By the way, please register for the Rex Frank webinar next Wednesday at 11am PST - The Top 5 MSP Operational Mistakes.  It is a free gift of wisdom for you this holiday season.

Today let me give you the first of three Christmas LEADERSHIP Lessons:

As many of you know, a little over a year ago we adopted a sibling group of four kids.  This means we have 8 children, ranging in age from 4-30 years old, plus 1 year old and 8 year old granddaughters.  Yes, we are insane...

Last week I was working with the oldest of the recently adopted children, 10 year old Aaliyah.  She is a wonderful person.  She wanted to make some money for an iPod Touch.  I showed her how to clean the window blinds in our home, which have been dusty since the dawn of time.

I left.  She gave it a try.  Do you want to guess the quality of her work?

Not good, although she "tried her best."

Before I spoke with Aaliyah, I paused to ask myself how my parents taught me to do chores.  I DID A LOT OF CHORES...

I realized they worked with me.  Initially side-by-side doing the same work and checking/commenting on my work.  Then working in the same area doing gardening, but maybe not the same work I was doing.  

"Light bulb..."

The following day I started the process again.  I returned to the same windows.  Aaliyah did one set of blinds and I worked on another set of blinds that was twice as wide right next to her.  We started at the bottom and slat-by-slat we cleaned our way up.

The quality of her work matched mine.

She felt proud of her work.  She had a great attitude.  

Being a GREAT Parent is a lot like being a GREAT Leader.  There is trial and error.  There are great moments and failures.  There is recovery...  I do teach a 12-step program for leaders addicted to poor management habits.  LOL!

Christmas LEADERSHIP Lesson #1:  Stop assuming your people know how to do work that matches your quality.  Stop giving them minimal instruction.  Try this instead:

Work 1:1, side-by-side for a period of time until they demonstrate the high quality work you desire and THEN let them work on their own...  check quality a few times a day, then twice a day, once a day, every other day, once a week, or whatever is appropriate...

1:1 meetings are powerful when you demonstrate how your employees can be their best.

P.S.  My parents were wonderful, but their love was not perfect.  (One meaning of the word "perfect" is complete, and it is actually more accurate for the point I am making.)

Just because our parents were not complete in their love and training of us as children does not mean we have to be a "Bad Boss."  

We can move beyond instincts and knee-jerk reactions to learn new habits and the systems of GREAT Leaders.

And as a side benefit these new habits help our parenting and relationships skills also

Email me if you need help.  

Be a Systematic Leader because inconsistency hurts.