I received a call the other day from Lisa, a business owner who was referred to me by my client Brian.  She related her impression of visiting his office.  She described an atmosphere with a high level of professionalism, where the entire team was focused and working together.  Everyone had upbeat positive attitudes.  She felt exceptionally well cared for and her concerns received the highest priority.  She left Brian’s office “wowed!”  As we talked, she dreamed of having the same team-oriented atmosphere, professionalism and service in her own office.  I told her Brian’s office was not always like this and that the first step began with him learning to lead well.

Leading well begins with a clear sense of personal values out of which flows organizational values.  Leaders live out, and demonstrate those values in their daily actions, decisions and behaviors.  When your values are lived out consistently, people know where they stand with you and are secure in their place within the organization.  Because people desire to be well led, a leader’s clear sense of values provides ideals they can identify with influencing their actions and decision making.  

I also told Lisa that leading well means providing a clear, optimistic view of the future in the form of a compelling vision.  This vision considers your context, the community you reach, the services you provide, and the customers you serve.  This vision is consistent with the values, provides inspirational motivation for staff and defines why your organization exists.  This clear, optimistic vision for the future challenges and motivates staff to reach higher standards and achieve goals.  Leaders must continually communicate the vision, supported with purpose and meaning, in order to energize your organization toward “wowing” all your potential customers.

Communication is vital to leading well and bringing out the best in people.   As I related to Lisa, Brian was intentional about talking with his people about removing obstacles to success.   These obstacles could be inefficient processes, a lack of information, training, or an inability to effectively service your best customers.  Ask your people what is keeping them from achieving success in their jobs.  The key is to listen and really consider what your people say and work together to continually improve to take confident strides toward success.

Creating opportunities for success focuses on helping your people contribute their best in alignment with what they are good at, their passions and their place within the organization. Brian took the approach to mentor and coach his people to increase opportunities for success and helped them develop as leaders.  This individualized consideration helped them grow professionally, enhanced their personal success and resulted in greatly improved business results.   

Lisa called me because, like Brian did, she wants to transform her office to achieve greater results for her business.  To transform your results, start with a clear set of values, develop of a compelling vision, remove obstacles to success and create opportunities for your people to give their best.   Transform your organization, lead well and bring out the best results now.