Stand Up And Lead Handout
Here is leadership speaker Fawn Germer’s one-stop list of staying focused and on track as a leader in all this turmoil.
1. Stand up and lead. No whining about what’s changed.
2. Do a values check. Your internal compass will steer you through troubled waters.
3. Be decisive. Things are moving so quickly that you can’t wait for 100% certainty. Decide, then tweak things as you go along.
4. Leave your bubble. Change perspective and consider solutions from the mindset of customers, competitors, colleagues, media, etc.
5. You don’t need to have every answer — just the questions. Listen to mentors, old colleagues, neighbors, customers, Gen-Xers, Gen-Yers and anyone with fresh perspective.
6. Create a vision that ensures survival and moves to a higher plane by taking advantage of the growth opportunities that emerge while others are giving up.
7. Communicate your vision. Then, communicate it again.
8. Create followership by building buy-in.
9. Expect more from your people, but make it clear what you expect and show what’s in it for them.
10. Exude real confidence. Underconfidence begets underperformance. Overconfidence suggests a lack of connection to reality.
11. Make a deliberate effort to ask for and give feedback on a consistent basis. That way, you know what is and isn’t working, and your people know what they need to do.
12. Adjust your vision as changes are needed, but avoid such rapid changes that you look fickle or inept.
13. Listen to through casual remarks that might be dismissed because of the person who voices them.
14. Don’t lie to your people. Say what you can. If you can’t answers questions immediately, let people know when the answer will likely come.
15. Be human. There is a lot of fear out there. Calm people and recruit them to be part of the solution.
16. Don’t get distracted. Know the challenge, know your goal.
17. If bad news is inevitable, be human and humane.
18. Set an example. If you expect more, deliver more. If you want sacrifice, sacrifice.
19. Remain positive. Things will get better.
