Being an Effective Leader is a Lot Like Being a Parrot

One of my Army mentors once said “If you want something done right once you have to say it 10 times.” While this may come off as rude, the point is we as leaders must emphasize that which is important. We must be repetitive or parrot-like. Investing in people was the most important thing to my organization. People were always foremost in my mind and I needed my leaders to espouse this. Therefore, I said “Investing in People” all the time, everyday. I must have said it thousands of times in my tenure as commander or CEO of a large organization. Moreover, I would spend time explaining what it meant and hold my leaders accountable for this investment. In the early days, many leaders failed to answer my question “what is most important in our organization?” Over time this phrase and more importantly, all it stood for became our norm. I started to hear this phrase from my leaders and watch it in action. I became a parrot, “Raaak, Investing in People!” It works. Check out my book for more on this topic and be the parrot in your organization. Make it Personal!