In honor of Presidents Day, we should discuss just how important the president really is. We are not talking about the president of the United States, but rather the presidents and CEOs of business organizations.
When it comes to business, the president is responsible for establishing the climate and the culture of the organization. When there are many employees involved, the level of responsibility goes up exponentially. The employees are investing their livelihood and their lifestyles on the ability of the president to make the right decisions.
When the president does a great job, everyone feels safe and secure. The employees are not living in fear of being laid off. The culture feels like a team environment where everyone is working together. All of the employees are focused on the goals of the organization. When the culture is good, the employees are not sacrificing one another for their own gain.
How do you know if you are doing a good job as president? A good indicator is when employee morale is high, turnover is low and both profits and productivity are up.
Unfortunately, there are too many managers and not enough leaders in top positions. Too many executives do not create the right culture within the organization. Too many organizations sacrifice their people to make the numbers. It would be much better if they positioned themselves to sacrifice the numbers temporarily and took care of the people. How many times have you seen an organization lay off a significant portion of their staff, only to hire people a few months later when the market improved?
The good news is that effective leadership skills are learned. When done well, the culture of an organization can improve rapidly.
In an upcoming Biz Tips article, we will examine a true story of how a Tucson business leader changed the culture in his organization.
