by Rick Baker
On May 24, 2011
To be clear about it up front, I am a big fan of Jeffrey Gitomer. I am able to get over the fact he favours bald people over people who are bald-challenged. And…while it is possible this is off on a little tangent…sometimes I get this strange feeling baldness is creeping up on me from behind…
Regardless, the fact is: I am a big fan of Jeffrey Gitomer. As far as I know, I own a copy of every book and every CD he has published. I think the set of ‘LITTLE BOOKS’ is a must-have for salespeople. Terrific sales advice. Terrific sense of humour. Terrific packaging. In a word: terrific.
So, I bought his new book ‘Jeffrey Gitomer’s LITTLE BOOK of LEADERSHIP’.
At page 18, I read:
“When you lead people by example, there is nothing your people will not do for you and with you. Don’t tell me what to do, show me how it’s done. Then delegate. What kind of example do you set on a daily basis?”
Don’t tell me what to do, show me how it’s done.
Is that really what followers think and want?
Is that the right advice to give Leaders?
Yes!
And, No!
Yes!
- Yes – Leaders need to show people how Leaders go about doing things.
- Yes – Leaders should refrain from setting tight restrictions on followers’ actions. Each follower should be able to use his or her unique talents and personality. Followers should not feel hand-cuffed or micro-managed.
- Yes – Leaders should delegate.
- Yes – Leaders should set and show leading examples.
No!
- No – Followers must understand the desired outcome. So, Leaders must tell them that desired end-point outcome. That applies to the end-point Vision…the Leader gets to tell that to followers. And Goals…the Leader gets to pick at least some of them and tell them to followers. If followers call that ‘telling them what to do’ then…great! That means they understand their Leader’s direction.
- No – Leaders cannot leave all what-to-do decisions in the hands of followers. Leaders must set some structural bounds on followers’ actions. For example, the Leader must state/demand/tell things like - “You must follow our safety policies.”
The bottom line: Leaders must tell followers what to do…and limit that telling to the BIG PICTURE things.