Committed leaders create committed employees

“Committed leaders don’t allow non-performers to remain on the team”

Nathan Jamail – Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author

Part 1 of 4

I start several of my leadership speeches with a question to the audience, “How many of you leaders wish your employees were as committed as you are?”, and without a doubt most, if not all leaders, raise their hands with a resounding “yes”!  It is true in almost every situation- the leaders are more committed to the business and organization than the employees.  This is a common belief or issue and has been around for decades and this is why every one of you can finish this phrase, “when the cat is away the _______ will play.”  You most likely said mice, right? 

Ok so let’s get to the point.  The reason most employees are not committed to their leaders or organization is because their leader is not committed to them. Now don’t get mad and take this personal, but for argument sake, let’s assume we are not talking about you the leader, rather the ‘other leader’ you know.  There are 4 key actions and behaviors most leaders do or do not do that show they are not as committed to their employees as much as they may think they are.  I will share a post on each each one separately. 

Here they are: 

1. 1. Leaders allow non-committed employees to remain on the team
   2. Leaders only get involved after employees fail or are in trouble  
   3. Leaders are not willing to hold all employees accountable 
   4. Leaders don’t spend time looking for new, better team members 

Commitment mistake 1:
Leaders allow non-committed employees to remain on the team. 

Sadly, every organization I have worked with over the last couple of decades have this issue in one way or another at the start:  they do not confront or remove employees that are performing below standards- or even worse have a negative attitude. 

Ask yourself this one question, “Knowing what you know today about an employee, would you hire them again tomorrow?”  If the answer is “NO” to any one of your employees-  the next question you must ask yourself is, “does the employee know you feel this way?”  If not, why not?  Let’s flip it around- if your boss felt this way about you, would you want to know? 

Mistake: Most leaders don’t tell struggling employees they are struggling. In most cases either the employee does not know or does not care; either way a leader’s job and or commitment is to address it and resolve it. 

Why leaders don’t address these issues:  The truth is- we are selfish. We don’t like the conflict and we worry that if we do have the conversation, what if they respond negatively and they quit or make a complaint about us.. then what?  Our lack of action is based on the negative impact it will have on us- the leader: more work, open headcount, missing results or lack of knowledge, etc.  As leaders we know to address this issue with the employee is better for the team, the company, the clients and the employee, we just are afraid of the work that could be involved if we do so. 

Important point: 

Have you ever had a boss that did not hold someone on your team accountable? A boss that did not address an employee’s lack of effort or bad attitude?  A leader that knew a peer of yours was not working as hard as you and the team?  So- what did you think of that leader? You most likely did not fully respect the leader- you assumed they did not care, or they were disconnected, or not capable of taking care of it: it could be one or all of these thoughts.

Last question:  Are we behaving similar to the boss we did not respect for not taking action?  It is easy to know the right thing to do, but as leaders it is much harder to do it- and do it every-time.  

Be committed to your employees success, and the environment they must work in everyday- and they will be committed to you.  Holding employees accountable is a selfless act, and requires you to be committed to that selfless act.  

Stay tuned for part two next week.