Sarina Russo’s 20 Rules of Leadership

Sarina Russo is one of Australia's leading entrepreneurs and has built a group of companies specialising in education, training, recruitment and job creation.

Here are her 20 Rules of Leadership:

Rule One

Make sure there’s direction and certainty and then foster a feeling of there’s something in it for me throughout the organisation, whether you’re a manager or employee.

Rule Two

The leader must determine the urgency and speed. I think the speed of the leader determines the speed of the gang.

Rule Three

Be the image-maker. Develop a presence. To be a leader you should look like a leader in your dress and in your demeanour through the working day.

Rule Four

Be a clear and strong communicator. Once a week I send out an email to all my staff, titled From Sarina’s Desk, and I tell them about some activity or event that I have been involved in.

Rule Five

Safeguard your health and fitness. As a leader you have to find a way to give yourself some relief from the many unavoidable stresses that are part and parcel of the pressure cooker world we live in and the weight you carry in being a leader.

Rule Six

Stay level-headed in difficult situations. As a leader you cannot, must not, transfer your stress to others.

Rule Seven

Spread the load and delegate. If you’re feeling challenged, I think it’s really important to share that challenge with your management team and ask for help.

Rule Eight

Keep looking and listening to the ‘buzz’ of your business so that you are constantly monitoring its health.

Rule Nine

Don’t fight change. Use it. It’s important that you understand that business changes, that the needs of people, the consumers, vary and people want more or want to be inspired and stimulated by your environment.

Rule Ten

Reward performance unstintingly. Provide an incentive scheme or profit sharing so that your people find there is room for them to make money and secure themselves financially.

Rule Eleven

Celebrate your progress. It’s a great boost for them to feel that the boss really values them and also wants them to share the success of the year that has passed.

Rule Twelve

Build relationships. As a CEO you must network with your staff.

Rule Thirteen

Don’t age-group yourself. Interact with young people and be ‘with it’ by immersing yourself in events that excite you and stimulate you and by surrounding yourself with people who are ‘groovy’.

Rule Fourteen

Be good to yourself, reward yourself.

Rule Fifteen

Be smart about banking. Develop a relationship with your Bank Manager beyond the phone call and the business meeting. Always have a second banker because one may go along with you for a while and then have a change of policy that cuts you out.  It’s best to borrow money when you don’t need it because it’s always easier to get.

Rule Sixteen

Look for milestones to mark your achievements. Let them be monuments to your efforts. The greatest thing for me was buying my first high-rise building because it put us on the map and marked our success in creating the Sarina Russo Schools | Australia.

Rule Seventeen

It’s really important to have a balanced life, which means having interests and friendships outside the business.

Rule Eighteen

Take joy in continuing to lead in a direction where everyone’s going to gain – not only your customers but also your internal people.

Rule Nineteen

Don’t let you or your staff run out of challenges. And unless you grow, that is exactly what will happen.

Rule Twenty

Look beyond the immediate horizon. Constantly challenge yourself in expanding yourself in expanding your skills.