Career Center Leadership SkillsWhether you are the CEO of a fortune 500 company or the general of an army, discipline is a serious issue that no great leader will want to take lightly. At some point, someone in your organization will not follow rules or guidelines.
Making the right decision in an event like this will make the difference between success and failure. The reason for this is because you must properly discipline those that break rules. It is important for the safety of your organization. However, properly disciplining your followers is easier said than done, and it is a delicate issue that you will want to be cautious about.
If you are just starting your business, you may have a difficult time taking action against somone in your group that has done wrong. For example, if someone is constantly being late, or is not following rules, you must make a decision on how you will deal with a situation. While you will want to take action, it should not be too strong, but it should also not be too weak. First, a great leader should never become too close to anyone that follows them. While you will want to create a strong bond with the entire group, there are certain dangers involved with becoming too friendly with any one person.
This person may begin to think that they can break rules. They may reason that because you are friends with them, you will not be able to discipline them when they do something wrong. Unfortunately, this happens all too often. A supervisor or general fails to discipline a certain individual because they are close to them. What typically happens in this situation is that other members begin to notice the treatment, and will become resentful. If they feel that one person can get away with anything, they will think they can do the same. If you suddenly discipline them harshly, this will send a message to the rest the group saying that you are partial.
It is easy to see how this can weaken the ability of a company to operate. For example, I personally knew one young business man that badly need to fire a particular employee. This person would constantly be late, even when he had talked to them about it. But he was a new business owner, and had become friends with this employee. Because of this, it took him weeks to finally make the decision to terminate their employment. There is a valuable lesson that you can learn from this. First, you should never become too close to your employee, and you should take action against them when it is needed.
The above example took place in a small business with few employees. In larger companies or organizations, this is even more important. No one should be above the rules, not even the leader. If they do wrong, they should get the same discipline that is given to employees. Again, this creates a fair environment where everyone feels equal. However, how you discipline your followers is important. You don't want to be too harsh if it is not necessary. If you do this, your followers will fear you. You should never want your followers to fear you. You should want them to respect you.
You don't want to discipline your followers in a way that makes them resentful. They should understand why they are being disciplined. Explain to them what can happen when they don't follow guidelines. It is never a good idea to discipline out of anger.
