I was recently watching the reality show Undercover Boss.  It’s great to see leaders leave their boardroom or corporate offices and move to the front lines.  The shows are often transformative for the leader.

While I appreciate that the various leaders are open to learning and changing, I’m often saddened to see that most of the lessons they are learning are pretty straightforward.  Somehow they, like many leaders, forget the basics of what it takes to lead.  I’m not faulting them.  I understand the pressures involved with being an executive.  It’s easy to get distracted.  However, time and time again we find the same basic, tried and true principles for effective leadership.  Despite our short-term rationalizations, the research and practical experience both show these to be true.

So, here is a reminder of stuff that deep down you know is right but sometimes ignore in the heat of the moment.

1)       Take care of your people and they’ll take care of your customers and business.

2)       You can’t over-communicate.

3)       Long hours for long stretches decreases productivity, accuracy, and service and actually delays good results.

4)       Yelling and threatening may create a temporary increase in performance but it won’t be sustained and your people will only give whatever effort is needed to stay out of trouble.

5)       People don’t know what is expected of them unless you tell them.

6)         “Extra” time that you spend in planning will more than be made up for in reduced pain, rework, and hassles in the future.

7)       Most of your people are more motivated by making a difference rather than making money.

8)       Regardless of what you say is important, people will act based on what is measured and rewarded/punished.

9)       What you say and what they hear are often quite different.

10)    People can’t succeed unless you clearly define what success looks like.