In briefings, you could do worse than keep these points in mind:4 Controlling
Excellent leaders get maximum results with the minimum of
resources.
To control others, leaders need to exhibit self-control (but
remembering that anger/sadness can be legitimate responses if the
circumstances warrant it and are themselves mechanisms for
control), to have good control systems (simple and effective to
monitor financial and task performance) and to have control of what
it is that others should and should not be doing in order to meet
objectives. The success at directing, regulating, restraining or
encouraging individual and team efforts on the task (and in
meetings) are the criteria for testing a leader’s effectiveness as a
‘controller’.The Adair short-course
on leadership
1 The six most important words ... ‘I admit I made a mistake’.
2 The five most important words... ‘I am proud of you’.
3 The four most important words ... ‘What is your opinion?’
4 The three most important words... ‘If you please’.
5 The two most important words... ‘Thank you’.
6 The one most important word... ‘We’.
7 The last, most unimportant word... ‘I’.134 The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership