When employees don’t get the necessary information to perform their jobs, including asnwers to the fundamental four questsions, they tend to “fill in the blanks” with their own assumptions, and their assumptions are often worst-case scenarios. This is not necessarily a reflection of the leader. It’s our natural human insecurity. We often assume the worst in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Lack of information and unanswered questions can start the silence spiral:
In an age when much more is being written than spoken, appreciation for the tone of the written word is being lost. For example, a typical cryptic text or email relies on emojis to communicate a serious, sarcastic or playful tone.
We tend to think of consequences with respect to the short term – the immediate impact of our performance (positive or negative). That’s the easy part of defining specific consequences. But it still leaves a lot to the imagination.
As the circle of consequences below illustrates, we need to help employees see and understand the longer term, the downstream impact of their performances on team results, on the organization, on customers, on shareholders, and ultimately how that effects themselves.
A business that delivers reliable results is a sum of reliable teams, and reliable teams are the sum of reliable individuals. So, building reliable business results really starts with a leader coaching each team member to deliver reliable individual results. Leadership is an inside job. It starts inside with your personal leadership, traits like integrity, trust, competence, authenticity, all of which are aspects of personal reliability.
Winning leaders are accessible and authentic. That formula for leadership success has not changed in 25 years. Here are some current examples and steps you can take to step up your leadership game.
You have the power to change the world – the world of those on your team. Try one of these power-packed, three-word phrases that great leaders use.
Some people literally change the world, like Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin, and Steve Jobs.
Although it's an ambitious goal to change the world, you might underestimate your singular power to change the world of those around you. You don't have to be Oprah giving away new cars to positively change someone's world. You have that same power. You don't even have to do anything! You only have to say three simple words.
Try one of these three-word, power-packed statements to change someone's world today:
