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We’ve all been in those meetings where the discussion is dominated by a select few. Inevitably the more forceful team members monopolize the conversation and influence the crucial decisions. After the session there is uneasiness that the agreed-upon direction, though seemingly deliberated, is not best for the team. For leaders, the opportunity lies in finding a way to engage the quieter, more contemplative team members in decision-making discussions. Unfortunately, those less likely to speak-up often have the best ideas but are reluctant to interrupt or engage with the more forceful team members. The team is missing out if they are not finding a way to capture the thoughts of their reserved team members. The best ways for a leader to benefit from all team members is to: Distribute talking points before the session and indicate what decisions are expected (this gives the reserved contributors time to formulate their thoughts and how they’ll articulate them); Prior to the meeting, encourage all team members to participate in the conversation (this gives the reserved contributors permission to open up); Curtail the more domineering team members from high-jacking the conversation (this gives the reserved contributors an opportunity to speak); Before decisions are confirmed, ask all team members individually if they agree or have more to add (this gives the reserved contributors a non-confrontational time to express themselves). The best leaders find a way to leverage the strengths of team members. The ideas and thoughts of their quieter direct reports may be the most insightful. Empowered teams who get contributions from everyone experience great success.

President: “We need to invest more in developing our employees.” Controller: “We can’t invest in them, what if they leave?” President: “What if we don’t invest in them and they stay?” The largest expense line item on most company’s income statements is their payroll. Studies and corporate bottom lines show that companies reap many benefits from investing in training for employees. Why is it then that leaders are reluctant to invest in developing their talent? Based on the training investments of 575 companies during a three-year period, researchers found that firms investing the most in training and development (measured by total investment per employee and percentage of total gross payroll) yielded a 36.9 percent total shareholder return as compared with a 25.5 percent weighted return for the S&P 500 index for the same period. That’s a return 45 percent higher than the market average. These same firms also enjoyed higher profit margins, higher income per employee, and higher price-to-book ratios. Firms that invest $1,500 per employee in training compared with those that spend $125 experience an average of 24 percent higher gross profit margins and 218 percent higher revenue per employee (source: Laurie J. Bassi et al., “Profiting From Learning: Do Firms’ Investments in Education and Training Pay Off?” American Society for Training and Development, 2000). For example, The Cheesecake Factory, one of the most successful restaurant chains in the nation, spends about $2,000 per employee for training each year and reaps sales of $1,000 per square foot—more than twice the industry average. Empowered leaders invest in talent development and experience more success than their competition.

Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common analogy of a woodcutter who is sawing for several days straight and is becoming less and less productive. The process of cutting dulls the blade. So the solution is to periodically sharpen the saw. We’ve found that in practice, however, most people fail to understand what sharpening the saw really means. When leaders overwork themselves and their productivity begins to fall off, common wisdom says to take a break, maybe even go on vacation. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw – that’s putting the saw down. When a dull blade is put down for a while, the blade will still be dull when picked back up. Sharpening the saw is actually an activity, just as the analogy suggests. Think about what it would mean to sharpen the saw. Here are some saw-sharpening ideas: Exercise Improved diet Continued learning (read, listen to audio programs, attend a seminar) Learn a new skill Organize the home or office Clear out a bunch of little tasks that have been put off Now the woodcutter can’t just alternate between cutting wood and sharpening the saw indefinitely. Downtime is needed too, but it isn’t the same as sharpening the saw. The woodcutter can become even more productive by sharpening the blade, studying new woodcutting techniques, working out to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters. Empowered leaders who regularly sharpen their saw are even more successful.

Everyone has heard the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If hiring managers believe the way they’ve hired in the past gives them as much confidence as rolling dice, why wouldn’t they do something different in hopes of increasing their odds? Many leaders have a process to yield excellent results and prevent weak, or worse, disastrous hires. It is important to tweak the process from time to time to accommodate various needs. That may include using a search firm to source candidates who are then run through the process, adding an additional round of interviews, moving assessments up in the process, or doing a much longer phone interview before flying a candidate into town. The bottom line is, there needs to be an evolving process – not just a particular kind of interview, or use of an assessment. A process that yields certain results and allows for adjustments is necessary. Hiring managers shouldn’t throw out an entire process, but objectively examine what seems to be working well and where it could be improved. Empowered hiring managers make successful hiring decisions by having a process that works.

“I’ll know it when I see it” may work when looking at a restaurant menu, but rarely when looking to add exceptional talent to the team. When a leader knows what the job functions are, they can create a Job Scorecard for the position. This includes the three to five primary accountabilities, their relative priority, the percent of time expected to be associated with each accountability and the success factors which will determine up front, whether or not someone has been successful or not in the described position. This planning allows the hiring manager to focus their interviews on the key components of the job. In the absence of this planning, they may be attracted to the person most likable or the best “salesperson” interviewing for the position – which may be fine if they seek a salesperson but it may lead them down the wrong path if those traits are detrimental to the position. Empowered hiring managers succeed by creating clarity around the position and a plan to select the individual who best fits that role.

Select (verb) – To choose in preference to another or others; pick out (Random House Dictionary). Process (noun) – A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result (Random House Dictionary). A selection process should consist of a series of actions to bring about an ideal choice of candidates. Many leaders rely on intuition, gut instinct, or some haphazard interview approach when choosing among candidates. The best hiring managers use a defined, repeatable process for selecting talent. The selection process should include three phases: Job and ideal candidate definition; Candidate screening; Candidate evaluation. Define the job and ideal candidate in the definition phase clarifying what is expected of the job and what the ideal candidate will look like. The screening phase should include consistent behavior-based questioning and assessments that tie back to the job and candidate definitions. The evaluation phase should analyze gaps and discrepancies between observed candidate behavior and job and candidate requirements. Hiring managers should define the steps in the selection process, stick to them, and empower those in the selection process for success.

