My name is Michael Czahur. I have been in Corporate America for nearly 35 years and in a leadership role for more than 20 years. During my career, I reported to a variety of supervisors, managers, directors, VP’s and Presidents. I witnessed firsthand a variety of “leadership styles”, and learned what good leadership looks like and equally important, what poor leadership looks like. The “good” leaders were effective in building, developing and motivating their team or company, and delivered excellent results. In every case, these successful leaders were forward thinking individuals. The most successful leaders are never satisfied with business as usual. They see the potential in the business, identify the paths to success and implement the changes necessary to make it happen. Failed leadership is inevitable when the role of leader becomes one of power. They confuse authority with power. This will happen when an individual is not ready for that level of responsibility.
Over the past couple years I had the opportunity to spend time with leaders in many companies. During my visits I would have discussions regarding process, as it related to their sales department, customer service department, collections, and other departments where a team of reps were in place. Although the performance in several organizations was viewed as acceptable, I was quite surprised by the lack of process and structure in many of the departments within companies. Here's a simple real life example of how "thinking forward" helped a sales manager move his team to the next level. A few months ago I was visiting a relatively young company, and was having a discussion with one of the sales managers. Early in our conversation we were discussing work hours. He commented, “As long as they hit their number, we’re OK if they’re not here a full eight hours a day”, he indicated they have a flex schedule. I said, that’s generous, but if they worked the full eight hours, would that generate an “above quota” result? I continued; do the reps realize how much more money they could earn in their commission by using that lost time closing additional business? We reviewed their commission payout schedule and found the average increase would be an additional $65 a month, per rep. We also calculated the department would realize a 3 - 5% increase in month end revenue. These financial gains were based on the team of 8 reps working the additional 30 minutes per rep, per day, lost to flex time. In total, flex time was costing them 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week, and consequently additional revenue. Time adds up, and so does lost revenue. At this point I asked, somewhat rhetorically; now, where would your revenues be if your team averaged 15, 20, or 30 minutes beyond their 8 hour day? It's important to understand that when the decision is made to make changes that have a direct impact on your team, successful messaging, implementation and achieving the desired results will required leadership at it best.
Our discussion moved to Key Performance Indicators, and forecasting. At this point I was not surprised when I was told the only requirement was number of calls / dials made per day, and the team was not required to forecast. As this was a sales team I went over the five basic measurable steps for the sales process, and discussed the importance and value of forecasting. One of the best ways to develop a successful team is to offer ongoing performance feedback. Are you measuring the daily performance of your team members? Knowing what to improve, will drive improvement. The importance of maintaining basic disciplines and implementing clear expectations and accountability is essential to the success of any business. Again, our best leaders are forward thinking individuals and this, at any level of leadership, is what drives excellence.
Over the coming weeks I will be discussing other areas of Responsible Leadership including; team building, implementation of key performance indicators, forecasting, building strong relationships with other departments within your company, as well as others. Your feedback and input is welcomed.
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