Last week I blogged on what our inconsistencies really say about us. While our own perspective might just be that we’re a big flighty or crazy busy, our teammates might see us as undependable or worse, untrustworthy.
I also linked to a post I wrote a few years ago where I highlighted four areas that we should always strive for consistency: in our decision making, in our emotions, in how we handle conflict, and in how we spend our time.
Today I want to highlight three additional areas where leaders should strive for consistency:
1. Structure and Processes: Well, those who know me best know that I’m not a big fan of procedures for the sake of procedures. While I would never encourage teammates to do something because it has always been done that way, I would encourage you to have your teammates create processes for things you do over and over again that would benefit from some structure and routine.
One area where we are striving to do this inside of our own organization is with our onboarding. In the past, our onboarding sometimes fell through the cracks. It wasn’t that we didn’t value our new employees, but many times we put our own busyness ahead of ensuring we had a plan for getting our newest teammates off to a good start. So, we tasked a team with developing a comprehensive onboarding plan, and now when a new employee begins we are prepared and ready to welcome them to the iPG team and get them started off on the right foot.
2. Leadership team: Inconsistencies among a company’s leadership create a sense of chaos and make employees aware of the inconsistencies feel very uneasy and frustrated. Areas where a leadership team should be consistent include: company vision and direction; areas for key focus; standards and non-negotiables; and how they commit to behaving as a leadership team.
3. Standards: Although I included this one on No. 2, I’m going to pull it out on its own, as it applies to everyone in the organization. We must must must be consistent in our standards, because if we don’t consistently adhere to them, they’re not really standards, are they? We can’t adhere to being trustworthy until telling the truth isn’t convenient. We have to be trustworthy all of the time. The same applies to how we treat our customers and how we strive to serve one another. It’s the consistency in how we adhere to what we value and strive for even in the difficult times that make our standards more than just words on a piece of paper.
Where do you and your fellow leaders need to strive to be more consistent?
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