Who Do You Trust?
He was frustrated. This was an opportunity to show value and to authentically offer help to the company's client. As a good leader should, he entrusted this situation to a seasoned employee who is in a leadership position. This executive shared with me, "I am sorely disappointed. I expected our team to respond with urgency in handling this critical situation. I thought that by entrusting the project to this division, we would have been in good hands. I was wrong; our response was slow, our solution was mediocre at best and consequently we lost the account. But more than that, we damaged our reputation in the business community."
This is a common scenario for many leaders. Who do we trust when the situation is critical? There is nothing more damaging to an organization than when they over promise and under deliver. All of the ability, skill and competence simply do not matter if we cannot execute when there is a need. The truth is, how we execute on a daily basis indicates how our team or we will respond in a crisis. Disappointment occurs when there is a lack of ownership and accountability on a team, division, or company. It begins with the little things.
Leading our team means assessing on a daily basis who will step up when the time comes for action. When we realize that the little things matter, we will make a difference.
