If you want your organization become more productive, then, as a leader, you must make yourself more productive than other people in your organization. Below are the 6 things every leader should do and not do to become a productive leader.
1. Do active listening leader and don’t talk too much
Most of the failure in leadership is lack of understanding in the situation due to lack of listen. Many leaders, though they are good in the business they are in, they often take a bad decision. By actively listen to your people, you open your mind to any idea of your own people that enable you understand the holistic situation of your organization. It keeps you out of your emotion and subjectiveness, therefore make you objective and fair to your people.
2. Do ask more and don’t explain too much
The leaders are asking, the subordinates are explained, that is the second thing I have learned for being an effective leader. To have deeply understanding on the situation you face, you must master the way of asking a good question. The best methode of asking is probing. This is not investigating or interogating question. This probing encourage people to open as much as possible the knowledge he/she has. To make this probing works, you must simply stop talking so much and do active listening.
3. Do emphaty and don’t just give symphaty
According to Merriam-Webster, empathy is "the feeling that you understand and share another person's feelings and emotions."Whereas sympathy involves feeling sorry for someone. It is so much different if you understand it. Emphaty always send a message to others that you have the intention to help while sympathy not for any reason. Emphaty needs sincerity and sacrifice of your own benefit. There is no productive leader I obseved that has no emphaty to his/her people. They serve more than deserve. This is the key of loyalty and trust of the people you lead.
4. Do exercise by going to the floor and don’t just sit down nicely
Most of the productive leader, usually the first generation of the family business, take his/her time more on the floor than inside the nice and sweet room. Many studies found the relationship of exercise and productivity. It perhaps the reason why productive leaders can make strategic and effective decision in his/her organization. By walking through the floor, the leader will get factual situation of his/her organization and find out a potential problems, and exercising will help them creatively seeking the best solution and preventive action on the potential problems they find during the walk. Having a nice and complete report would not ever give you a holistic understanding because report show mostly quantitative figure, therefore, the qualitative figure must be find out on the point of execution.
5. Do open your mind by learning something new and don’t say no to new challenge
The productive leader must step ahead the organization he/she lead. For that purpose, you must open your mind to any new technology and knowledge in the business you are in. Without this attitude, you will fall behind and so do your organization.
6. Do keep the good value and don’t loose it to win a short-term goals
I believe many of us get a good value, such as integrity, loyalty, honestly, and so on, from our parents. And I believe, some neglect it, and some obey it. And most of the productive leaders I observed are the one who perform that good value.
If you think there are some need to add to the list, please share with us.