Zach Sandler's Leadership Philosophy

Zach Sandler's Leadership Philosophy

Be unique and Original

People will feel more confident in your abilities. Being unique is not very hard, all you need to do is be yourself. Don't try and act super professional and boring if that's simply not you. Of course be appropriate as a leader, but try and have an edge that sets you apart from other leaders.

Connect to your followers

Show them you are one of them, respect will follow. This is the key to gaining respect and establishing a productive group of followers. Most of the time your age difference is not substantial at all, so it can be very hard to gain respect as an authority figure. Acting as a friend and not a dictator can really help. Be friends with your followers, know their lives outside of work (to an appropriate extent).

Think Win-Win

Make every task 100% beneficial, no matter the outcome. Think about all possible outcomes and if there's a way you can fail but still receive benefit. The best type of projects can go in multiple directions and no matter what they are beneficial. This can also just be a way of thinking. If an employee messes up an assignment, instead of reprimanding them, you can sit down and talk about how it has been a learning experience and how they know what to do in order to improve for next time.

Begin with the end in mind

Always have a goal, work to achieve this goal. Whenever assigning something to yourself or to an employee, as discussed above, think about it in the long run. Think to yourself what you want to get out of the task and make it clear in writing. Make sure employees know the goal, so they can plan beneficially to achieve this goal.

Organization

This is key in order to meet deadlines. Make sure you set up a system that works for you. You should feel comfortable with however you decide to organize and more importantly you should be able to keep up with it. That means if you decide to plan out every hour of each day, you can't just skip planning random hours because you were lazy. I personally use Google Calendar in sync with iCal. This gives you the ability to share your calendar with others on-line.

Employee Motivation

Celebrate accomplishments, show you are proud. Make sure your followers are motivated to continue their good work. Lets say you just got back from presenting at a large convention full of investors in your business, celebrate upon return. This will show the extrinsic value of working hard and will spark intrinsic motivation.

Interview Efficiently

Really get to know them as a person, not employee. Be unique and find the inner leader. Try and ask them questions that will force them to think critically. Ask the required questions you need to know in order to fill the position, but also go above and beyond. Make them feel welcome and let them know you care about who they are as a person just as much as their work experience. 

Picture Sources:

• https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3-p.animoto.com/Image/t3pN50qfUmtUwJPdJilPkQ/l.jpg
• https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTTGvMiFXIkGsUnXy_5RH6XmYH9JBXd_OtLvCjrJp5rxu25iMO4
• http://www.bulkka.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/job-interview-cartoon-funny.jpg
• http-//www.game-changer.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Strategic-Thinking
• https-//encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn-ANd9GcQHHXiUID_ufd6ExY4QDLJsLlnbUF0dipUf4_WbbyClZGPjf4IR1w
• http://www.clker.com/cliparts/T/E/j/o/5/y/man-push-md.png