Page 48 - Develop your leadership skills- John Adair. -- 2nd ed

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How to turn the core leadership functions into skills ■ 39

One essential strand in the concept of management, and one
that is often overlooked in leadership, is relevant here.
Management implies the efficient use of resources as well as
their effective use. In these days of scarce resources – people’s
time, money and material in all its forms – the thrifty or
economical use of resources is an imperative for all those who
occupy organisational or community leadership roles. Good
leaders will be managers in the sense that they husband care-
fully and spend to good effect the resources at their disposal.
They get the maximum results with the minimum use of
resources.

Evaluating

As we have already seen, a key part of defining the task is
establishing the success criteria – by which we shall know
whether we are achieving the objective or at least making
progress in its general direction. Evaluating, however, is much
wider than that. It is that part of practical thinking that has to
do with values.

Success has to do with values, ultimately with the values of the
organisation or the individual concerned. Performance has to
be judged in relation to those values, which are usually implicit
in the organisation’s purpose. It meets the task need circle,
because people need to know where they are in relation to the
end result they are aiming at.

Consequently, evaluating or review is not something that you,
as a leader, leave to the ‘wash-up’ at the end. Whenever you
comment on progress – or the lack of it – or invite the team to