How to be an Effective Leader

The book lays out the eight practices that made corporate executives effective leaders in their industries and they are as follows:

• They asked, “What needs to be done?”
• They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
• They developed action plans.
• They took responsibility for decisions.
• They took responsibility for communicating.
• They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.
• They ran productive meetings.
• They thought and said “we” rather than “I.”

As an organization, we've been particularly focused on the last two practices and have spent the last few years refining the way we communicate and hold team meetings.  At the moment our organization consists of over 30 staff member and interns which requires quite a bit of planning and coordinate to run optimally.

The silver lining with the COVID pandemic is that it has made us all more accustomed to virtual meetings.  This has allowed us to gather on Zoom and meet more frequently.  The key is to keep the meetings as concise and productive as possible.  Each meeting needs a purpose and follow-on action items to be executed so large group meetings are not always the answer.  

Currently we hold about 3 half hour meetings each morning.  Its a mix of one-on-one and departmental meetings which include Management, Marketing, Operations, Accounting and Finance, Front Desk, and Instructor Meetings.  If at a meeting, we identify issues that need to be collectively solved, we set up a strike meeting and invite the necessary team members to attend so that we can find the quickest resolution to an issue.  

Communication is a challenge and there is no one size fits all answer to it, but effective communication is paramount to a successful organization.