Almost every company has some sort of annual goals. But, according to the Staples Small Business Survey, more than 80% of small business owners admit they don’t give enough attention to achieving them. Leaders should place more attention on aligning these targets throughout the organization. According to business thought leader James Fischer, companies that regularly allow staff to author, contribute and monitor the business goals have 60% less employee turnover than those that plan and strategize from the top down. An organization’s goals should be communicated to everyone within the organization – everyone. Department goals should be aligned with the organization goals and individual goals aligned with department goals. Everyone should have objectives that are linked to the priorities of the organization. Example: Organization Goal – Increase sales by $500,000 by December 31; IT Department Goal – Implement new CRM system by June 30; IT Manager Goal – Choose CRM system by February 1. Once the leader shares organizational and departmental goals, direct reports should determine their own objectives with the leader’s coaching. Leaders who empower their team to achieve individual goals benefit from employee engagement, collaboration, and corporate stewardship success.

Parents know it. School teachers know it. Sports coaches know it. Each of us responds differently to various types of mentoring and leadership. One child may need more nurturing while another responds to firm boundaries. Some students learn best by reading while others learn best by writing. Some athletes perform better when individually challenged while others excel in team situations. Successful leaders, parents, school teachers, coaches, and business managers learn how those they are leading are best inspired and customize their leadership approaches accordingly. Often leaders are too concerned about being fair and focus on applying the same leadership practices with each direct report. Treating team members differently does not mean a leader is showing favoritism. In fact, treating everyone similarly could be perceived as unfair. Empowered leaders understand each of their direct reports’ motivations and needs, apply a leadership approach tailored to those needs, and reap the benefits of a more successful team.

Navy SEAL combat veteran Brent Gleeson is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Internet Marketing Inc. His leadership approach is inspired by the unrivaled Navy SEAL training and the Navy SEAL Creed. Here are the seven habits (likely an extension of, but not a replacement for, Core Values) Navy SEALs have for success: Be loyal. Loyalty is about leading by example, providing your team unconditional support, and never throwing a team member under the bus. Put others before yourself. Get up every day and ask yourself what you will do to add value to your team, such as simply offering your assistance with a project. Be reflective. Reflecting on your mistakes ensures you never repeat them. Be obsessively organized. Some of us innately have this ability, often to a fault, and some have to work at it a bit more. Assume you don’t know enough. Any effective team member understands that training is never complete. Be detail-oriented. Attention to detail could avoid catastrophic results. Never get comfortable. Always push yourself outside of your comfort zone. It’s unlikely these would all apply to every team, but effective leaders define the habits required for success in their organization. Empowered leaders take time to define the important habits for their organization and their teams experience more success.

Baseball fans have probably seen times when a player begins to argue with an umpire and is about to be ejected from the game. Suddenly, their manager leaps out of the dugout and interrupts the argument, engaging the umpire while deflecting attention from their player. After the game, when tempers are back to normal and in the privacy of the clubhouse, the manager will offer feedback to the player, coaching them on what to do when experiencing similar situations in the future. Empowering leaders challenge their direct reports by putting them in difficult situations. Inevitably, direct reports will struggle as they learn from the experiences. Good leaders know when to jump in and use their influence to prevent their direct report from too detrimental an experience. After the incident, in calmer circumstances, the leader provides course correction coaching and helps the direct report grow from the situation. Not only will the leader benefit from their direct report’s development, the direct report will move mountains for the leader in the future. Leaders who empower their direct reports to pursue challenging tasks, but will also jump in and save them when necessary will experience more success.

When hiring activity is strong, leaders need to get more and more aggressive attracting ‘A’ players. And whether they believe it or not, their ‘A’ players are probably being courted as well. Leaders need to be constantly looking after their ‘A’ players. An occasional pat on the back and a consistent paycheck will not keep them around. In fact, when asked, employees indicate that lack of recognition and feeling undervalued/unappreciated are among the top reasons for leaving their employer. Regular and constant positive feedback is essential. Not once in a while, not weekly, but daily. Superstars warrant and deserve some positive affirmation each day. Feedback must be timely, specific (not just “good job”), and relative to their behavior. For example, “The amount of preparation you put into that meeting was evident and the way you were able to facilitate input from all the participants to actually reach a consensual decision demonstrated great leadership skills.” Empowered leaders praise their ‘A’ players and let them know they’ve made a huge step in ensuring their success and that of the organization.

Peter Drucker is credited with coining the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast” and successful organizations have been striving to create a winning culture ever since. Here’s a great example of Google’s culture recounted by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg in How Google Works: One Friday afternoon in May 2002, Larry Page (Google’s co-founder) was playing around on the Google site, typing in search terms and seeing what sort of results and ads he’d get back. He wasn’t happy with what he saw. Larry was horrified that the AdWords engine, which figured out which ads worked best with which queries, was occasionally subjecting our users to useless messages. He printed out the pages containing the results he didn’t like, highlighted the offending ads, posted them on a bulletin board on the wall of the kitchen by the pool table, and wrote THESE ADS SUCK in big letters across the top. Then he went home. By the time Larry arrived Monday morning the problem was fixed. And the kicker? The team that fixed the problem weren’t even on the ads team. They had just been in the office that Friday afternoon, seen Larry’s note, and understood that when your mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, then having ads (which are information) that suck (which isn’t useful) is a problem. So they fixed it over the weekend. Every organization has a culture whether leadership creates it or not. As Drucker has been professing for almost half a century, leaders must define an intended culture, live it, breathe it, demonstrate it, and champion it or no strategy will be successful. Leaders who empower their team with a defined, purposeful culture have more successful organizations.