Personal responsibility is key to the success of the leader. There are times, however, that I have both experienced and witnessed, during which the leader is put in a position that hinders or disables their leadership due to no fault of their own. . . and often these are caused by the leader's boss.
Pretty much each of us reports to someone else . . .even CEOs report to a Board of Directors. It is the responsibility of individuals who supervise leaders to assure that leaders have the tools and resources they need and are truly enabled to do the job they are supposed to do. Really good bosses do this with a minimum of interference to the leader or their team.
These, then, are guidelines that people who supervise leaders should utilize:
Ensure that your leaders are aligned with the enterprise's goals and administrate those goals in an ethical and trustworthy method. Continuous alignment with goals assures that the leader's team is always on track with a minimal amount of interference. Strong agreement with the guardrails of ethics eliminate miscues that can cost the enterprise millions.
Don't publicly interfere with your leader's direction. When your leader is working with their team, and you observe an opportunity for improvement, let your observation wait until you are in one-on-one conversation with your leader. If you intercut into the conversation, you are undercutting. . .the result being that the leader's team won't know who to follow.
Don't assume, just because you are the leader's boss, that you know more about a situation or team member than they do. They are closer to the team, they need to deal with the situation more frequently and ultimately it is their team's and their responsibility to deliver the results you prescribe. The more you interfere, the less you can hold the leader responsible for results.
Don't hard drive an HR situation. If you feel that a member of the leader's team isn't worthy, it is an observation you should make to the leader and a conversation should follow. Do not force the leader into taking disciplinary action or terminate an employee. Again, it is their team, they know it better than you and ultimately, it is their performance. Rely on their judgment.
Don't give a member of the leader's team information that you haven't given to the leader. It causes confusion and makes you look bad.
When it is time for bonuses, let the leader hand out the good news to the team members. It is, after all, their team and they have invested energy and hours into making their team successful.
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Brent Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders," available for e-readers, PCs, tablets and Macs on Amazon Kindle.
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