4 Ways to Be An Effective Leader with Tom Dott, Ep #20 The Development Exponent: A Leadership Perspective

Are you an effective leader? How do you know? One of the best ways to measure your effectiveness as a leader is to look at the health of your team. Sure you might be able to hit all the benchmarks and milestones but if your team is unhealthy, have you really succeeded as an effective leader? Imagine what it would be like if you had a clear and concise snapshot of what it would take to be an effective leader. Good news! On this episode, you’ll hear from special guest, Tom Dott. In his conversation with Bruce, Tom presents four helpful ways you can be an effective leader in your organization.
Rethink your approach to annual reviews. Let’s be honest; no one loves annual reviews, well maybe that one person in your office. But for the rest of us, supervisors and employees alike, we tend to dread them. If you want to grow as an effective leader, you’ve got to learn how to use this tool wisely.
Sure, you could throw up your hands and say its a necessary evil, or you could use the opportunity to correct, build up, and positively challenge your team members. Due to the awkward and uncomfortable nature of the annual review and to be honest, the lack of efficiency it yields, many businesses are moving away from the model. The goal isn’t to avoid direct feedback; it’s to make the feedback more timely and helpful.
Don’t write off Millennials, invest in them! It just takes a quick search on Google or in the headlines of Forbes or The Wallstreet Journal to discover that Millenials are the media’s favorite punching bag. As a leader, you have to choose whether you will heap on the criticism or if you’ll model a different way.
Many business leaders look down on the Millennials in their ranks or take advantage of them; you get to choose if you’ll take that approach or if you’ll invest in them. I suggest you choose the latter! If you decide to invest in the Millennials in your organization, you will discover talented men and women who are ready and willing to take the ball and run with it. Think of it this way, when you invest in Millennials, you are unlocking the potential that your competitors are likely leaving untapped.
Major in the minor things. An effective leader teaches their people to pay attention to even the smallest details because they know that the little things add up. An old proverb says, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” To say it another way, if you slip up with the small stuff, that eventually leads to slip-ups with the big stuff.
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t allow room for mistakes, because you absolutely should, how else will people learn and grow? At the end of the day, you want your people to take as much care and diligence in the small details as they do for the big projects.
Lead by example. Too often leaders get a terrible reputation for asking their team members to do things they would never do themselves. This is the type of behaviour that often leads to resentment and bitterness; don’t let that attitude permeate your work culture! An excellent antidote to this common occurrence is to lead by example.
If you want your team members to have integrity and speak up when they see something unethical or wrong, they’ve got to see you do it. If you expect your people to arrive on time and ready to attack the workday, you’ve got to be willing to do the same. An effective leader is an individual who is willing to step out and ask people to work as hard as they do!
Outline of This Episode [1:25] Bruce welcomes his guest, Tom Dott. [3:30] Tom talks about his experience with personal development and retail banking. [8:45] What is success? [12:20] The difference between a “Manager” and a “Leader.” [19:15] Tom talks about the annual review process. [25:20] Why did Tom choose to work with First Business Bank? [29:00] Don’t write off Millennials, invest in them