Accountability
When things go wrong, step up and acknowledge it! There is no penalty for
being wrong, only an opportunity for growth. So understanding the problem is
key. This is the time where you get tested as to how good you really are –
finding a range of solutions. When making people of your team around you
responsible and accountable, ensure you have actually set them up to succeed.
Agree clear objectives which must be set down and agreed upon by the whole
team. When working with key individuals, discover what unique opportunities
can be implemented within the main strategy. Sharing the responsibility with
the right people at the right time, hiring the best, and investing in each other
makes for a successful team!
Don’t waste time
Working diligently and make sure you are working on the correct process to make
a difference. Understand what you need to do, what you need to achieve, and
calculate how long this journey will take. The time required for research, planning
and referencing becomes vital when it comes to making important decisions.
Once in the work environment, keep practicing and enforcing what you know to
take home the valued first prize. Prepare in order to reach your personal, your
team’s and your company’s objectives. To balance efficiency everyday – plan!
Personal discipline is required here! Once everybody knows their role and how
to achieve it, productivity will achieve success and time will never be wasted.
Have passion for what you do
If you have fallen out of love with what you do, then you need to stop, re-think,
re-visit, re-group and take action to get back on track. Be sure you bring about
positivity for yourself and to others around you. You need to bring your ‘get up
and go’ to work every day. Delegate the work you are not good at, as there will
always be aspects of work that you do not enjoy. Stay on top of these tasks! Put
the hard work in early, be disciplined to get what preparation is necessary to get
the job done well.
Risk taking
We all know what is involved in taking risks. It is the part of what drives us to be
determined and successful. I often reflect on my challenges, weekly objectives
and results achieved by the team, when looking back on the week that was. If
results are low for the week, I try and think of how I can change the
responsibility, get people to share the load, measure the success in another
week, so as to share the accolades. My strategy now, is to think of my team
as my partners within my business, embracing a horizontal strategy of growing
everybody on my team to be equal. This is better than the old pyramid model,
where business owners sit in glass towers, without any idea what it took to
get the objective realised. Combined success ends up breeding confidence,
which triggers an action to get more remuneration.
Integrity
This is the one thing as a leader which you cannot be taught, shown, or learn
from a book. It is something you need to feel. To be humble is good, but to have
integrity is to have the highest respect and regard of all. Some decisions will have
consequences for the people around you. There will be decisions that require you
to look from all sides, like that of solving a Rubik’s cube, so you will need to trust
that you can make the correct call. As long as it is made from the heart, then it
will always be made with integrity.
Paying it forward
This is a very important strategy to follow. I get great satisfaction sharing my
‘learnings’ with people who ask business advice. Working in partnership with
them has required a good measure of time and resources, but the return on my
investment is always beyond expectation.
For me, this comes with a sense of pride,
satisfaction, and connection. I believe in a
‘hands on’ approach and not a hand out. Be
sure to always look inward as well as to
your team and reflect on what was achieved
together. Never be afraid to share your
experience, wisdom and support. Your
team can only flourish from here!
Get in touch with us at Gold Creative:
Grant Thom –
011 803 7713
Grant Thom
Nex Media •
Vol 3 Issue 2
51
