*Excerpted from Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 3: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Managing Ourselves As much as we may not want them to, the reality of every workplace is that the staff is watching our behaviors very closely. They watch how we deal with customers, how we handle money, how well we meet our commitments. They look at little things and big things alike. They see it all. They hear it all. And, through our vibrational energy, they actually feel it all too. What that means for workplace leadership is that we need to mindfully manage our own behavior in order to set the tone we desire on all fronts. Certainly, just leading by example won’t insure that our organizations are successful. But it always improves the odds. And there is absolutely no down side to modeling the behaviors you want your staff to pick up on.

Every company makes mistakes. That's one thing all businesses have in common. That said, each mistake is an opportunity - especially if the error affects a customer. Some companies blame anyone or anything but themselves. They may or may not correct it. They may or may not apologize. Some act like they’re doing you a favor if you ask them to correct their own goof-up. A culture of blame exists in these firms. Their mantra is “It’s not my fault."

I think that it’s all too common these days to pick up a newspaper or a business magazine and read all about visionary and charismatic leaders in the mold of someone like Jack Welch. It’s like the individual guy or gal at the top gets all the credit for a company’s success. We’ve gotten into the habit of making CEOs into rock stars.

I took a client to open book management pioneer SRC Corporation last week. For them it was an eye opener. For me it was a reinforcement of what’s possible when a company shares vast amounts of the right information with its people. They make smarter decisions and take performance to unheard of heights.

  Emily Litella, in one of her typical on-air rants: “What’s this I hear about computer parking lots? We’re in a recession, people are losing their jobs, and now we have parking lots for computers! It’s an outrageous waste of land and money!”

Leadership. What the heck is company leadership anyway? And why should a small business owner care? Some folks use the word “leadership” as a synonym for influence. Let’s expand that definition to include a couple of other important activities:

Are "They" Hurting Your Business? Got accountability? Of the multitude of challenges faced by small business owners, lack of accountability among employees is at the top of the list. There are many reasons for poor accountability. Most folks come on board full of vim and vigor, eager to please and show what they can do, hoping this new job will live up to their expectations.