Business leaders act as the captains
of organizational ships. A preeminent leader sets the course, directs
the crew and ensures that everyone
emerges safely through the storm.
“The best measure of a leader is during
times like we are experiencing right
now,” says Dale F. Schumacher, CEO of
Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union. “When
the economy is good, many foibles are
masked. During difficult times, shortcomings are magnified. Excellent leaders roll up their sleeves and get the work
done… whatever it takes.”
Smart Business learned more from
Schumacher about the enormous impact
of leadership on an organization’s performance and about how you can constantly improve your skills.
What are the central qualities of a good
leader?
The first is integrity. People must
believe the leader will do the right thing,
which means something slightly different than doing things right. Great leaders
do what’s in the best interest of the
organization, the customers and the
stakeholders, even when it’s not in their
own best interest.
The second is complete honesty. There
are degrees of honesty, and a good
leader tells the whole truth. Complete
honesty includes discussing issues as
they come up or saying that you’re not at
liberty to talk about something if you’re
under a nondisclosure agreement. Good
leaders don’t deny knowing about something they want to avoid.
Next is humility. Never forget where
you came from. I don’t do my work by
myself, and I’m fortunate to be around
people that make me look good on a
daily basis. Every leader needs to recognize the intrinsic value of every person
around them. People want to know
where they are heading.
How can executives effectively assess their
leadership abilities?
Honest self-reflection plays an essential role in assessing and improving leadership skills. Leaders should also constantly ask for feedback to find out if
they are providing what their employees
need to succeed. After every meaningful
interaction, I try to ask how it went and
if the other person got what they wanted
or understood why they didn’t get what
they wanted. At the conclusion of each
meeting, I go around the table and ask
each person individually how the meeting could have been better or what could
have been done differently. As the
leader, you have the final say on decisions but it’s important to solicit and
respect other people’s opinions.
How can poor leadership hurt an organization?
Chaos comes immediately to my mind.
Leaders that don’t have vision, exhibit
integrity, or build trust lower the morale
in the workplace. If employees lose
their sense of common purpose and feel
demoralized, they will choose to focus
on other things that make them feel
good — like family life or social activities. This has a direct negative impact
on the bottom line through lower productivity, which leads to escalating
costs to hire more staff or pay overtime.
In a negative atmosphere, sales also
tend to fall off.
What specific actions or attitudes create
this negative impact?
Leaders can do many things that hurt
the organization and foster a lack of
trust. Some will ignore the current status
of the business, thinking they are above
the fray. Some will tell people what they
think they want to hear, avoiding the
tough decisions. Most will stray from a
‘say-do gap’ or a lack of vision.
The ‘say-do gap’ refers to times when
you say something is important to you or
the organization but then you act inconsistently with that stated belief. For
instance, I could tell you that punctuality is really important, but then if I’m perpetually late that creates a ‘say-do gap.’ I
believe anything can happen once, but if
you habitually act inconsistently with
your stated values, that goes a long way
toward creating a lack of trust. Other
common ‘say-do gap’ situations include
saying cost control is important, yet
treating certain customers lavishly. Or
you could say everyone is equal, yet
there could be a perceived unfairness in
the way people are treated.
A lack of vision — when a leader acts
like a yo-yo or a rubber ball — also creates problems in an organization.
Change is going to happen, and it’s
important to the long-term survival of
organizations to adapt. But a redirection
of the business on a daily or hourly basis
keeps organizations from ever getting
good at anything. Effective leaders have
a vision of where the organization
should and wants to head in the next
three, five or 10 years, and a plan for
consistently pursuing that vision.
DALE F. SCHUMACHER, CCUL, CCUE, is CEO of Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union and a director at Tampa Bay WorkForce Alliance.
Reach him at (813) 383-2377 or [email protected].
