Leaders Need Direction, Too: Are You Articulating Clear Expectations?

Many manufacturing companies are facing critical inflection points. The last two years have been challenging. However, as they look to the future, they may now see the opportunity to drive accelerated growth, expand global operations, integrate cultures after a merger or acquisition, turn lagging performance around or completely shift their business model. The challenges brought on by a critical inflection point present opportunities, but also, they can be demanding and complex for leaders to navigate successfully. Invariably, to succeed, leaders will need to step up in significantly different ways. What worked in the past may not be sufficient for the future. Unfortunately, through global research that I share in my book, Accountable Leaders, I discovered that only 49% of organizations take the time to define and articulate new expectations for their leaders. Is your company one of them? When a company does take the time to establish clear leadership expectations, a couple of problems can arise. First, leaders may be unclear about the expectations and what it means to be a leader. In turn, there may be a lot of inconsistency in how employees are led across the organization.