The traits of a great leader: Do what you say you are going to do

Editor's note: This is the third in a four-part series of leadership-focused columns..Ace Bank was growing quickly and decided to supercharge its growth by acquiring a community bank with multiple locations in neighboring counties. Management pulled together a project team to address the tactical aspects of the acquisition such as the core conversion, networking, talent evaluation and marketing. As project meetings kicked off and the milestones were discussed, a project plan developed to ensure the team hit these milestones to keep every aspect of this complicated project on track..Tracy, the bank's chief technology officer, attended the first meeting, agreed to the project plan (including assignments to herself and her team members), and then delegated weekly meeting attendance to her team. There were numerous tasks assigned to the IT team that were crucial to the success of the acquisition but, when it came to completing the work, Tracy became a roadblock. .Tracy told her team she was pricing out new ATMs but did not provide information or updates. Her team members attending the project meeting had to report no progress on the action item. She told her team she was negotiating terms with the security company but failed to provide them with a new contract or plan to order the equipment for the branches. Again, they had to report no progress on the action item. .Tracy did not take her team up on their offers to help and they lost trust in her ability to deliver the results she said she could deliver to the project team. Her surrogates dreaded the weekly project meetings as weeks slipped by, and the project was in jeopardy of not hitting its go-live date. Tracy's lack of follow-through caused delays in the installation of critical equipment and reflected poorly on her department..One of the quickest ways to lose trust with your team is by not following through. Our third great leadership characteristic is simple yet powerful: Do what you say you are going to do. Not only did Tracy let her own team down by not following through on the project plan, but she continually put them in an awkward position to report on the lack of progress. She failed the newly acquired bank's team and their clients, which created additional stress in an already emotional situation..Great leaders do what they say they are going to do and, in the face of roadblocks, they are willing to ask for help, rally the troops and admit their own shortcomings. They are less likely to overextend themselves and more willing to get work done through their team members. .When we overextend ourselves, we become overwhelmed and are more likely to fall short on doing what we say we are going to do. Managers might implement open door policies with the positive intention of being more accessible to those they lead, but this can cause the manager to take too much of the work. When allowed, employees will drop in and hand you, their manager, the "monkeys off their backs," a situation laid out by William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass in a 1947 Harvard Business Review article. This means they will bring you problems that need to be solved, and you accept these problems as your own. You promise to act and feel obligated to follow through. Your employee will then begin to follow up to ensure you are fixing their problem. Does this seem backwards? That's because it is. .It is not your job as a leader to solve the problem; it is your job to make sure the problem gets solved. Rather than taking over, ask your team members open-ended questions to find out what they have done so far. If they truly need your guidance and the issue is not critical, ask them to set 15 minutes aside on your calendar to chat. By not accepting their monkey, you are building their confidence that they can solve the problem, which will intrinsically motivate them to tackle the next problem on their own..How do you want those that you have had the great fortune to lead to remember you?.Christy Baker is a facilitator and coach focusing on organizational health and strategies for Omaha-based Revela. She provides group training and individual coaching and is a former COO for an Iowa-based community banking group. She can be reached at christy@revelagroup.com. Visit RevelaGroup.com/podcast to learn more.