“You have to actually walk the talk, be able and willing to listen to people’s ideas,” he says. “Bottom line, in order for people to listen to you, they have to know that you are willing to listen to them. That is what builds trust and a willingness to work with each other. Walking that talk starts from you and your people at the top. When people see you communicating and listening, that creates the right kind of environment throughout the organization.
“We have a program here that we do for all of our new leaders as part of their on-boarding process. We talk about five or six things related to communicating the right way. We talk about modeling the right kind of behavior. We talk about inspiring others, about challenging the process, about enabling others to act and encouraging the heart. That is what good leadership is about. Power shouldn’t be controlled; power should be shared.”
In a short period of time, you’ll likely find out who is willing to be held accountable as a leader and who isn’t.
“What you find is that those who are not comfortable with that kind of leadership style do one of two things,” Covert says. “One, they hunker down, or two, they end up leaving the organization.
“I’m a big believer in treating people as adults. If you function as adults, if you involve them in the management of the organization, you will be successful. I do not believe that the higher a decision is made means a better quality of decision, especially when it comes to the operations of the organization. That might be true for strategy in an organization but not when it comes to operations. You get out of the way of your staff, you give them that opportunity, and they’ll do a great job if they understand your mission, vision and what you’re all about.”
