As I read about leadership and management topics and observe events in my consulting services that occur within organizations, I sometimes wonder where some of today’s managers and leaders get their rationale for making decisions regarding people. It’s almost like they have lost plain old common sense when it comes to relating and working with the people they lead and go out of their way to create chaos. Here are a few ideas I’ve picked up during my 50+ years of being thrust into leadership and management roles that I hope prove valuable to you as you strive to bring your common sense leadership into your world of work.

Provide clear direction. Too often leaders assume workers understand their instructions regarding job details. Never forget that it up to the person sending the message to make sure that those receiving it understand the meaning. Never assume, and always be very explicit with your directions. Ask for feedback to be sure understanding is clear and, if necessary, provide training to shore-up skills to get the job done right. Don’t set up people to fail. Remember their failure does reflect on your leadership abilities.

Recognize and reward good performance. We all like to experience feelings of importance. Genuinely be appreciative when workers get the job done right, on time, and at minimum expense. Use staff meetings and on-the-spot encouragement to let people know you appreciate their efforts. When appropriate, and consistent with organizational policies, offer a reward. It can be as simple as a sincere thank you, a lunch with you or as rewarding as a promotion with more responsibility and pay. Recognize and win!

Strive to remove tension in the workplace. Research shows that too little or too much tension has the same result—suboptimal productivity. Maintaining the proper tension is a balancing act for leaders. One must recognize that when tension is too low employees tend to relax, not take on challenges, reduce their efforts and lower their productivity. Like wise, when tension is too high, the workplace becomes prone to employee accidents and sicknesses. Anxieties and stress begin to dominate the workplace thus also losing productivity. Common sense leaders strive to find the proper middle ground. One must always have their antenna up to pick up worker signals. One must also understand that leadership style is a tension builder or tension reducer.

Learn to emulate the traits great leaders possess. Extensive research into what qualities great leaders possess has identified the following as important abilities. Use your common sense and see to it that these traits become part of your leadership style. It’s a good list to start creating a bold, new approach to leading others.

Vision, purpose, and direction: Do you know where you want to take the organization, why you want to get there and how you will do it?

Technical / Administrative skills: Do you have the understanding and tools to get the job done and can you keep the activities flowing in an effective and efficient manner?

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