Priorities of A Leader

As a leader there are priorities and lenses we need to look at our jobs through. This should be a guide for you in your position (no matter what role you’re currently in) to look at your position, team and responsibilities.

0) LEAD BY EXAMPLE

This is priority zero because literally everything is built on leading by example. Leading by example isn’t a way to lead, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEAD. The same way the mission of the organization is the backbone of the way we do business, this is the backbone of all leadership positions here at Wonder Dog.

So set the example for the team and the organization as a whole by leading from the front. By leading by example. By setting the bar high for yourself and those around you.

1) LOOKOUT FOR THE ORGANIZATIONS BEST INTEREST

As a leader, your job is to lookout for the organizations best interest in all areas. Example categories would be your team, finances, clients, reviews, communications, public relations, partners, network, vendors, etc. There are a ton of categories that we could name. But overall the main priority for leaders is to lookout for the best interest of the organization as a whole.

2) MAINTAIN AND GROW

Simple enough, right? As a leader your job is to help manage the current business while growing and helping develop the future business.

Maintain the current business by making sure your tasks are done, your teams tasks are done, making sure goals and numbers are hit, the team is producing and staying busy, making sure we’re performing and operating well AND making sure our clients aren’t just satisfied but rather LOVE us. Making sure standards are hit. Making sure your people love their work and are happy.

Grow and develop the future business by getting on board with your leaders and their vision. And by selling their vision down the chain of command to your team. Grow and develop looking into the future and anticipating problems and coming up with solutions. Looking for needs we’re not hitting and trying to fulfill. Pushing your team to perform and rewarding them as well.

3) PERFORMANCE, STANDARDS & EXPECTATIONS

Make sure performance for your team is high. If they do well, you do well and the organization does well. If they don’t do well, find out why and fix it. This means checking in with your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and making sure you and your team are hitting and exceeding the numbers.

Keep, maintain and raise the standards of the organization across your team.

As a leader, YOU (and you solely set the standard) for how your team runs and operates.

All leadership stems from the top down.

4) YOUR PEOPLE

Make sure your people are happy and enjoy their work. Make sure your people are safe. Make sure to LEAD THEM WELL.

Make sure to lead your people by example. Be honest. Have tough conversations. Reward your people publicly and privately. Only correct them privately. Teach them lessons.

5) “Inspect what you expect.”

There is much more on this in the Principles section, however, in short, it is our duty as leaders to inspect what we expect of people. The best way to do this is to lead by example and do all you need to and is what is expected of you and have this flow down to your team through your actions.

If you expect it to be done, inspect it. This could be you checking up on Dog Pro’s, Eval Pro’s, TA’s etc. This could be you making sure your client is doing the homework you assigned or watching the videos you assigned.

So do this by first expecting it, communicating clearly (more on this in communication section) and then inspecting.