Leadership Traits

John Parker Stewart, a national lecturer and leadership consultant, speaks to NASA management concerning the fundamentals of leadership, and how to development commitment from their colleagues to ultimately foster an environment of success and growth.

John contends that successful companies, regardless of the business, all share a common characteristic. Each of these companies achieved greatness by refocusing the structure of their corporation. Rather than structuring the company so that the head boss is ultimately responsible, these companies inverted the pyramid of accountability, making employees responsible, and the boss responsive to the needs of those employees.

By using the inverted pyramid concept, employees receive what they want: trust, support, and self-worth. Yet, at the same time, employers obtain their needs: pride, loyalty, unity, and growth. Simply put, if management promises to see that their employees succeed, management itself will succeed as well.

In order to accomplish such an environment, certain efforts must be taken. For starters, to foster employee commitment, management must explain to each employee their role, why their role is important, and then give each the responsibility to carry out that role. In addition, employees must be allowed to fail, but yet management must not tolerate incompetence. To accomplish this, give constant feedback that is specific and immediate. And lastly, the key to motivating employees is as simple as what motivates yourself.

In his conclusion, John exclaims that a supervisor is only as good as his people, and his people are only as good as how a supervisor treats them. It is this thought that should permeate throughout a company, because as a team, everyone achieves more.