Leader as Coach

Part of your role is to educate and train the next generation. Try to avoid telling only part of a story to your team. Always put them in your own position, gathering and facing all the countervailing evidence; the personalities, power based conflicts, statistics, documentation, strategies, tactics or market trends. Make sure they know that they are able to sway outcomes if they are intelligent enough with their arguments. Summarise. Announce your decision. Minute their support.

Imperative:always ensure that they accept that, at their level in an organisation, they are committed to cabinet responsibility. Once a decision has been made, they are there to implement and defend it until further notice. Woe to any of them that counsels staff against the decisions of cabinet!