Tag Archive for: code of conduct

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4 Characteristics of Constructive Criticism

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By Bigg Success Staff
02-24-08

Leadership Skills

 

One of your responsibilities as a leader is to admonish the troops who fall out of line. It could be that they aren’t performing up to expectations. Perhaps some behavior isn’t in line with the 314 code of conduct] you established.

You have to respond to these errant troops so your whole team keeps progressing toward the 270 victory you defined]. There are four characteristics of your response:

Quick
The longer you wait to address the situation, whatever it may be, the more you risk that the behavior will become systemic. Don’t think that you’re too busy to deal with these situations. They need to be a top priority.

Logical
While you need to react quickly, you shouldn’t respond if you’re still feeling emotional about the situation. You’ll do more harm than good. If need be, let it sit overnight. The key thing is to address the situation as soon as you can discuss it logically, not emotionally.

Private
You should discreetly pull the person aside to have your discussion. No one likes to be called out in public. It’s counterproductive – you may find the person you’re disciplining defending themselves more aggressively. Worse yet, they may withdraw and become less productive. It also has repercussions with your other troops.

Systematic
Prepare for a conversation, not a confrontation. Before you do that, know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. You’ve established consequences for underperforming and violating the code of conduct. You have to be prepared to dispense those consequences or risk that your code will become meaningless.

Try to start off the conversation with some positives – things they’re doing well. Then discuss the situation at hand, helping them understand why it is not acceptable. If it involves performance, offer him or her suggestions or resources to help them get back on track. Finish off with some encouraging words along with a time to review progress.

Admonishing your troops when they fall out of line is one of the most important abilities of a great leader. If done correctly, you’ll find that most of your people get back on track quickly.

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5 Things You Must Do to Lead by Example

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By Bigg Success Staff
03-19-08

Leadership skills

General 

As a leader, you’re constantly being watched. Your people want to know if you’re genuine. Great leaders don’t tell their troops how to act. They show them!

They know that “do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work. Your people will use any inconsistencies in your behavior as justification for their own behavior. So you have to set the example. 

Here are five things you must do to lead by example:

#1 – Play by the rules.
You have 314 established a code of conduct]. Now you must play by it, too. If you don’t, neither will your troops. Your ground rules have to be seen as more important than any person. No one, including you, is above your code. It is your covenant with your people.

#2 – Show your commitment to the cause.
Show your troops that you are committed to obtaining 270 the victory you’ve defined]. Remind your people frequently of your desired destination as well as the progress that’s been made toward that goal.

#3 – Don’t ask your troops to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself.
Show your troops that you will do whatever it takes to succeed. If you’re not willing to do something, you shouldn’t expect them to do it. You lead by example by rolling your sleeves up and getting your hands dirty if that’s what it takes.

#4 – Expect more from yourself than you do from your troops.
Show your troops that you will go the extra mile. Not only are you willing to do anything that you ask them to do, you’re willing to do more. They need to see that you will push yourself harder than you push them. Then they’ll accept being pushed to achieve victory.

#5 – Admit your mistakes.
Everybody makes mistakes. You want your troops to feel safe admitting it when they make one. That’s the first step to learning from it, so it doesn’t get repeated. If you’re willing to freely admit when you screw up, your people will feel more comfortable admitting it when they make a mistake.

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Create a Code of Conduct to Create a Covenant with Your Troops

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By Bigg Success Staff
03-11-08

Leadership Skills

people 

As a leader, you have to establish the ground rules for your troops. Your rules, also known as your policies, define the code of conduct. If done correctly, they are not a negative. They are a covenant between you and your troops as well as between your troops themselves.

What they are
The problem is that, much of the time, ground rules are written as negatives. So your people view them as negatives. It doesn’t need to be that way. They simply establish how all of you must proceed to get where you want to go.

Your ground rules define how your people work with people – each other, you, your customers, your vendors, your community, and more. They are designed to minimize individual behavior that harms the group effort. Period. When all of your troops understand that, they will buy in to the rules.

Your ground rules should answer these questions:

  • How do things work under your leadership?
  • What behavior is acceptable and unacceptable?
  • What are the consequences for inappropriate behavior?
  • What resources are available to members of our team?
  • What are the team rewards for achieving victory?


Why you need them
Your attorney will tell you that you need ground rules to protect yourself from liability. That’s true – and you should get your attorney’s advice throughout this process. However, there are even more important reasons to establish the ground rules.

Your ground rules help new troops get acquainted with your culture. They will be able to get “up to speed” more quickly when you clearly define the expected behaviors.

They also establish that you are trying to be fair to everybody. There’s a set of rules to which you refer when a certain behavior is called into question. It’s not a who’s who where favorites get treated one way and everybody else gets treated differently.

Occasionally, you will override the rules because of a specific situation. After all, your troops are humans, not machines. You’ll use your best judgment to determine when the good of the group calls for bending the rules a little. If done correctly, your troops will respect you for that.

Keep it simple
Make sure your rules aren’t written in legalese. They should be easily understood by all your troops. If it takes a lawyer to interpret them, rework them.

How extensive your rules need to be depends in large part on the emotional maturity of the people you lead. In general, the more mature your people are, the fewer rules you need. And the fewer rules you can get away with, the better.

Resist the 1% rule
Novice leaders often create rules in response to specific acts by a minority of people (1%) that are infrequently repeated. Then, the overwhelming majority (99%) of their troops has to live with them. This is a primary reason why people resist rules.

For example, picture a leader who says that there is a new dress code because one person out of a hundred is wearing inappropriate clothing to work. Instead of dealing with that one employee, this leader chooses to create a rule for all of the employees.

These leaders see it as an easy solution – it’s easier to write a policy than deal with an individual employee. They may have the time or they may not like confrontation. Whatever the reason, it may be easier in the short run, but it is almost certain to create even bigger problems in the long run when dealt with in this way.

The code of conduct you establish for your troops is essential to insure you reach your goal. You want rules that your people buy in to so you create a covenant between yourselves that insure a smoother path to victory.

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