Consistent, effective leadership is no accident––it takes practice

Consistent, effective leadership is no accident. It’s the result of dedicated practice, evaluation, learning, growth and development.

An important part of any dedicated practice regimen is continual reinforcement. Or as I say in every workshop:

“Validation is just as important as education.”

This is especially true for experienced leaders at the highest positions. The importance of continual reinforcement and validation extends to all levels––so why do I emphasize it as a priority for veteran leaders?

To be blunt, it’s because sometimes you forget about it!

I know you’re busy and you’ve got lots of people to worry about, but it’s important to take care of yourself too. You’re not the best leader you can be if you’re not at your best.

First I want to be perfectly clear about what I mean when I say “validation.” When you already know or possess the traits and skills that make you an effective leader, the best way to maintain those traits and skills is to practice. This means exposing yourself to constant reminders of the traits, values and strategies that enable you to lead effectively.

When I conduct a workshop with genuine leaders, I’m usually not challenging their credentials, their quality or their conduct. These people are not usually looking for some new leadership method or some secret technique that guarantees performance.

Top leaders do my workshops because we’re singing in harmony––that is they know they need to keep their swords sharp.

Reinforcement and validation of best practices is the most effective way to maintain and encourage effective performance, support of core values and ethical behavior. Don’t just take my word for it––let’s check the science.

Ethisphere.com reported on some interesting research by noted Duke behavioral economist Dan Ariely:

In one of these experiments, a finding that could offer a suggestion for those charged with creating and maintaining an ethical culture emerged. When a simple moral reminder was added to the exercise – when a group of students was asked to recall the Ten Commandments prior to completing the exercise – no cheating was observed despite the fact that no one in the group was able to recall all ten.

“This result was very intriguing,” said Ariely. “It seemed that merely trying to recall moral standards was enough to improve moral behavior.”

Not only moral behavior. In 30 years of training martial artists, I learned that the most powerful technique for improving any type of performance was to remind students of expectations, then reinforce and validate positive action and results.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t correct and even, I have to admit, sometimes berate my students––all in good nature of course! I also found, however, that there were several things I could do as a leader to improve the performance of my students and reduce the need for correction:

#1 Identify specific expectations and express them clearly.

#2 Remind them of these expectations regularly and often.

#3 Validate all improvement, progress and good performance.

I don’t expect top leaders to learn anything new in my workshops. I’m not teaching anything new! What’s so new about the importance of a leader as a teacher and mentor? About the power of expressing yourself skillfully, openly and honestly? Are courage, compassion and wisdom new leadership traits?

No––genuine leaders understand that no matter how much experience we have, we all need to work on the basics. We all need reminders and we all need to pay attention to the fundamentals. I’m honored when they find my workshops and books validating for their leadership style and practice.

Aspiring leaders will often discover new ideas. That’s great too––but it’s not enough to learn leadership strategies and techniques. It’s critical to put those concepts into practice––and to practice them with commitment throughout your career.

It’s simply human nature––we sometimes prioritize functional tasks above personal and professional development. It’s easy to get caught up in the urgency of preparing a budget or responding to a critical change in the market.

That’s when we forget the basics––that an effective leader you must continually polish communication skills, be empathetic and accessible to the people you serve, to study and assimilate leadership techniques and maybe even most important, to continually improve yourself as a professional and as a person.

Bruce Lee famously said:

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

If you want to improve and maintain a high standard of excellence for the leaders you develop––and to improve and maintain the highest standard for yourself and your top leaders––practice.

That means reinforce, always––the basics.

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It’s time to reinforce the strength and quality of your culture––of your leaders––at all levels.

Don’t worry, it’s always time!

Book Jim for a half for full day workshop, or on an ongoing basis to help your people become better leaders––and to help your leaders become better people.

Or––start by giving everyone on your team access to Jim’s powerful leadership strategies and techniques through his books. Volume discounts of up to 70% on books, bundled packages and self-study programs! Discounts available on orders as few as 10 units!

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