Dewett’s Rules

- There are many voices in the leadership space. Over the years, most of them have tried to distill leadership down to its bare essence. A lot of them are quite useful. In fact, years ago, they inspired me to create my own approach. As I sat back and carefully reflected on all the years I've been involved at consulting, research, and teaching, I saw the answer. I kept coming back to three things that, above all else, for me, capture the essence of what it means to be a great leader.

In my writing, they become known as Dewett's Rules. Here they are. Reduce ambiguity, be fair, and stay positive. Let's think about each one for just a moment. First, a great leader knows that in everything they do, the goal is to reduce ambiguity whenever possible. Unfortunately, we often add to the ambiguity people feel at work, thanks to poor communication and a desire to hoard information. Listen, people hate to not know or to not understand.

That's why you have to embrace transparency in decision-making, providing great explanations for your behaviors and choices, and you have to strive for real inclusion when making decisions. In short, keep people informed. Next, it's time to think about what it means to be fair. Listen carefully. To be fair does not mean to treat everyone the same. Actually, your goal is to treat them the same and not the same at the same time. Let me explain.

You treat them the same by creating a safe, open, and honest workplace, an office that is mostly a meritocracy, a place that people consider a good place to work. Then you have to treat them not the same. That means that feedback and all discretionary rewards are delivered to people contingent on performance. That's right, you don't have to reward everyone the same or all the time. Rewards only work to motivate people when they are a little rare and clearly tied to great accomplishments.

So, yes, you have to stop rewarding people just for showing up. Finally, always remember to stay positive. Life at work can be challenging. There's no shortage of things that might smash your positive mood. I know, but your job as a leader is to create and defend positivity. There are, of course, many ways to do this. The most obvious is to play the traditional cheerleader role. Using positive comments and gestures, show support for your team's accomplishments.

Share the credit widely when you personally experience a win. Be sure to squash unproductive negativity when you see it. And don't forget to consciously frame your statements and decisions in a positive manner. The glass is half full if you say so. Leadership is fun and complex. Obviously, it can't be summed up with these three little rules, but they will give you a great place to start.