The Ever-Challenging World of Leadership

Today was a usual Monday: or at least a usual Monday since I started implementing meeting rhythms. A full day of meetings with my direct reports. While I see the benefit of having these meetings, I don't think I have the KPIs/metrics nailed well enough yet that the meetings are as meaningful as they could and should be.

That is the biggest problem I'm having with The Rockefeller Habits: Trying to get the right metrics in place so that our big goals align all the way down to our individual goals. And furthermore, I'm having a challenging time keeping track of who is supposed to be doing what so that I can follow through with each person at the end of each week.

It's definitely a journey -- not a destination -- and a bumpy one at that, but I do see the positive results already. This system gives me a framework of accountability so that the question of whether someone is acheiving their goals or not becomes very objective and something that, they can see without me having to point it out.

Last year I had 2 project managers quit, and I think there were a number of reasons why they left. I blame myself (hey, I am a woman) for most of them.

First, I feel that by not having regular meetings with my project managers I lost touch with what was going on with them, and therefore, when things were bothering them, they just built up and built up until little things turned into big issues.

Second, I did not have any metrics in place for them to strive to acheive, and as such it was very easy for them to just mosey along with out any incentive to try and achieve their goals or the company goals.

Third, I think that by trading clients back and forth between them when their was an issue or complaint, rather than bringing them into the problem-solving process, I pitted them against me because they felt they couldn't trust me.

This year, with my new pms, I meet with them weekly, we have sales targets set up that they need to meet or else they need to justify why they didn'tmeet them. Also, we have open lines of communication, which definitely makes for a better environment.

But truly? I think I'm a pushover. And I think that I have a hard time putting my foot down when someone is not doing what is required of them.

The result is that I get taken advantage of by my employees at times.

What is the answer to that? I don't know.