No Bones Approach To Top Ten Survival Tips For Leaders In 2004

2004 explodes with opportunity for business growth and change, but to make change effective, leaders must be armed and loaded to face tough business decisions daily, and they must comfort every decision ethically, morally, and boldly.

(PRWEB) January 2, 2004 --SURVIVAL KIT FOR LEADERS, by John C. Kunich J.D. and Dr. Richard Lester (Skyward Publishing) offers a no-bones approach to TIPS AND ADVICE FOR SURVIVING THE NEW YEAR.

1.   If it feels illegal, don't do it. More brilliant careers are destroyed in the foolish attempt to tiptoe around the edges of illegality than in any other way. Laws weren't made to be broken, and no amount of past success entitles you to a "get out of jail free card." Remember Enron and all the other casualties of an easy-way-out mindset. Breaking or bending the law is indeed an easy way out, but once you're out that door you are not coming back in again.

2.   Let your people out of the box, so they can think out of the box. Then throw the box in the recycling bin. Make certain that everyone in your organization, at every level, knows that all ideas and suggestions are wanted, valued, and respected. Encourage them to point out ways in which you can do your job better. Reward, don't punish, whistleblowers. You never know where the next great idea is coming from, so get everybody excited about putting their brains, and not just their hands, to work for you. One great idea is worth more than a thousands average, change-nothing days at work.

3.   Reevaluate your priorities often. Autopilot doesn't work for a long journey in turbulent conditions. If you are not sure what your big three goals are for the next month, the next year, and the next five years, you and your organization are well on the road to extinction. Here again, find out what your people want to achieve as well, and see how you can harmonize their goals with yours and your organization's.

4.   Get out from behind your desk and talk to people. Let everyone in your organization actually see you mingling with people at all levels, regularly and often. The ivory tower may be 99 and 44/100th percent pure, but it won't float when a tidal wave knocks everything down and you need a handy flotation device. To get buy-in from your people, you need to invest in them and be with them. You can't lead from the rear, and you can't inspire people if you are a prisoner under house arrest in your own office.

5.   Treat time like there were no tomorrow. Stupid forms, pointless meetings, and needless reports cannibalize the time of everyone involved, eating from the inside out the heart of your organization's most valuable and irreplaceable resource: the time of its people. Be merciless in getting rid of such time-wasters, and then focus the time you do have on where it will really do the most good in helping reach your goals. Don't forget to budget time for self-improvement and long-term, non-urgent projects, or else they will likely never get the time they need.

6.   Success comes in cans, not in cannots. Instead of shooting down innovative ideas because they threaten the status quo, try them. Instead of fearing to take action because there are risks involved, accept that there are risks inherent in inaction as well. Life is a down escalator, and unless you are actively moving up, you will certainly be going down.
                Be optimistic, and foster optimism throughout your organization. Who wants to work in an atmosphere of failure and fatalism? Life is too short to squander it in an environment of hopelessness and doom.

7.   Got inspiration? If you think heroes are corny and outdated, pack your bags for oblivion. Devote some time each week to reading about inspirational people in a wide variety of settings, past and present. Share some of the stories and insights you gain with your people, and work with them to apply these examples within your own lives and work. Kunich reminds us that it is "heroic people who make life worth living and worth living for something worthwhile."

8.   Mentor at all levels. This is the law of the harvest at work. We get back from our people the fruits of what we put into them. The era of hands-off, sink-or-swim leadership is over, if it ever existed at all. People need to be nurtured, taught, and supported by others, especially by those who have been around longer and can impart much-needed advice relevant to that particular work environment.

9.   Feedback is feeding the hands that back us. Don't starve your people of feedback. There must be multidirectional communication, early and often, if everyone is to stay on track. People crave helpful, carefully chosen information about what is expected of them and whether they need to improve or change direction. Don't wait until it is too late. Like mentoring, feedback is an indispensable survival skill for leaders today.
                Those who choose to ignore it or downplay it are choosing to let their organization wither and shrivel from lack of self-corrective information.

10.   Re-gild the Golden Rule. Treat every person in your organization better than you were treated when you were on the way up. Treat your customers and partners better than they expect to be treated. Always think "pleasant surprise" and then get everyone looking for ways to make it happen, every day.

Kenneth Blanchard, celebrated author of The One-Minute Manager, writes that authors Kunich and Lester "have loaded Survival Kit for Leaders with powerful methods not found in any other leadership and management book known to me." It is a no-bones, approach that leaders need to adopt to survive and grow in 2004.

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