Leadership Howler 8 - Responsibility Shirker

I was at a major retail outlet recently and as the queues for the tills got longer, so the waiting customers got stroppier and the staff working the tills got more stressed. There were clearly not enough staff to handle the volume of customers. 

Suddenly, the fire alarm went off and we all filed outside. It was at this point that the store manager made his first appearance and joined us on the forecourt. 

The fire alarm finally stopped and we headed back inside. Unfortunately for the staff working the tills, the queues were now in utter chaos as people jostled to the front and argued about who was first before the fire alarm went off and who was queue jumping. At that point, I noticed the store manager take one look at the situation, before disappearing quickly into a back office leaving his poor staff to deal with it. Interestingly, one of the staff in the middle of it all, glanced up to see him make his sharp exit. 

This is a true story by the way ... one small incident and one quick decision by a store manager which will cost him dearly for a number of reasons:

• His staff won't care, because their leader clearly doesn't.
• His staff won't respect his authority because he's just proved that when things hot up, he runs for cover. 
• His staff won't go the extra mile for him because he didn't for them.
• His staff won't commit to his cause or follow his leadership because no one follows a scaredy cat.
• His attempts to get the best out of his staff will be purely academic from now on because his actions speak louder than his words.

Good leaders recognise that in difficult times they must be present, acting decisively in the situation for the good of the team. This may well take them out of their comfort zones, but it's part of leadership. The alternative is to stay in your comfort zones and let others deal with the mess, but your team will notice and they will judge you for it. 

Thanks for reading

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