Free StandOut by Marcus Buckingham Page A

preferences—to determine right from wrong. The trusted advisor, the objective leader, the balanced analyst, these are all rare and valued roles that you are very well equipped to play.
     
• Develop your skills as a mediator . You have natural talent in this area, but to become a master at it will take time, practice, and, more than likely, education. There are professional mediation qualifications you can acquire, skills that will help you know how to move others off the rock of their opinion and find a place of common ground. Armed with these skills you will find yourself better able to navigate through even the most dug-in positions.
     

What to Watch Out For
     
• When you say you want people to be treated fairly, what exactly do you mean ? We, your colleagues, need to know. Do you mean that everyone should be treated exactly the same? Or do you mean that each person should be treated as they deserve to be treated, bearing in mind who they are and what they have accomplished for the organization? Clearly, these are very different definitions of fairness. Which is yours?
     
• Be sure to apply your methodical approach to your own physical space . You tend to think best when you have some order around you. Take this seriously. You will have better ideas and be more productive and resilient when you sense that your world—and the stuff in your world—is in its rightful place.
     
• Keep your focus on performance . Occasionally your sense of fairness might lead you to overemphasize how someone gets work done and to ignore what he or she gets done.
     
• Make a list of the rules of fairness by which you can live . These rules might be based upon certain values that you have or upon certain policies that you consider non-negotiables within your organization. Counterintuitively, the clearer you are about these rules, the more comfortable you will be with granting exceptions within these boundaries. If these rules or values are not explicit, people are left having to infer the grid you are using to make your judgments. This can make you appear arbitrary in your judgments—even if you aren’t.
     

How to Win As a Leader
     
    Equalizer : Your strength is the structure you bring us. We need a foundation, a grid, a framework within which to create. We turn to you for guidance.
• We trust you to do the right thing. You are so transparent about this value that it gives us confidence that we’re aligned behind an ethical and forthright individual. You do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it. We love this about you. Protect this reputation above all else.
     
• Life moves so quickly that we can get lost. We rely on you to tell us what you are certain of, what we can rely on. Your discipline is the catalyst for our creativity, our experiments in how to go above and beyond what the client or our colleagues expect.
     
• Pay attention to the team’s energy. If you can’t get a sense for it, find a trusted partner to help you gauge it. Sometimes you miss important clues about how we feel because you’re so focused on direction or process. Create a team-member panel to allow direct interaction with a group of frontliners. This is a great opportunity for us to share what it really feels like here. Be sure to keep it casual and we’ll open right up.
     
• Show us your personality. We sometimes feel we don’t really know you. Take the time to tell personal stories and we’ll feel more connected. You don’t have to be the entertainer at the front of the room, just look for opportunities to make personal connections as you walk the office or share our successes.
     
• Ensure we’re prepared. Clearly articulate the what, how, and why of quality and the steps we need to take to maximize it. Create opportunities for us to practice activities that might be expected of us. That way, when it comes time to measure the quality of our work, we won’t fear this event; we will look forward