Most store owners are better at telling you to be a great leader, rather than showing you how to be a great leader.
What are the key characteristics of being a better leader?
In 2009, the search engine giant Google did a study to rank what eight traits their employees thought made a good team leader.
The study was called “Project Oxygen” and was a landmark in that it brought Google’s considerable resources to bear on a topic that hadn’t to this point had a lot of hard scientific data.
No one pulls
data together
like Google
The list is done from least to greatest in importance to the associate.
Eight Key Factors To Being A Better Leader
Number Eight.
Have technical skills so you can advise the team.
Most managers think this is by far the number one skill they need.
In the eyes of your team, it ranks dead last.
Number Seven.
Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.
People want to work for people who know where they are going and how to get there.
Number Six.
Help your employees with career development.
If you don’t think about their future, that means the associate has to.
This usually turns out to be a job change.
Number Five.
Be a good communicator and listen to your team.
Most bosses think being boss means not having to care about what others think because they are the boss.
Wrong!
Number Four.
Be productive and results-oriented.
If you don’t measure it, then it doesn’t matter.
That is what your team feels.
If it is clear that it matters to you, it will matter to them.
Number Three.
Express interest in your team members’ success and well-being.
Strange, but when you care about others, they, in turn, care about you.
Let them know that you care.
Number Two.
Empower your team and don’t micromanage.
Don’t expect others to show you what they can do if you never give them a chance to perform.
Very tough for owners/managers.
Number One.
Be a good coach. Sometimes you are a verbal “scratching post”, other times a confidant, or the stern parent.
Be consistent, be fair, be real.
Why is Project Oxygen so important?
Why should owners and managers in the jewelry trade take note?
It is because people typically leave a job for one of three reasons or a combination of them.
Number One: They don’t feel a sense of connection to their work or the mission of the company.
Number Two: They really don’t like or respect their co-workers.
Number Three: The most prevalent reason is that they have a terrible boss.
The old saying is true, “People don’t quit their job, they quit their boss.”
To be a more effective leader, you have to understand the eight key factors to be a better leader.
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The host of “Inside the Jewelry Trade” Radio Show – Jewelry Business Strategist – President of Four Grainer LLC. Author of the business books “A Reason To Chant,” and “A Reason to Chant – Jewelry Trade Edition.” Rod lives in Atlanta with his wife and two almost-human cats.