How to Be a Successful Business Leader Instead of a Turkey this Thanksgiving

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As our Canadian Thanksgiving is next week (I know our neighbors in the States don’t celebrate for some time yet), I thought it appropriate to give thanks to you – our dedicated and loyal followers with my top five leadership tips.

Don’t be a turkey this holiday season, be the leader your people want to impress and follow, by deploying these tidbits in your business.

1. Open Doors Create Open Communications

The biggest challenge in every office is getting everyone to simply talk to each other. Everyone from the janitor to the CEO gets so caught up in their own thing, they fail to take – no – make – time to talk to others.

Your door should always be open – except when you’re in a meeting or really can’t be disturbed – so that your teams feel comfortable approaching you when they want.

Leaders that sit behind closed and locked doors shut out their people, and remember, everyone follows your lead. If you are a closed mind, your teams will be closed minds too.

And you don’t want that – so always keep your door open.

2. Create an Open Dialogue with Your Teams

Building on the previous tip, having an open door is just part of the communications solution, as the leader, you have to set the example and the tone. TELL every single person you work with – whether they report to you or not – that your door is always open. Invite everyone you work with to come and see you for anything – no matter how silly or small.

Encourage your people to be just as approachable with each other. Reward those who follow through, and demonstrate their openness to other team members. Mentor those that aren't being open, they may be shy, or just need a little inspiration to get going.

3. Get Out of Your Office

Last one on communications – I promise! Having an open door policy and encouraging people to be approachable again is only part of the communications solution. You need to get out of your office and make cubicle visits.

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Throughout the week, randomly walk amongst your team members, asking them how they are. Ask them about their work. Tell them you are here to help – ask how you can help them – then do whatever you can to help.

Be it assigning another resource to a project, re-evaluating a project's budget, even rolling up your sleeves and taking on some of the work – that’ll really impress your team, because it’ll show them how helpful you are, and that you really are in their corner.

4. Reward Don’t Punish

To err is to be human, we all make mistakes. The best leaders reward those who do good, the poor leaders punish those who don’t.

When I worked for American Express, our leader would publicly humiliate, chastise, and ridicule anyone that screwed up during our project meetings. She was demeaning and cruel, and everyone feared and hated her.

No one gave her their best effort, and the projects – and ultimately the company – suffered because of it.

Don’t be a tyrant and a bully like my former vice-president at Amex

.

Even you make mistakes – yes you do.

How would you like it if someone yelled, cursed, hissed, and angrily stared you down publicly in a room of 50 or more of your co-workers?

Sometimes, I swear I saw gobs of spit spewing out of that horrid American Express leader. How she got to be in charge of anything bigger than a broom closet, for the third largest credit card company in the world, is beyond me . . .

Reward those who do amazing, wonderful things.

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Reward those that do good too – everyone should be made to feel successful and on the right track – no matter how big or small their contribution is to your team.

And when someone messes up, don’t get your up against the wall and punish them. The best leaders teach, instruct and inspire their staff to do good. Show them how they can do better, and guide them through it.

5. Share the Spotlight with Your Team

At a party full of people, there is always that one person that naturally attracts others to him or her. They are the ones making everyone laugh and smile. They are the ones telling the greatest stories, getting into the best conversations, having the biggest laughs, the most smiles. They own that room, even if they aren’t the host.

Ever wonder how that one person somehow manages to attract everyone?

Here’s the secret – although they appear to be the centre of attention, actually they aren’t. They are sharing the spotlight with everyone around them.

They laugh and smile invitingly to everyone that is in on the joke. They are extremely observant, and draw people in by noticing the little things about those around them, and then showing a genuine interest in those little things.

It’s like they bring their own spotlight, stand in the middle, and anyone that walks by, they engage on such a personal level, that passersby naturally wander into the spotlight, and share in its warm glow.

Share the spotlight with your team. Be the person that everyone wants to be around, by simply being engaging, inviting, interesting, and above all else – genuinely interested in everyone around you.

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People respond when you show a genuine interest in them and their well-being.

Combine that interest, affection and sense of fun with the other tips above, and whether the people on your team stay with you forever, or move on in their career, they’ll always fondly think of you as the best boss they ever had.

As a leader, you want that. You want that bad.

Just Do It – Spine-Chilling Last Words That Mean Everything to Entrepreneurs

On October 7, 1976, Gary Mark Gilmore was convicted of committing two brutal murders in Utah, USA and sentenced to death. The following year on a cold January morning, he was executed by a firing squad.

Just prior to his execution, he was asked if he had any last words.

“Let’s Do It,” he said.

A decade later, advertising guru Dan Wieden was sitting in on creative meeting, brainstorming ideas for one of his clients. For reasons only known to Wieden, Gilmore’s famous last words came to mind. Though being the creative type, he just had to tweak the wording a tad, to “Just Do It.”

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“Just Do It,” not only became the legendary new slogan for sports clothing giant Nike, but also increased the brand’s popularity so much, it’s footprint in the American domestic shoe business jumped from $877 million to $9.2 billion in just under a decade.

Ever since, the popular catch phrase has been popularized by entrepreneurs, executives and business leaders to inspire and invigorate action.

Either we live in very interesting times, or most don’t know that the catch phrase they love to quote originated from a convicted criminal’s mind, just prior to his execution.

Playboy billionaire Richard Branson has used the phrase “Let’s Do It,” when faced with a potential business opportunity.

And just about every entrepreneur has either read or heard the spine-chilling last words of a killer ringing in their heads, as “Just Do It,” has become the ultimate idea every business textbook, how-to be an entrepreneur self-help book, business professor, business coach, business mentor and successful entrepreneur attempts to plant in those seeking out information about starting their own business.

Eerie. Creepy. Spooky.

“Just Do It.”

Originally, a macho mantra instructing the firing squad to just get it over with, has become the inspiration igniting the fires of those sitting at their desks with amazing ideas, to “Just Do It” and start their business.

Ironic, how the famous last words of a murder, have come to stand for so much to so many.

“Just Do It,” symbolizes the mental madness that entrepreneurs face so well. Most entrepreneurs are perfectionists, we want to get everything just right.

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We plan, we mind map, we do GAP analysis, we conduct market and customer research. Then we plan some more.

The hardest thing – the one thing really – that separates entrepreneurs from those just with a great idea – is action.

Inaction keeps many people from becoming entrepreneurs, because they just want everything to be perfect. They get stuck in the planning phase, and never “Just Do It.”

“Just Do It,” has become the mental kick in the pants that moves wantrapraneurs to entrepreneurs. It’s what separates the entrepreneurs, from everyone else.

Because to “Just Do It,” you have to take a leap of faith.

You have to be bold.

You have to be brave.

You have to “Just Do It,” otherwise all you’ll ever have is just a great idea.

And great ideas don’t make money.

Taking action does.

So, to paraphrase a convicted criminal: “Just Do It.”