T6 – People

This is a draft of the manual for public review. If you have any comments, please email them to info@omimo.org. Please check back for the final version.

The main challenge in a leader’s job is to work well with people! It’s difficult because people behave in unpredictable ways, not everyone is the same, and many people have conflicting interests.

Main challenge vs. primary goal

Don’t mistake the primary challenge of leaders, which is working with people, with their primary goal, which is getting results through solutions. Without solutions, there’s no reason to work with people. Having this property of the Compass in mind is important because some leaders sacrifice everything for this category, which defeats the purpose.

Who are the “people”?

A leader should especially be thinking about the following people:

• Those who are led by the leader
• Those who expect results from the leader:
  • people internal to the organization (e.g., managers)
  • external customers (if any)
  • external regulators
  • etc.

We should also think about organizations as groups of people, and hence a subject of this category.

Balance

Some people believe in very harsh styles of leadership where everyone contributes to results out of fear. Others believe in very soft styles of leadership, wherein people contribute to results only if they are convinced to do so. As usual, both these extremes are problematic, and effective leaders stay around the middle of the spectrum, swinging to one side or the other depending on the situation.

Nature

There are different styles of leadership, and each one is more natural for a certain type of leader. If you try to adopt a style of leadership that’s not suitable to you, you’ll be perceived as fake, and you won’t be able to motivate people sufficiently.

Behaviors

The following are the effective leader’s behaviors in the people category:

1. You identify all the individuals and organizations who can impact the move toward the vision and the achievement of goals.
2. You ensure that people around you understand and, if possible, believe in the visions and goals that they’re working toward.
3. You understand the real motivations of relevant people and organizations and attempt to satisfy them when justifiable.
4. You bring people together to brainstorm and provide you with useful information, ideas, and solutions.
5. You create a safe space for people to give opinions, and you listen in order to understand, not to respond.
6. You facilitate people to work together smoothly toward visions and goals.
7. You balance kindness and support with clear expectations and an appropriate level of firmness.
8. You make it clear what’s expected from each person without making it too detailed.
9. You speak in ways that inspire people to take action.
10. You recognize and appreciate people’s achievements appropriately.
11. You resolve conflicts among people in an effective, fair, and sustainable way.
12. You alert your managers to their mistakes but support their decisions if they don’t change their mind.
13. You control your emotions under strong stimuli and limit their impact on your decisions and behaviors.