One of the biggest problems for team leaders is dealing with team members who don’t want to do their share. These slackers are always a problem for leaders, but I’ve found there are some basics of leadership that will significantly reduce that problem.
Since much of my leadership experience comes from a long career in the military, I’m often asked why the military seems to have more dedicated people. There are exceptions, but on the whole, I firmly believe they do. There are two basic reasons.
The first is a feeling of membership in something important and much more than just the individual. That’s instilled into a young recruit from the first day. Civilian leaders have pointed out that they don’t defend the nation or anything nearly as high sounding. True, but it’s a leadership challenge to make employees understand why what they do is important and how they are part of something bigger than themselves. If a leader can’t do that, they need to ask why.
The second is again something the military instills from the first day. That is the necessity to do your job right because others are relying on you. Your failure to perform can have dire consequences for others just as their failure can affect you. That’s easy to translate to non-military situations, especially in an industrial setting. Quite simply in any organization, if you fail to do your job, you will cost the company money and everyone suffers.
Another effective technique is to train and empower lower level leaders to take action to correct slacker behavior. This, along with a healthy dose of peer pressure, often brings the slacker in line and can even turn him or her into an asset. But it doesn’t always work and sometimes saying good-bye is the best option. Which is another lesson leaders must learn. I’ve been guilty of holding on too long, thinking I could fix the individual. Leaders must remind themselves that fixing people who don’t want to be fixed is not their job. Helping everyone else make the company succeed and excel is.
Helping everyone understand that they are part of a team, that their contribution to that team is important, and that the team is relying on each member for everyone’s success are vital steps to dealing with the slacker in the organization. But the most important step is to make sure everyone understands they are part of something important and bigger then themselves. This belief has to be genuine. When it is, you’ll have significantly fewer issues with slackers.
Bob Mason is dedicated to leadership development. He works with companies to solve problems by helping supervisors and managers become more effective leaders leading more productive teams. He is a professional speaker and author of Don’t Worry, You Can Do This: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know About Leadership; The Art of Not Motivating: How Leaders Can Succeed by Understanding the True Nature of Motivation; Balancing the Generations: A Leader’s Guide to the Complex, Multi-Generational, 21st Century Workplace; and Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works.
A 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force exposed him to great leaders and leadership opportunities such as command of four squadrons, including the Air Force’s largest munitions squadron. He has studied leadership extensively, but more importantly has been there, working with real people, making hard decisions, and experiencing the results.
Contact Bob at Bob@BobMasonSpeaker.com or 505-453-5266
