11 Principles of Leadership
1. Know yourself and seek self improvement- understand who you are, your values, priorities, strengths and weaknesses. Knowing yourself allows you to discover yours strengths and weaknesses.
2. Be technically and tactically proficient- before leaders can lead effectively, they must have mastered the tasks required by the people they lead.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility- When you see a problem or something that needs fixed, do not wait to be told to act. When leaders make mistakes, they accept just criticism and corrective action. They do not avoid responsibility by placing the blame on someone else.
4. Set the example- people want and need their leaders to be role models. This is a heavy responsibility, but leaders have no choice. People will imitate leader's behavior. Leaders set high but attainable standards for performance and are willing to do what they require of their people. Leaders share hardships with their people.
5. Know your people and look out for their welfare- it is not enough to know the names and birth dates of your people. You need to understand what motivates them and what is important to them.
6. Keep your people informed- people do best when they know why they are doing something. Individuals affect the bottom line results of companies by using initiative in the absence of instructions. Keeping people informed helps make decisions and execute plans within your intent, encourages initiative, improves teamwork and enhances morale.
7. Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished- your people must understand what you want done and show them how. Let them try. Observe their performance. Reward performance that exceeds expectations; correct performance that does not.
8. Develop a sense of responsibility among your people- people feel a sense of pride and responsibility when they successfully accomplish a new task. Delegation indicates trust in people and encourages them to seek responsibility. Develop people by giving them challenges and opportunities that stretch them and more responsibility when they demonstrate they are ready.
9. Train your people as a team- teamwork is becoming more and more crucial to achieving goals. Develop a team spirit among people that motivate them to perform willingly and confidently. Train and cross train people until they are confident in the team's abilities.
10. Make sound and timely decisions- leaders must asses situations rapidly and make sound decisions. They need to know when to make decisions themselves, when to consult with people before deciding and when to delegate the decision. Gather essential information before making decisions. Announce decisions in time for people to react.
11. Employ your work unit in accordance with its capabilities- leaders must know their work unit's capabilities and limitations. People gain satisfaction from performing tasks that are reasonable and challenging but are frustrated if tasks are too easy, unrealistic or unattainable. If the task assigned is one that people have not been trained to do, failure is very likely to result.
