Chapter 5 – Leadership, Management, and Accountability (LMA), page 53.
Opening
- In chapters one through four we laid a foundation for the next three chapters, which are the crux of the entire book.
- This chapter sets up a baseline for everything that comes next.
- A great boss creates a work environment where people are fully engaged and highly accountable.
- How would you rate the level of accountability in your organization on a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is high)?
- Most bosses interviewed rated accountability low, usually a 4.
The Four Truths
Truth 1: Being a Great Boss Can Be Simple
- There have been thousands of books written on leadership and management.
- They can be confusing and contradictory and can tie you up in knots with theory and complexity.
- The truth is, if you do five things consistently as a leader and five things consistently as a manager, you will be a great boss.
Truth 2: Your Style Does Not Have to Change
- It doesn’t matter if you are nice or tough, introverted or extroverted, charismatic or reserved. Just be yourself!
- When you are authentic, you are more believable and you will build trust.
Truth 3: You Must Genuinely Care About Your People
- You’re people know whether care about them or not.
- There’s an old saying: people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
- If you don’t care, you’ll never be great.
Truth 4: You Must Want to Be Great
- There’s no middle ground. You must genuinely desire to become a great boss.
- That means that you must be willing to invest the time necessary to continuously improve yourself.
- For your business to grow, you must grow.
Leadership + Management = Accountability (L+M=A)
- There is a distinct difference between leadership and management.
- Being a great leader does not make you a great manager or vice versa.
- Leadership involves working “on” the business:
- Providing clear direction
- Creating an opening for people
- Taking time to think
- Management involves working “in” the business:
- Creating clear expectations
- Communicating well
- Ensuring things get done
- Leadership consists of creating a vision, and Management consists of gaining the traction to achieve it.
- To become a great boss, you must consistently do five things as a leader and five things as a manager.
