Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: Let's Talk Leadership

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading... It seems as though we spend an awful lot of time talking about sales, marketing, branding, customer service, lead generation, social media marketing, and all those great things I just love to write about. But there's one subject we seldom touch upon: Leadership. When I started thinking about that topic this week I decided it is an important subject, actually critical, when it comes to the health and welfare of a PCB company and, hence, to our industry as a whole.

I knew a guy who liked to say that behind every messed up circuit board company is a messed up owner--except he didn’t exactly use the words "messed up." His actual words would give this column an “X” rating instead of the required “PG” rating. The health of a company starts at the very top. If the owner has problems the shop is going to have problems...it’s as simple as that.

And knowing that (and realizing that I haven't spent a lot of time on this subject over the years), I decided to do a little studying, read a few books, and find a few leadership tips I could pass on to you.

Pay attention, board shop owners, board shop leaders, or anyone else who's in a leadership position: Here are 10 leadership lessons for you:

1. Lead with humility. So what if you own the company or have been appointed to lead your company? You must treat everyone with the utmost respect.
2. Be part of the team. Be one of them, understand what it's like to work for your company. Walk in their shoes.
3. Treat everyone equally. Make sure you understand that all people are equal.  Do not judge that person with the tattoos or the young girl with the blue hair. It doesn't matter how a person looks: If he's doing a good job, work with him and get him to do a great job. Respect everyone.
4. Don’t change; reinvent. Build on what you have already...build on your foundation. So many of us are tempted to try to change everything each time we get in trouble. This does not work. All you get is a "Groundhog Day" syndrome if you do that. Reinvent yourself instead; that way, you will be moving forward on the foundation you've already established.
5. Be inclusive rather than exclusive. Do not encourage little gangs of sycophants around you. Make sure you include everyone equally in everything you do.
6. Avoid insularity. Get out of your office. Get out there and talk with people and make sure you know everyone in your company. A few years ago, Tom Peters coined the phrase “management by walking around.” That is still good advice today. And then, of course, make sure your tower--excuse me, I mean office--door is always open.
7. Choose pragmatism over ideology. Work with what you have. Some people cannot make a move until the stars are aligned and everything is perfect. This will not work. Leaders need to lead; they need to take action and move forward. Avoid the wait for perfection--something we used to call "analysis paralysis."
8. Make decisions. Make sure you get as much input as possible and consider all options, but, in the end, the true leader has to make decisions. He has to lead by making even the hard and unpopular decisions.
9. Confront adversity head-on. True leadership is forged in adversity. When things get tough, a leader leads and not only leads, but leads with grace, humility, and dignity. In times of adversity, leaders earn their money and earn their reputation in front of their team.
10. Lead by example. Never do anything that you would not want your team members to do. A leader has to be a shining example to the people he leads. No matter how tempting it is sometimes to knock a customer, don’t do it--it will give your team members permission to knock that customer as well.  For the same reason, do not knock one team member in front of another--it just does not work. If you want to be a true leader you must be a true paragon of virtue.

Now it’s time for full disclosure: These are not strictly my words or my lessons--they came from a book I read this week about leadership. I modified these 10 lessons a bit to make them more adaptable to business. The book is called, "Lead with Humility: 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis." You might have heard of him. He’s a pretty good guy to take leadership lessons from, don’t you think? It’s only common sense.