
Let’s cut the excuses. If your team isn’t hitting targets, it’s not because they’re lazy, incompetent, or uncommitted. It’s because you haven’t done your job as a leader.
Think that’s too harsh? Then you’re probably part of the problem.
Most managers think they’re clear communicators. They’re wrong. Sharing the strategy once a quarter and sending an email doesn’t count. Your team can’t execute a vision they don’t fully understand.
Here’s the hard truth: your people want to do their jobs well. They want to succeed. They want to be part of a winning team.
If they aren’t delivering, they’re either confused about what you want or blocked by obstacles you haven’t addressed.
Managers Talk; Leaders Do
One of my predecessors prided himself on his bold vision for the company. He had strategy documents, colourful graphs, and a catchy slogan. But his team? Lost.
And we’re not even considering the vision was impossible, and he used management jargon in an apparent effort to sound knowledgeable.
Many managers think all they need to do is devise a daring and futuristic target to motivate people and ‘get out of the team’s way’ to lead their company to success. They don’t share the strategy’s ‘how’ and ‘what’.
Needless to say, the organisation was stationary, and the operational results – safety, quality, and margin – all were at the bottom compared to similar companies in the industry.
This wasn’t a lazy team—it was an ignored team. The manager was living in his PowerPoint bubble while the factory burned cash.
Lesson one: Get off your chair. Spend time where the work happens.
Lesson two: Stop assuming your team understands your fancy strategy. If you don’t personally explain it to them every month and in different settings, they don’t.
How to Lead Like You Mean It
Real leadership means more than barking orders from the largest office in the building. It’s about embedding your vision into every layer of the organisation, making execution part of the day-to-day.
Here’s what most managers miss:
Repeat Yourself Until It Hurts
Think you’ve said it enough? Say it ten more times. People don’t absorb strategy after hearing it once. Repetition isn’t annoying; it’s necessary. Use every platform—team meetings, emails, shop floor chats, even the lunchroom—to reinforce your message.
You need to communicate the objectives at least every month, without fail.
Stop Giving Dumb Orders
Here’s something no one talks about: your instructions might be bad. Ever ask your team to “be more efficient” without explaining how? That’s not leadership; it’s noise. Replace vague directives with clear, actionable steps.
Kill the Blockers
Your people aren’t machines. They’re navigating poorly designed systems, broken tools, and unclear processes. Leaders hunt these obstacles and eliminate them. You’re just in their way if you’re not actively fixing things for your team.
Here’s a model that I use to check my communication’s efficacy:
Employees need to know where the company is going. They must know and understand the direction, vision, mission and strategy.
The team must understand why this is important for the company. What happens when the strategy fails? However, understanding is not enough; they must support the direction. Clear and frequent conversation about the ambitions helps attract and select the right staff, while uncommitted people will leave on their initiative.
The people must understand how they should contribute; the management team sets the pace and aligns the initiatives across the departments.
Lastly, everyone wants to understand how success benefits them. No one is motivated by enriching the boss; they are also looking to enhance their lives. Benefits are more than bonuses and pay raises; you can reward staff in many ways, such as promotions, paying for courses so they can upskill themselves, and social gatherings, to name a few options.
Coming back to the title of this section. Many managers genuinely
Tips You’ve Never Heard Before
You’ve probably read the usual advice about vision and communication. Let’s take it further.
Burn the Job Descriptions
Yes, you heard me. Job descriptions often limit creativity and ownership. Instead of rigid roles, encourage your team to focus on outcomes. A machinist doesn’t just “run a machine”; they’re part of a team delivering defect-free products.
Hold Strategy Karaoke
Force your managers to explain the strategy to their teams—in their own words. Then, audit their effectiveness by asking employees what they heard. You’ll quickly discover who’s just reciting buzzwords and who’s making an impact.
When communicating, speak the language of the people you address. It is your failure if people don’t understand.
Run a “Dumbest Questions” Session
Most employees won’t admit they don’t understand your strategy. Create a safe space by asking them to share what they think are “dumb” questions. You’ll uncover massive gaps in understanding—and fix them on the spot.
Pay Attention to Silence
If your team isn’t asking questions or pushing back, they’re disengaged. Silence isn’t compliance; it’s apathy. A leader’s job is to provoke dialogue, not preach to an audience.
Manufacturing Excellence: It’s Not About Tools
In manufacturing, poor leadership isn’t just costly—it’s catastrophic. Lean initiatives, continuous improvement programs, and cost-reduction strategies all fail without leadership.
It seems straightforward and obvious to ask employees to cut costs if profitability is an issue, and, let’s face it, every company strives to sell more and increase their earnings even more. Almost every company I have entered has adopted this approach because it seems to make sense to focus on costs to improve margins.
The typical result?
Workers cut corners, creating safety risks.
Teams replace materials with cheaper alternatives, leading to quality defects.
Managers bicker over who is paying unavoidable expenses, effectively increasing the costs.
Morale plummets as employees feel unsupported and blamed.
It wasn’t until we introduced consistent coaching, daily huddles, and actionable metrics that things turned around. My clients see the first results of better leadership within a few months, although the improved bottom line takes longer.
The Hardest Question You’ll Ever Ask Yourself
If your team isn’t delivering, ask this: What have I done to make them fail?
That’s leadership. Taking ownership, confronting the brutal facts of your own performance before blaming others.
Leadership isn’t just a role—it’s a responsibility. You’re there to create clarity, remove barriers, and guide your team to success. If you’re not doing that, you’re just a manager with a title.
In fact, if you think your employees work for you, you need to reverse that belief first. Leaders prepare the environment so their team can succeed. As such, leaders work FOR their teams.
Want Real Change?
If this hit a nerve, good. It’s time to stop blaming your team and start leading them.
At ZingURbiz, we’ve seen what happens when leaders step up. Teams transform. Margins grow. Businesses thrive.
Want to see it for yourself? Let’s talk. Visit ZingURbiz’s homepage and book a call to explore leadership strategies that actually work.
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