The quality of leadership is often the deciding factor between healthy or dysfunctional corporate cultures. When effective leadership is exercised, organizations leverage the very best performance from their people. This significantly increases their chances for gaining market advantage and maximizing profitability. We can usually spot ineffective leadership by observing a brief interaction between the leader and a team member. The short video below demonstrates precisely what I am talking about.
I made this little video to help us to be reminded of how important our language is in winning team performance. Effective leadership really boils down to adopting some very simple communication behaviors:
- Try not to let your frustration show. It is not only a sign of weakness but it often telegraphs your lack of confidence or control.
- Refrain from making judgments about your team members’ liabilities. As leaders it is our job to encourage them to reach for a higher level of performance not become fixated on their mistakes.
- As my good friend Dr. Mitchell Perry would say, “Speak in the language of inclusion.” That means we should be talking about what they can or should be doing rather than focus on what they are NOT doing.
- Be aware of your facial expressions and body language. Words only account for just 7% of the meaning in our communication. Far more critical is our tone of voice, non-verbal cues and facial communication.
- Ask plenty of open-ended questions and LISTEN for what your people are REALLY trying to say.
- Assume that your people can and WILL perform above your expectations rather will assuming they cannot.
- Be willing to invest time with your people helping them through difficult situations or projects.
I hope this has been helpful to you in your quest for a higher level of leadership. I am interested in your ideas. Please give some feedback and I will share with all of our readers.