In today’s politically correct business world, too many leaders are more concerned about not offending their employees than they are about helping them grow.

One of the biggest issues keeping teams from achieving greater success is a leader’s fear of mandating the activities and behaviors necessary to win.

Somewhere along the way, mandate became a bad word.

Leaders are told to empower people, give them autonomy, trust them, and avoid micromanaging them. But none of those things eliminate a leader’s responsibility to establish standards and hold people accountable to those standards.

Let’s be clear about one important distinction: Don’t mandate out of power. Mandate out of importance.

If a leader coaches their employees, it’s not because they want to prove they’re the boss. They mandate coaching because they believe it’s critical to the success of that employee.

If weekly practice meetings are mandated, it’s because teams that practice together perform better together.

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