Do you know how difficult it is to get good people to work for you?
And do you know how challenging it is to have the same good people remain with you when they are offered better positions and better pay somewhere else and when I say somewhere else I mean your competitors? To work abroad where the pay is maybe 5 to 10 times more than you can afford is a no-contest situation but when your good people leave you because you did not handle them correctly, then the fault is yours. And it’s really a dumb thing you did if you allow that to happen. Some sources estimate that as many as 65 percent of people leaving companies do so because of their managers. We may say that people quit their job or their company, but the reality is that they usually quit their lousy bosses.We need to remember one thing: the business organization doesn’t do anything negative to the good people who left, it’s the people inside who do. Leadership is a skill. It is both art and science. For people who think they are born leaders and never even bothered to improve on their skills are liabilities when it comes to handling people. These are the same people who drive good people away into the hands of their competitors.
And so this is the key: Good people do not leave organizations. Good people usually leave their lousy bosses. And I will tell you why.
Most leaders can make a good impression on employees when they first meet. Add to that the optimism people have when they start a new job. They want a new job to work out. But over time, leaders will be recognized for who they really are, not who they are trying to appear to be. If a boss is a jerk, it’s only a matter of time before an employee knows it.
So what kinds of bosses or leaders do employees quit? Most often they come in four types:
1. People quit people who devalue them. When leaders devalue their people, they begin to manipulate them. They start treating them like objects, not people. Look for people’s value and express your appreciation for them.
2. People quit people who are untrustworthy. It becomes very difficult to overcome the damage done in a relationship when trust has been lost. Building and maintaining trust as a leader is a matter of integrity and communication. If you don’t want people to quit you, you need to be consistent, open and truthful with them.
3. People quit people who are incompetent. When leaders are incompetent, they become a distraction to the team. Productivity declines, morale suffers and positive momentum becomes impossible.
4. People quit people who are insecure. People want to work for leaders who fire them up, not who put out their fire.
5. People quit people who are temperamental. It is easy to spot who these bosses are. They are the same people who are 90% temper and only 10% mental. They have mood swings and like a tornado the moment they lose their temper the unharnessed energy simply destroys everything along its path.
6. People quit people who are abusive. “The Devil Wears Pradaish” boss who makes their people do personal errands in their behalf loses the respect of their people. “Would you please pick up a gift for my girlfriend…” “Please bring my suit to the cleaners… please pick them up for me…” you know what I mean. As a leader you need to put a high value on those who work for you and those who work with you. This is called true leadership. It takes skills. It takes tools but most important of all is that it takes a heart of service and care.
Here is a cliché: People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Read books on leadership. Attend seminars on leadership but most importantly develop your character and attitude and inspire your people to become better and more productive people too. This is the essence of servant leadership. Let Jesus be your model for leadership.
wow! thank you Sir Francis for this..again and again I am always inspired with your posts and always looking forward for new ones! Glad to know what kind of leader should we be avoiding to become! more power! 🙂
all along, i thought i was the only one having this kind of situation.
it’s an eye opener and will definitely help me in my future work.
thanks for this great article.
This reminds me of the difference between an leader and a boss. A Leader influences his people, a boss just bosses around.
Thank you for this inspiring post. I hope that more leaders would be able to read this too. 🙂
This article must be included in every company’s new hire orientation seminar.
I agree with you Bryan.
yeah let JESUS be your model for leadership for in HIM there is no errors, no disappointment,no abusive treatment only pleasure and understanding forevermore…..making people as your model will only bring you to your greatest disappointment………..
yeah i think so this article should be included in company’s orientation so that bosses will be reminded that organizations and companies work as a team……..not only with their ownselves…may they will be reminded to put aside their wrong pride..for most of the time they are over carried by their positions….
thanks a lot francis inspiring article…
You are most welcome Arnel.
I enjoyed and I have to tell You Francis, that I agree 100% to Your way of thinking. I also have to admit that in real life is sooo hard to keep this mindset…