As chief executive of the Institute of Leadership & Management, Charles Elvin is responsible for setting the UK’s largest management body’s agenda and striving to improve skills through a focus on qualifications.
But he is also a fan of the management style of former Tesco chief executive, Terry Leahy. When asked how that style manifested itself within the supermarket chain, Leahy responded that there wasn’t one leader at Tesco but thousands – a statement that Elvin believes “is so on the money.”
But here are five other tops tips from Elvin himself, which are likewise intended to help you become as effective a manager as you can be:
1. Say “thank you”
Recognition is hugely important. Simply saying “thank you” is an extraordinarily powerful thing to do and is very rarely used to full effect.
2. Check information sources
If someone gives you a piece of information that doesn’t quite feel right or doesn’t quite resonate, always check it.
3. Trust your employees and your team
People talk a lot about staff trusting their leaders, but it’s just as important for leaders to trust their teams too.
4. Be fair
Sometimes it’s very difficult to be fair. People are naturally drawn to one side of an argument over another and you need to resist that.
5. Adapt
Take risks. If you fail, make sure that you survive the failure and try again – and adapt what you do. It’s important to take risks, but you have to accept that sometimes you will fail. People are far too risk-averse, but you’ve got to be prepared to take a decision. Ironically, often one of the biggest risks is being too risk
