I have the wonderful opportunity to speak to medical office personnel all across the U.S. and Canada. It is so interesting to me that no matter if they work in a clinic, hospital, a large or small office, many of the problems they face are the same.
One of the most common problems that I hear about is lack of good leadership for the staff members to look up to and follow.
Even though I know that this is a common problem, I always am surprised when I hear it. Why? If the staff realizes that they do not have a good leader to follow then it would seem logical that the upper management or business owners would also notice this.
That is not the case; especially in the field that I work in and I can only guess that this problem is not exclusive to the Medical arena.
Employees care about having a good leader at work to follow and work with. A good leader will make their team feel secure in their positions and expected job duties.
Although there are many attributes that employees expect a good leader to have, there are really five top attributes that are a must.
To be honest and trustworthy
To be able to delegate knowing their team players strengths and weaknesses
To be able to communicate clearly on goals, expectations and the vision of the team and business.
To be committed to the team as a whole and to the business and project their commitment to the team.
To have a good sense of humor to help the team to get through tough times and to have a better environment to work in on a daily basis.
Finding leaders with these five attributes does not seem like a tough task, but apparently it is harder than one would think.
What surprised me most of the hundreds of staff members that I talked to the top two problems they had encountered with their leaders were dishonesty and not being committed to the business they were working for.
Is it a wonder why so many businesses have employee problems? How can the staff be expected to grow and flourish when their direct supervisors lack some of the vital attributes of leadership?
No matter how big or small the business is, having a good leadership training program is an absolute must. Not only will it weed out the poor candidates, but also it will support the ones that are on track to grow in their abilities to lead their teams.
There are many good training programs available, either online or local seminars, not to mention the many great leadership books. If you are in upper management or a business owner, take a good look at your leaders and make sure that they are the right ones to lead your teams.
If you have any questions as to whether they are doing a good job or not, just ask those that they are in charge of. I am sure they will be happy to give you their in-put.
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