Revisiting Leading Others and Learning from Them

Warehouse and Operations as a Career

Hello all, Marty here with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. Thanks for joining us this week, and I appreciate you sharing our podcast with all your peers. We continue to grow each week, which is pretty cool. I know I’m learning something new every show and I hope we’re bringing you something that interest and helps you with your careers!

Last week we touched again on Leadership. I want to thank everyone that sent in a question or had a thought on the topics. If you’d like to comment on anything we discuss here, please shoot me an email to [e-mail] and of course, hit us up on twitter or Facebook using that @whseandops, we’re hanging around there for a bit each day!

So, we had a few questions come in that I had kind of answered with a worksheet I’m doing for another project. I thought we’d use it for bullet points this week, maybe it’ll answer some of your questions as well!

So, to get started I’ll ask this question: Do you consider yourself a leader? Or wish you were a leader?

Leaders have to inspire those around them while remaining strong. Uncertainty and difficult situations can’t stop or pause us as leaders from taking charge.

And I think, as leaders, we must develop or understand a couple of different play books. You all know how much weight I place on our experiences. But we have to develop those experiences, or live through those situations to gain our experiences, right? We’re going to make mistakes. But if we’re following all the rules, the procedures and processes we’ve been taught and learned then most of the other things we’ll mess up can be fixed! I make 10 bad calls a day. A great leader will raise our hands, say boss, that’s my bad, I’ll do things differently next time. Own it and learn from it!

Let’s talk about a few points I always return too when I’m wanting to rethink or grow. Which is around the first of every month! I’m always wanting grow and do better the next month!

Here are a few techniques that may aid you in your endeavor to be a great leader:

Focus on the company’s goal. If you focus on the goal of your business, then it will be easier to lead others and show them how to achieve it. Even if you have worked for the same facility for years, revisit, if only in our own mind, our company’s goals. It’ll help us see our own goals more clearly!

Follow through on your promises. A real leader keeps the promises made. We get busy. But if we’ve told an associate we’ll look into something or developed a plan for our team, it is imperative we follow through on our part or get back with everyone and let them know why we won’t be doing it.

Quick example, I was part of a team that was going to hold a monthly meeting with a group of associates. I think we had one or two. Dropping the monthly meeting wasn’t a bad thing, but we did not go back and share that with the team. Now, I know for myself, I feel like the next time I bring up something like that I’m going to previse it by saying no really this time! I’m kidding and being a bit over dramatic but as an employee I could very well feel that way, right?

Now, this one is a big one! You may want to jot this down. Avoid micromanaging. Micromanaging can have a negative impact on the group you’re trying to lead. As we’ll learn trust is invaluable.

Respect the opinions of others. Allow them to share their ideas. I cannot stress enough how important this is. You are the boss, you will have the final decision, but we as bosses don’t know everything, I can assure you. And the relationship you will build with your teammate, just by listening to what they have to say. Well, it’s worth our time to listen to them. And then of course, should we decide to go another direction, share a quick why with them. It will pay off every time.

And now that we know we should respect other opinions; I’d like to throw in there to listen the needs of others. If you listen carefully, you will discover more about what motivates your team members. I have always wanted to know that I can structure my action plans much better.

Avoid procrastinating. It can, no, let me say it will destroy your leadership goals. We don’t want our associates being lazy or putting things off. We’re holding them to productivity and metrics, right? We need to hold ourselves to those same standards!

Stay determined. Once you make a decision, stay with it. Anyone that knows me personally will tell you that I may carry this discipling a bit too far! I’ve rolled out several hundred new programs. I’ve always believed if you roll something back just because you hit a roadblock that you’ll have to try twice as hard next time. And yes, I’ve had to raise my hand a couple of times and say My Bad Boss. But I feel strongly, once we’ve made that decision, it’s important to lead our teams to the goal. And adjusting is not a bad thing or a failure. Just make sure our plan needs adjusting and that it’s not just a pothole in front of us!

Allow others to see your emotions. Your leadership will benefit from showing a human side. I’m talking about a little empathy and understanding here. Not our frustrations or anger, never ever our disappointments. Maybe I’m trying to say be human to our associates and of course respect our teammates at all times.

Spend time with your coworkers. Leaders need to know and understand the people around them. And I’m talking about at work not in a social setting. Being a teammate is a road to disaster. I mean visiting with everyone at their workstations and in the breakroom. Walking by for a quick little tailgate session at their work area. Maybe help pack a box or chunk a pallet. A quick visit daily will help that bond.

Show your expertise. If you know the answers, don’t let others struggle to find them. I call this lead and learn. Your employees are looking to you not just for knowledge, but they need to feel that you have their backs too. Making them look knowledgeable will accomplish that

Let your coworkers make suggestions. I link this one to the respecting and listening points I spoke about earlier. As a leader, you can make better progress if the entire team is able to make recommendations and be a part of the planning and goals.

Give your coworkers room to grow. They need to be able to make progress and set their own goals. I’d like to add here that, I feel, that it is our job to help them develop and set their own goals!

Avoid intimidating others. Fear can prevent positive interactions.

Use your coworkers to brainstorm. Your coworkers can help find solutions and feel

like they’re part of the process to resolve issues. That’s a big one! Let me skip down a little bit. I have like 25 bullet points here!

Admit mistakes. Pretending that a mistake didn’t happen will make your coworkers lose respect for you quicker than anything I know.

Look for answers outside of the norm. The ability to think differently is a crucial leadership skill. One of my stronger opinions! I’m always thinking there’s a more productive, more efficient or a safer way to do something!

Stay flexible. A real leader can be flexible while still being in charge. So important.

Keep everything transparent. Transparency can help you avoid rumors and gossip. A polite way to say don’t lie to your employees. It will never end well. Remember how we talked about trust earlier?

Keep an open-door policy. Let your team members know that you’re willing to listen to them at any time. We’ve kind of already touched on that one.

OK, here’s another big one. Be willing to become a mentor. A real leader is willing to help the next generation. We have too. Operations leaders are not just born. Order Selectors, forklift drivers, all of our positions, we had to learn, we had to be taught. Leading others is teaching others.

Well, there’s a few of my go to ways to lead. Like I said earlier, I review most of these monthly, looking at them helps me stay on track. Professionally and in my personal life as well!

Like I said, I’ve written down about 25 such thoughts for a project I’m doing, and I’m going to try and get it published up on the website next week. Feel free to download it if you’d like. We’re adding articles and worksheets weekly, be sure to check it out, you may find something useful there.

I appreciate you stopping in and until next week, stay prosperous, productive and most importantly stay Safe out there!