Leadership is a challenging job- many might say a thankless job. The brave hearted souls who enter a leadership position usually are attracted to it because they want to help others succeed. The leaders who took the position simply for the title typically struggle because they are looking for a self fulfilling payoff and forget about the team payoff.

Let’s face it – it can be difficult to get our own job done while helping others to get their done too. Many times a leader will let certain things go only to find out that by letting those things go and not controlling them they have a bigger problem on their hands.

Here are 3 Things Every Leader Needs to Have Under Control

1. Control your destiny (and others will follow)

Control your vision, your path to results and your skill set to get you there. Leaders who have a clear vision and communicate that vision along with tools for others to succeed find that their team responds with action and commitment.

2. Control your follow ups

Yes we are busy, yes we have lots on our plates and that is absolutely no excuse for not following through on promises made to others. Here’s the deal- when you forget to follow up or do not acknowledge the item to be followed up on the other person feels one of three things:

a. You dont give a rip about me

b. You are too busy for me

c. I am not valuable enough to you

Follow up is crucial to maintaining good vibes on the team and to have your group feel valued, respected and honored. Specifically in busy times we take our team members for granted and this is exactly the time we need to be showing them the love.

3. Control your out of control team members

When we ignore team members who behave badly or who do not contribute to the team we are essentially rewarding them. The unspoken message is “its okay I wont say anything to you”. This unspoken message then sets a pattern in to place that allows the person with the bad habits to continue their evil ways.

Take the time to sit down and reiterate the team expectations with your out of control team members. Talk to them and to their higher potential- let them know that as the team leader you have high expectations of all of your team members and you hold everyone to the same standard.

If you control these three things you will find yourself feeling fantastic at the end of a grueling day of leadership at the office. If you don’t control these three things expect more of the same old same old: stress, frustration and taking it out on the dog!