As a leader in the mortgage industry, you've probably interviewed your fair share of job candidates. Chances are, you've played a major role in building the team you are currently managing. You know what to look for in a good candidate ... and what to stay away from in a bad one. In all likelihood, you've spent a great deal of time figuring out what makes a qualified employee. But have you ever thought about it from the other end of the spectrum? If your employees were interviewing candidates to lead them, what would they be looking for in a qualified leader?
There are many ways to gauge the effectiveness of a leader. You could look at the leader's public image—how many prominent community connections he or she has. You could look at it from a purely economic standpoint—and only consider the revenue and profits of the business. But, if you ask me, the single most meaningful way to gauge the effectiveness of a leader is to ask the people that are being led. The greatest leaders are those who are thought most highly of by their own teams.
When was the last time you asked your employees what they thought of you? When was the last time you set down with your team, and they were the ones asking you the questions? It can be in an open forum or in an anonymous survey—whatever works for your organization. But, the bottom line is that if you aren't getting feedback from your team on what kind of leader you are, you can't really know for sure. So, what do you think—would your employees hire you?
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].
