The Two Most Important Functions of a Leader

What are the two most important functions of a leader?

A leader must identify & concentrate on the tasks that give the highest return on their investment.
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I think that Dan Black hits the nail on the head in this post. If you are a leader now, begin focusing on these two high ROI roles. If you are not currently a leader, start doing these two things even now and study them as you progress towards leadership.

Dan normally writes at DanBlackonLeadership.com but today he is joining us here. His purpose and passion is to help people of influence reach their potential. I love Dan’s writing and highly suggest subscribing to his blog. You can connect with him on Twitter and get a free leadership quote book by clicking here.

So what are the two most important functions of a leader? I’ll let Dan take it from here…

Leaders and managers have tremendous workloads. However, we must remember every task does not have the same priority or return on investment (ROI). Some tasks are necessary for the leader to accomplish while others should be delegated so it won’t drain our time and energy. This is why a leader must identify and concentrate on the tasks that produce the highest return on their investment.

Here are two tasks that will produce a high return on your time, energy, and effort:

1. Finding and equipping talent. Akio Morita, the founder of Sony Corporation, said,

“No matter how good or how successful you are, or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire.”

This statement shows the importance of finding and recruiting highly skilled and talented people to join your team or organization. Having talented people increases the results and lifts the potential of the entire organization. When a leader finds and places talented people in the right places the investment can secure the business or organization for the future.

However, it does not stop there. A leader must invest effort and time in training and equipping their people. We must remember even the most talented people still need to have ongoing training and development in order to stay sharp and grow in relevant work skills.

When a leader invests in training they will begin to see an increase of positive results, work proficiency, and profits. This happens because when a leader cares and intentionally develops their workers, the workers will take care and retain customers or clients. Author John Maxwell says,

“Investing in a team almost guarantees a high return for the effort, because a team can do so much more than individuals.”

2. Being a “Vision Representative.” It is essential for a leader to represent and keep the organizational vision alive. This can be a challenge because vision leaks. That’s why a leader must represent the vision by always casting and reminding the people about the vision. It’s important to share the why and how of the vision so the people connect and see the purpose of it.

The vision is so crucial because it’s the driving force to moving your business or organization to greatness. The future of what you’re leading is greatly determined by keeping the vision on the minds of your people. When people know and buy into the vision they are more inclined to produce positive results. The President of the University of Notre Dame, Theodore Hesburgh said

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion.”

Be intentional in communicating the vision every chance you can.

Questions: Do you allow other tasks to interfere with time that should be spent on the two most important leadership functions? How can you make more time to focus on them?