Find a balance
Taylor believes the only way to measure the effectiveness of
a leader is by noting the extent to which he or she is followed.
And the way you gain followers is by empowering them.
It’s a difficult balance to achieve. She says you must give
employees both freedom and structure in their jobs.
“The most successful way is to make sure you are giving
them the right amount of support,” she says. “You can overem-power them, and they’ll just flounder. So you have to balance
that lever of support and freedom. That, I think, is the art of
leadership. It’s balancing the degree to which you support
someone versus how you give them rope and let them run
free.”
As with finding what motivates your employees, you need
feedback to get a read on whether you are meeting their needs,
both in terms of support and empowerment.
But to get the right feedback, you need to set the right boundaries and ask the right questions.
“The question to ask is, what is the end result we’re trying to
achieve?” she says. “If there is a magic question you should
ask, that’s it. Sometimes you get caught up in the minutiae
along the way, but it’s that end result that you’re looking for.
“As leaders, we can get caught up in thinking too much. We
make assumptions. But asking the right questions is really
important. If we ask the right questions, we get great information.”
HOW TO REACH: Deloitte LLP, www.deloitte.com
