No doubt about it: 2009 has definitely been a tough year. You need to turn things around, and that means making some big changes in the very near future. Problem is you're not sure what they are. A new improvement initiative? A hot new product? A new executive team? How about making 2010 the year you focus on leadership, not leaders.

“Solid business results that stand the test of time do so for one reason and one reason only: consistently excellent leadership,” insists Quint Studer, author of the new book Straight A Leadership: Alignment, Action, Accountability. “Products and services change with the demands of the market. Individual leaders come and go. The key is to create an organizational culture that ensures great leadership today and tomorrow.”

In other words, you need a long-term fix, not a magic bullet or a trendy program du jour or a charismatic leader. You need a culture built on good, solid, time-tested leadership principles. Consider instituting proven across-the-board behaviors that don't depend on particular individuals. The tried and true “best practices” Studer collectively calls evidence-based leadership, enables companies of all types to create results that last.

These practices are not complicated. They're simple, commonsense tactics that leaders can get their hands around and start doing right away.

• Get rid of low performers. Now. Yes, despite the layoff ax so many companies have wielded during the past year, low performers still work inside many organizations. And they are causing big problems. Let's say your employee Carol consistently comes in late, gets “headaches” every other (non-payday) Friday, and spends more time cheerily chatting up coworkers than she does working. Others will notice, and they will be resentful. But worse than merely causing contention in the ranks, turning a blind eye to the “Carols” in your organization squelches profitability. Why? Because middle performers get pulled down to the low-performer level, while high performers either a) disengage or b) leave.

• Accentuate the positive. The next time you're having lunch in a restaurant listen in on the conversations at nearby tables. Chances are you'll hear people griping about their workloads, difficult clients, annoying coworkers, or the ridiculousness of corporate policy. Everyone does it, but if they realized how harmful it is to their company, perhaps they'd think twice. The solution, says Studer, is to hone the fine art of managing up.

“Managing up means positioning your people, products, or company in a positive light,” Studer says. “Help employees understand what can happen when negativity is allowed to breed — good people quit and customers leave — and they'll be more likely to stop doing it.”

• Make a real connection with employees, every day. Studer is a big proponent of what he calls “rounding for outcomes.” Rounding helps you communicate openly with your employees, allowing you to regularly find out what is going well and what isn't going well for them at the company. But remember it is not just empty “face time”— it's rounding for outcomes, which means the process has a serious purpose.

• Say thanks. In fact, put it in writing. Studer is a big advocate of sending thank-you notes to employees who do an excellent job. But that doesn't mean just sending the occasional note when someone goes far above the call of duty. It means literally mandating a specific number of thank-you notes for leaders to send to the people they supervise. The best thank-you notes are:

* Specific, not general. A thank-you note that focuses on something specific the recipient has done is far more effective than one that reads, “Hey, nice job!”

* Handwritten, if possible. Most people would rather receive a three-sentence handwritten note than a two-page typed letter. It's more authentic and special.

* Sent to the employee's home. When an employee receives a thank-you note at home, it feels more personal than one put on her desk along with a stack of reports and memos.

• Don't just recruit great employees. Re-recruit them. If you plan to hire in 2010 — and as the recovery (hopefully) picks up steam, many will — here's a relatively easy step you can take that will pay off in a big way. We all know employee turnover is expensive. But did you know that more than 25 percent of employees who leave positions do so in the first 90 days of employment? To retain a new team member, the leader needs to build a relationship. Studer Group has found that scheduling two one-on-one meetings, the first at 30 days and the second at 90 days, has an enormous impact on retention that directly turns into savings for your organization.

Once you start implementing these tactics, results quickly follow. Your employees will see that you care about them, which boosts morale, which improves performance, which leads to happier customers, which leads to higher profits. Creating satisfied employees is of critical importance, especially right now.

“When things aren't going so well, a lot of leaders panic and start doing things that make employees less satisfied,” Studer notes. “Don't make that mistake. Your leaders' job is to create happy, loyal, productive employees. They, in turn, will create happy, loyal, profitable customers. They are two sides of the same coin, and that coin is the currency that buys you results that last.”

Quint Studer formed Studer Group®, an outcomes firm that implements evidence-based leadership systems that help clients attain and sustain outstanding results. For more information, visit www.studergroup.com.