To lead or not to lead..that's the question!

My original article on LinkedIn

Here’s my take on where the ‘leadership rubber hits the road’.

We don’t become leaders because of the VP or CEO job title or a place on the org chart. Call me old-fashioned, because I believe it is still ‘show and tell’. In my practice, very often leaders are skipping training sessions facilitated for their team because “..sorry, I have to be in a (another) budget meeting” or a friend told me this week “..our CEO is always ignoring us on the office floor, he acts like his job is more important than ours”.

My door is always open…

When I confront leaders with this, I get a response like “yes, I am aware of this and when I have time, I will spend more time with my team”. Well spending time with your team should not be an afterthought; it should be the number one priority. That is creating the right environment for people, your team to develop themselves. There is so much pain in organisations, in teams, simply because people managers are just absent. “My door is always open” is so last century. People know when they do step through that ‘open’ door it’s always just at an inconvenient time. Reactions I get from my audience at leadership programmes, when I talk about the value of the one-on-one interaction between manager/direct reports, are ranging from: “I wish I had some quality time with my boss” to “these meetings are always first to be cancelled by my boss”. Apart from team meetings, town halls and what have you, true leadership is displayed at the time a leader spent in regular one-on-one sessions. As only then you are able to truly explain direction, give development focused individual feedback and build trust with people.

So, my question to you is…

When was the last time you had that individual quality time with that superstar in your team or that beginner who is still struggling to find direction? Or if you are not leading people, what was the last time you invited that co-worker you believe is so hard to work with for a good conversation to find ways to better work together. Or..with your best friend, your partner, your spouse…when was the last time?

You get my drift…

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