75 Ways for Managers to Hire, Develop, and Keep Great Employees

3The Importance of the Written Record

EVERY EFFECTIVE LEADER in corporate America must be a master of the written record. While documenting someone’s achievements and accomplishments is an important part of visionary leadership, the importance of documentation is typically found on the defensive side of the leadership equation; simply put, you have to know how to document problematic performance and conduct to protect your company and yourself from unwanted liability. So the discussion in this chapter focuses on how to document critical issues that hinder performance or give rise to lawsuits. Presumably, you already know how to motivate, recognize, and reward your employees by documenting their achievements, so there’s not much need to discuss ...