Good leadership is like good sculling. When everybody pulls in a coordinated fashion, the boat moves at maximum speed. When a rower is out of synch it slows the boat. Worse yet, what if a rower is paddling in the wrong direction? One of the aspects of leading the team is for them to understand the company’s value proposition—the reason customers do business with you, and row in a coordinated fashion. In a survey of more than 1,000 companies’ inner circles, those that the leader depends on for advice, less than 10% stated the same or similar value proposition. Persuasion is foundational to good leadership. It is difficult to understand how a company can get the teams focused when the inner circle is not. Clarity of the value proposition is important. Focusing the team is a requirement.

Optimal leadership is the accomplishment of a goal with your team and the individuals understanding their contribution and feeling appreciated for it. To accomplish this requires understanding of individual motivations and addressing them. Nonetheless, there are many effective leaders who are successful without the attributes mentioned above. It depends upon the leader, the followers, and the situation.

A key is to have high expectations, which over time yields high results.  Falling short of the high expectation is a time for coaching and course correction. Associates grow when there is a sense of satisfaction in their work and a positive feedback loop develops this. People who are not coachable do not belong in the company. They, along with gossipy and continually negative associates, need to move on. All three are boat anchors on company performance.