Let those statistics sink in…only 12 percent of people left because of money. In another recent study of 17,000 people, less than 10 percent cited compensation and advancement opportunities as the most critical aspects of a job.3
Consider the situation from the perspective of the interviewer: When you interview someone for a position and ask them why they are considering leaving their current job, what do they say? Have you ever heard anyone say, “Because you are going to pay me more”? Probably not. The most common response is something like, “Because my efforts and contributions aren't appreciated where I'm currently working.” If people on your team are interviewing with other organizations, that is probably the same answer they are giving in their interviews.
People who plan to leave do not want to initiate a confrontation. They just want to walk out the door and not look back. They want to escape from a situation that has become toxic to them. Most have reached a point where they hate coming to work.
Even more problematic is when you have people on your team who are disengaged. They have mentally resigned from their job – and have told everyone but you that they are “out of here.” Those employees will do far more damage to your team's performance than anything a competitor could do. They infiltrate your team with disloyalty, distrust, and apathy.
The truth is that most people who quit and leave, or those who quit and stay, made a decision to quit their leader. Their resignation or disengagement has little to do with pay, benefits, distance from home, or long hours. They quit because something between them and their leader has gone awry. The desire and ability to do a good job became overshadowed by the obstacles and frustrations faced every day. Ironically, most of those frustrations were created by the very person who, on the first day at their new job, enthusiastically greeted them, shook their hand, and welcomed them as an important link on the team.
Of course, some people quit simply because they are not in the right job for them at this time in their life. But these people are rare exceptions rather than the rule.
Do people quit because their leader is incompetent? Probably not. Most leaders are in the roles they are in because they have the competency to do the job well. Do they quit because of the leader's lack of desire? It's probably not that either. Most leaders want to do a good job and want be successful.
People quit because they are exhausted. They are exhausted from implementing bad decisions. They are exhausted from redoing work when decisions were made before all the facts were considered. They are exhausted because they perceive that their leader's ego is preventing the nourishment of a positive work environment. They are exhausted from trying to figure out why incredibly smart people keep asking them to implement decisions that appear to be really dumb. They are exhausted from working for leaders who they think really do not care about them.
They are exhausted because their leaders are not empowering them or supporting them, and they are thus prevented from doing their best work. They lose trust in the person who is supposed to be leading them and they start looking for someone else they can trust.
Long-term effective leaders are competent and also passionate, trustworthy, creative, and humane. The Gallup organization found that the single most important variable in employee productivity is the quality of the relationship between employees and their direct supervisors.4 That relationship requires a leader whose expectations are reasonable, is consistent, cares about them, values their uniqueness, and encourages their growth and development.
Great leaders develop skills that help them understand people and get results through the efforts of other people. Leadership is complex because you are dealing with real people, each of whom has needs and desires. The greatest leaders learn how to break the complex task of dealing positively with everyone on their team into its simplest form.
The First Two Rules of Leadership is direct and simple. It is not about a new leadership strategy. Strategies come and go. What you will learn in this book is tried and true regardless of the strategic focus of the time. Likewise, the principles apply to businesses in every industry, as well as schools, hospitals, churches, and even homes.
If you are a leader who wants to improve morale on your team, decrease turnover, increase your own job satisfaction, improve results, and have a whole lot more fun leading, this book is for you. Regardless of your current situation or how you got to where you are, the next move is yours. This book outlines how you can make better decisions and treat your team with dignity and respect at the same time.
The people on your team want to win and they want to be led by a winner. You are that leader. Read, pay attention, and follow the first two rules for leaders: Don't be stupid and don't be a jerk.
DON'T BE STUPID
“Our budget is tight. Let's change the team-building exercise we have planned into a self-help study course.”
No one is calling you stupid. Actually, stupid is the opposite of what you are. You are probably one of the smartest people in any room you enter. You are likely well educated, experienced, and qualified to become a great leader. You are respected and your team really wants to help you succeed.
But, sometimes your team is asked to do things that seem to them, quite frankly, stupid. Of course it is not intentional, so maybe you could eliminate some choices that wind up making them look foolish.
Every leader gets caught up in the pressure of the moment and does things that – upon reflection – were pretty stupid. Dumb things like: hiring in haste, rewarding actions that work against what you are really trying to accomplish, not paying attention to the needs of your team, or piling on more work and leading your superstars directly to burnout and checkout.
The first section of the book will address areas where many have looked stupid in the past and provide some suggestions to make smarter decisions in the future.
You can become the leader you want to be! Make smarter choices and win with class, beginning right now.
DON'T BE STUPID
HIRE SMART
“Here we go again. Another new person. Why did he hire this person? Everybody knows he won't last. This is stupid.”
“I am not going to spend my time helping another rookie. He is on his own.”
Meets minimum qualifications? Check.
References? Check.
Background check? Check.
Drug test? Check.
Decent interview? Check.
Hire? Not so fast, my friend.
Smart hiring is not easy hiring. Smart hiring is hiring tough.
If the best opportunity to improve a team's performance is to hire smart, why do people hire quickly and in a vacuum to fill an open position? That is pretty stupid. You never really know what you are getting until the new person is already on the team, but you can increase your chances of getting a great person if you hire smart.
The most valuable asset in your organization is having the right people on your team; everyone knows that. However, some people tend to ignore the fact that the greatest liability any team faces is having the wrong people on your team. You cannot have a strong
This 2011 study was conducted by PDI Ninth House and included data from 2006 to 2010. Some of the results were published in Tom Daniel, “A Long Engagement: How to Retain Top Performers,”
E. Frauenheim, “Managers Don't Matter,”
