not there and productivity tends to be low. Other messages that are sent out include- “The boss doesn’t value my opinion, the boss thinks I am an idiot, and my boss has no feelings.”

How the individual reacts to this situation is what really matters. Some rebel, and if their frustration level is high enough, could even start ensuring that things don’t go well, simply to “get even “with the boss. Others become perfect robots in order to survive and keep their jobs. Others may even copy this management style as “successful people seem to do it this way.”

If you behave inappropriately, think about the negatives these employees take home every day and the “negative spillover “that occurs at home.

Your behavior affects your immediate environment, including how subordinates respond to you. The way you dress, the neatness of your environment, your language, your opinions, your interests, your ethics, all of these contribute to something that especially younger staff members may start emulating.

It has been said that if you work for your first boss for longer than three years, the experience could have a lasting impact on your behavior. What a sobering thought!

Imagine what a subordinate internalizes and what the long term effect is if you as the Leader, constantly arrives late for work, you bark at the employees, you do not keep your word, you act unfairly, you mismanage customers and pontificate your views to your people. By doing this you must realize that you could possibly be the cause of a great deal of your organization’s poor performance.

Realizing that you have a profound effect on those around you, how could you harness this fact for the good?

Think of the benefits for everyone if you affected the interaction with your people positively, not negatively.

Here are a few ways to do this:

1 -LISTEN to what your people are telling you. Ask questions. Information is power. Your people have information. They are often closer to the action than you are and the feedback they give you can be used to improve your organizations’ position.

2- GIVE CREDIT where due to those that have meaningful suggestions.

3 - ASK YOURSELF this every day: “What will the result be on the people around me and my company if they internalize this action of mine?”

4 - INVOLVE STAFF where appropriate. They often see what you miss.

Now that you are aware of the impact of your behavior on others, make your daily interaction with others a positive, constructive one, as you will be the first beneficiary of your new approach!

The first thing Bernard Kirk tells his clients is that the absolute critical factor in any business is people.

With seventeen years of operational management, twenty two years of strategy implementation for multiple entrepreneurs, professionals and high level businesses across the globe, Bernard is an expert in how people affect outcomes.

Having the right people doing the right things in the right job, is usually the difference between mediocrity and greatness for both the individual and the organization. Bernard’s methods of determining what needs to be done by what type of person and how to select and retain those persons has attracted interest on an international basis. Bernard has consulted in the retail, hospitality, manufacturing, medical, recycling professional and academic fields. He lives in Arizona, USA.