The Rules of Management, 4th Edition

RULE 95

Show that you’ll fight to the death for your team

Your team is your tool for getting the job done – whatever it happens to be. Without your team – and that can be one lone person or thousands of people – you are nothing. Without your team you are an empty page waiting to be written – or typed. You must support your team, praise it, fight for it – to the death if need be. The brilliant manager – we don’t need to say who that is by now, do we? – generates loyalty and respect by being the team cheerleader – that’s you, that is.

You have to make people in your team see that you are not only their mentor, leader, guardian and protector but also their champion, their hero, their defender. If anyone tries to criticize them you will rise to ...