Practical Leadership Tactics
I recently attended a dinner at which several fellow leaders asked me this question: “Stephen, what are the practices and principles that have helped you most. The more practical, the better.” I thought I’d bullet-point my answers for you here.
First, in my business life, I try to never do anything that someone else can do better. I’m all about giving away authority and responsibility. If I’m doing a task, and someone else can do it better, then I’m slowing progress, preventing growth, and keeping myself from tasks at which I can make a unique contribution. So, if someone else can do a task better than I can, I let them. In fact, I insist.
Second, I talk vision and welcome ownership. Nothing delights me more than to start a project or a venture and before long hear those I work with speaking as though it is theirs. I’ve often had younger associates suddenly catch themselves saying, “At GreatMan we do such and such,” or “At Mansfield Group we always do such and such.” They’ve often turned to me in horror and apologized. I stop them. I talk vision so they can buy in. I want them to own it. I want them to soar with it. I want them to belong and take us to new heights. Talk vision. Welcome ownership.
Third, be a little deaf. I learned this, believe it or not, from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. A mentor of hers said she should be a little deaf. Don’t choose to hear every slight. Don’t pay attention to every word of gossip or criticism. Be a little deaf. Let things go. Don’t always respond. Act like you haven’t heard. You’ll be surprised by how offense goes away when you simply respond as though you’ve never heard the negative.
Fourth, I use the phone for brief calls of affirmation and encouragement. In our text and email world, sometimes a quick call can leave a memorable impression. I do this at times of grief. I do it for rites of passage—the graduation or award. I do it to say thank you. I do it to encourage. This saves time, is personal, is an exception to the norm, and creates a memorable moment. Use the phone for brief affirmations.
Fifth, a practical tactic. I do a lot of speaking and I use a lot of Keynote presentations—the Apple version of PowerPoint, only better! I’ve learned to export my big presentations as a PDF and use these PDFs for rehearsing. I don’t need to load the entire program on my laptop. Once I export the presentation to a PDF, I can scan the presentation in full color and rehearse using any device and whenever I want. This has saved me hours of time and made me a better speaker.
Sixth, another practical tactic. I use one airline and one hotel chain. I build clout with each. I also use a business credit card that gives me benefits with my airline. By sticking with one airline and one hotel, I save a huge amount of money, enjoy frequent upgrades, and can do pretty amazing things for my family—free flights, first class international flights, etc. By doing this, I am upgraded about 90% of the time which means less stress on mind and body from travel. In addition, I enjoy frequent flier clubs during airport layovers which allows me to get work done and saves me money on meals and drinks. Bev and I are sure this tactic has saved us tens of thousands of dollars and has really enhanced our lives. This only works, of course, if you travel a great deal.
Finally, be generous. Show appreciation. Give gifts, not because you want something but because you respect and appreciate people in your life. Send people out to dinner with their spouses. Send unexpected flowers. Be a giver of books and tickets, a bottle of fine wine or perhaps a favorite candy. Do it anonymously as often as possible. This changes the culture around you. It genuinely touches lives. It assures that you maintain a big-hearted, generous nature. And by the way, every major religion in the world affirms these simple words: the generous man prospers. Give big. Have big impact on lives. Love big. Be big from the inside out. Someone—and it likely wasn’t Churchill—said this: We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.