Now back to you. What do you do when one of your team members gets into trouble?

One of the worst things you could do as a leader is to leave one of your team members behind when they need you most.

Are you willing to back your team members when they embarrass the hell out of you? Are you willing to back them when they screw up? Through good times and bad, leaders back their people. You had better be willing to do it too.

In private, you can take a chunk out of their butt when they screw up. You can and should, find out what happened and what can be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but you don’t do it in a public setting.

Here is an example of a manager who, in their eyes, abandoned his team when they needed him most. This manager was in a meeting where his team was presenting a proposal to a member of senior corporate management. They had worked for weeks to get ready and they expected to have the manager’s support as they gave the presentation.

Midway into the presentation, their manager started pointing out mistakes in their work. I sat there and watched the meeting turn into a disaster for his team.

After the meeting, I confronted the manager and asked if he realized what he had done. He was puzzled that I was irritated, wanting to know what I meant. I explained that whether he knew it or not, by criticizing his team in front of senior management, he had sabotaged their work.

He said, “Well, they had errors in it.”

I told him that he did two things in that meeting that a leader should never do. One is that he openly criticized their work in front of others. The other was that he should have made sure they were ready before the meeting. If he had, he would have seen the errors and had them fixed.

Never criticize anyone on your team in front of others!

Jack Welch, in his book titled Jack, Straight From The Gut, said:

“When people make mistakes, the last thing they need is discipline. It’s time for encouragement and confidence building.”

Your team has to know that you will protect them when the going gets tough. As I said, the time will come when someone is going to want a piece of one of your team members’ hide. You had better be ready to defend them.

In one situation, a mill superintendent sharply criticized a member of the HR manager’s team in a staff meeting. Although caught unprepared, the HR manager stopped the man and said if he had something to discuss about one of his team the superintendent could meet with him in private and talk it over. He made it clear that he did not appreciate the derogatory remarks and was not going to allow them to continue.

It did not take long for word to get around the organization that you do not take public issue with the HR team before you talk with their boss.

How about you? Do you have what it takes to support your team when the going gets rough? If they can’t count on you to cover their back, what makes you think they will support you when the going gets rough?

Until next time, take care!

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• Adolph Hitler
• Nelson Mandela
• Margaret Thatcher
• General Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Winston Churchill
• General George S. Patton
• General Colin Powell
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Jack Welch

They all are or were leaders.

So your comment might be:

“Wait a minute! I agree with most of them, but you can’t call that mad man Hitler a leader!”

I am not saying he was a great leader. Far from it. By any measurement you use, Hitler was a madman and should have been taken out long before he was. Had some of those attempts to asssinate him succeeded, the war might have ended a lot sooner.

But think about it for a minute. For a long time he convinced millions of Germans to follow him.

Although the results were deplorable, you have to admit that only a leader could persuade so many people for so long, that what he was doing was right. Of course, in Hitler’s case, once some of his top military officers realized how much of a madman he was and how badly they had been misled, they made numerous attempts to assassinate him. Too bad they did not succeed!

You will find certain traits common to both the Hitlers and the Churchills in our history. The difference is in how they used that ability to get people to follow their lead. Here are some of the traits used by both.

Leaders are:

Punitive – You are either with them or against them. If you are not with them, you are gone. Hitler had you shot. Jack Welch booted you out.

Manipulative – They continuously push the dream, whether it be to become the biggest and the best company or ruler of the world.

Mistrustful – They are suspicious of any other agenda, always on watch that the ideas of others don’t weaken their dream.

Power users – They know how to use power and they are not afraid to do so.

You will see most, if not all of these traits in leaders. For our purposes we will concentrate only on those leaders that used those traits for the good of the organizations they were a part of.

General Eisenhower (Ike) probably wanted to kill General George S. Patton with his bare hands many times during World War II. Patton offended almost everyone he ever met, including the English, the French and in particular, the Russians.

Yet Ike knew that when all was said and done, Patton made things happen. When push came to shove, he backed Patton when almost everyone else wanted Patton’s head on a stick. That’s what an effective leader does.

You may agree or disagree with Patton’s place in history, but you cannot argue with his persistence and his leadership. That persistence was a part of his entire life.

Early on, he wanted a diploma from West Point. He finally got it after waiting three years to be accepted and taking five more years to graduate.

When he was removed from his command in World War II, he pestered everyone to get back into the war. He knew in his mind that he had what it took to help win it and he never gave up trying to get back in.

In spite of his often saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, he was one of the most successful military commanders in history. He gave his commanders tremendous latitude to get the job done and he backed them all the way.

He named the goal and in a few very colorful words he simply said, “Get me there!” He didn’t tell them how to drive their tanks. He didn’t tell the troops how to fight. He just said, “Get me there!”

I am making two points here. One is that leaders back their people when the going gets tough. The other is that successful leaders never give up. Nelson Mandela is another classic example of never giving up.

How about you? Do you back your people even when they embarrass the hell out of you? Do you give up when the going gets tough? When I coach leaders, one of the things I preach is to take action. Leaders who can’t or won’t make tough decisons or won’t back their people are not going to make it.

Until next time, take care!

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Above our level – He walks through a department and never says a word. Acknowledges peers and superiors, never subordinates.

Never cruises – You are never going to see him in your office because he never leaves his own office.

Turf battles – Does not get involved in battles and does not want to make any enemies. Instead, kicks that ball upstairs.

Ain’t in the book – If he can’t find the answer in the manual, it can’t be done.

Satisfaction – All department decisions must come from her. How dare the underling who shows independent thinking.

Open door policy – The only time it’s open is when the custodian cleans. Makes you feel real good when you walk up to his door, he knows you are there, but keeps on with whatever he was doing for another five minutes. By this tactic he sends the message that his time is far more important than yours is and you should have made an appointment.

Ethics code – The code is her version. Do as I say, not as I do. Loves vendor perks.

Impartial – Absolutely! He gives all erring subordinates a fair trial and then he promptly hangs them.

Suspicious one – He is certain that his team is out to screw him up. Watches for hidden meanings in everything they say.

Impartial opinion – “Hell, if it wasn’t for the check, none of them would show up.”

Countin’ beans – She makes you feel guilty drinking the company’s free coffee!

Preacher – Preaches, but never teaches. Has an answer for everything.

Can be counted on – She can be counted on to never be there when you need her.

Buzzy – Knows all the latest buzz words and buys all the new management fads. Has no clue whether they work or not.

Study it to death – This guy will never make a decision on the spot. It takes him forever to make up his mind.

Damn, I’m good! – This woman uses a slash-and-burn management style. When stressed or when anyone challenges her on an issue, she verbally rips the challenger apart. Notorious for her sarcasm.

Plays favorites – This guy listens to only one person in his department (besides himself). And doesn’t care who knows it.

Tough issues – He never deals with sensitive or controversial issues. Someone else solves it or he lets it die of old age.

Does you a Favor – Will make sure you never forget it!

Okay, those are some examples of how “You don’t want to be like them!” None of these fit you, do they? Of course not! It’s the other guy!

More later!

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