We Don’t Coach.
Learners are leaders. We’re all on a journey and all want to get better, smarter and more valuable. Make sure we’re creating a culture that puts a premium on coaching and learning.
We Stop Challenging.
We’re responsible to challenge our best people. Challenge them to be their best, do their best, and to engage using their skills, intelligence and resource. If people become bored and aren’t given challenges, they will go find someplace where they can be pushed to be better.
We Don’t Create Venues for their Voice.
Make sure we’re giving our best people room to have a voice. Leaders can’t make their best decisions if they only have one opinion or one set of data. Our best people have valuable information and opinions to share. If we don’t listen, we’ll miss this important information.
We Care More About the Result Than the Person.
People Matter. When people feel we care more about their product than we do about their person, we’ll lose them. It’s messy and takes valuable time, but it’s the best investment we can make. Put a premium on people and we won’t have to worry about the product … it will take care of itself.
We Never Share the Love.
Never take the credit, always take the responsibility. Sharing the credit and promoting the “team” builds value and trust. When we use people for our agenda, we destroy morale. When things are good, it’s all about the team. When things are off, it’s all about the leader.
We Overpromise/Underdeliver.
Always. It helps people feel like they are winning and when we’re on winning streaks we’re much more content and engaged.
We Provide Responsibility, but not Authority.
It never works. If quality people are held to a certain level of responsibility, but do not have the necessary authority, they will vanish. People will gladly accept challenges when they feel they are empowered to lead.
We don’t have to pay attention to these opportunities. But if we don’t, someone else will, and one day we’ll look around and wonder what happened to our most talented people and why they’re all working together, enjoying life, creating momentum and changing the world in another organization.
What would you add to this list?
For more great articles on leading volunteers, check out 25 Best Articles on Leading Volunteers (That Get Them to Stay and Thrive!)
