Is there a leader at the helm?

Technology is the vehicle for the future, but people will continue to be behind the wheel in the driver’s seat.
But today more than ever, a company has to have the right people in leadership positions, said Lee Cockerell, the retired executive vice president of Walt Disney World Resort, Operations during Wednesday’s keynote address at the MESA Second Annual Plant to Enterprise Conference in Orlando, Fla.
What does Disney have to do with manufacturing? When it comes to leadership, it relates very well. Cockerell said the same principals hold true with any company. One of the base line ideas is to have the leaders of the company to continually stress the basics. “Teach people the basics. Don’t get bored with the basics. By continuously stressing the basic principals of the company, then you get more employee commitment,” he said. “Keep stressing a culture based on basics.”
One of the key ideas for leaders is to be sincere and to listen and react to workers.
“Never underestimate the importance you have on other people’s lives. People don’t care about you, they care about your position,” he said. “People will not commit to you until you commit to them.”
“You need total commitment from employees; you have to treat them properly. If you do that, they won’t run away,” Cockerell said.
If you want to improve your business, he said, then you have to focus on the people. He added there are four areas a company needs to achieve success.
Leadership has to come first, then the leaders create an environment for employee excellence, then comes customer satisfaction and if all that goes well, then you will get the business results.
It also doesn’t matter if you have three people reporting to you or 100, you have to set the proper tone for workers to achieve to goal.
“Even if your company is a mess, and you have five people reporting to you, it is up to you to create an environment allowing them to achieve the goals,” he said.
An interesting fact, Cockerell said, is workers often don’t know what the true goal of the company really is. “You have to make employees know what their purpose is,” he said.
People talk about leadership, but let’s face it, leaders are few and far between. Talk to me.