Direction

According to Ken Blanchard, author of the “One Minute Manager," he said all team members fit into one of four categories: directions, coaching, support and delegation.

People need direction. Young and inexperience personnel really do not know what to do with the training they receive. This responsibility should not be taken lightly. Once instructions are given, let them own it and do the job. Don’t feel like you have to micro-manage your personnel. Ken Blanchard has the mindset of coaching his staff to do something right and rewarding them with words like, “Job well done.” Warren Buffett said, “It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction.” Finding a mentor that will guide you in the right direction is a must.

Employees who can do the job on their own will become more independent, but they will need a coach for direction. When I think of great coaches, they focus on what their team does correctly and not so much on what they do wrong. Vince Lombardi said, “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” A coach sees the big picture. He or she has usually been in the same shoes of the person they are coaching and can give direction from experience.

They need our support. Most of the time, our team members are able to work without your direction and need encouragement. They will run in a ditch or hit a guardrail of life along the way and need someone to say, "I know you can do this." Terrell Owens a former NFL player said, “A lot of emotional stress that people go through, some people figure out a way to handle it. They have a strong enough support system to keep going and keep moving forward. Some people, they feel like they don't have that outlet.” Having that support system on and off the job is very important.

Delegation is thought of as passing down authority and responsibility to others under your leadership to carry out activities. When you delegate, you are releasing your authority to others to get the job done. If there is no delegation, you can only accomplish what you can do personally. That’s okay if you don’t have anyone to under your leadership. When you delegate, provide each person with vision on the front end and accountability on the back end, and they will multiply your efforts toward success. We all need accountability. We also need to know where we stand. When we’re given authority to do a job, we can go forward with the job at hand. This unknown author said, “Even 'Super-You' needs help and support. There is no shame in asking for assistance. Push aside the pride and show respect for the talent others can bring to the table. And, remember that there is no such thing as a single-handed success: When you include and acknowledge all those in your corner, you propel yourself, your teammates and your supporters to greater heights."

Wayne Bailey is a Distributor with SendOutCards. He has recognized tremendous growth in his personal and business relationships by implementing the strategies he talks about in his articles. You can email Wayne at wayne_bailey642@hotmail.com or visit: www.sendoutcards.com/waynebailey.