Leading effectively often requires reducing the gap between the leader and the team
As humans, we see things differently, and that is why we sometimes act or react negatively. For instance, someone may see things as either black or white, while others may see it as neither black nor white. This difference in the way we see things affects the way we set deadlines, goals, and carry out our activities. Leaders often subject their teams to almost impossible tasks by setting unreasonable deadlines motivated by their ambitions or excitement.
Sometimes, you picture a more excellent vision in your head, and the timeline you allocate for the tasks fit perfectly into your plan. The problem, however, is that your team members do not know about the other ideas that lurk in your brain. Hence, they find you impossible to please, and the tasks, highly demanding. At other times, you may be acting in fear, perhaps you are afraid that you cannot lead. This emotion sometimes drives you as a leader to either think less of yourself or think too highly of yourself. It is not a good thing to live or lead in fear. A leader should be driven by courage and faith.
The team should have a shared understanding of all the work to be done. This understanding is achieved via effective communication processes. For example, the leadership team that works with Brené decided that each person needs to take down notes during meetings and also work together on estimating deadlines. When they did this, they were able to communicate effectively and see where others needed help.
There is a pattern that often surfaces in organizations. It is a type of binary thinking which is dangerous because it does not maximize people’s full potential. Examples of such binary thinking include:
• operations versus marketing;
• finance versus creative;
• spenders versus the savers;
• the hearts versus the analytics;
• the dreamers versus the stick-in-the-mud.
When we tag people with stereotypes or with just one quality, it limits their ability to explore and expand.
A person seen as the reality checker may never get the opportunity to take chances and risks. There is a need for balance, that is, the ability to be one thing without losing sight of the possibility of having another quality.
Examine yourself to see where you fall short and ask yourself: “What is my part?”
As humans, we see things differently, and that is why we sometimes act or react negatively. For instance, someone may see things as either black or white, while others may see it as neither black nor white. This difference in the way we see things affects the way we set deadlines, goals, and carry out our activities. Leaders often subject their teams to almost impossible tasks by setting unreasonable deadlines motivated by their ambitions or excitement.
Sometimes, you picture a more excellent vision in your head, and the timeline you allocate for the tasks fit perfectly into your plan. The problem, however, is that your team members do not know about the other ideas that lurk in your brain. Hence, they find you impossible to please, and the tasks, highly demanding. At other times, you may be acting in fear, perhaps you are afraid that you cannot lead. This emotion sometimes drives you as a leader to either think less of yourself or think too highly of yourself. It is not a good thing to live or lead in fear. A leader should be driven by courage and faith.
The team should have a shared understanding of all the work to be done. This understanding is achieved via effective communication processes. For example, the leadership team that works with Brené decided that each person needs to take down notes during meetings and also work together on estimating deadlines. When they did this, they were able to communicate effectively and see where others needed help.
There is a pattern that often surfaces in organizations. It is a type of binary thinking which is dangerous because it does not maximize people’s full potential. Examples of such binary thinking include:
• operations versus marketing;
• finance versus creative;
• spenders versus the savers;
• the hearts versus the analytics;
• the dreamers versus the stick-in-the-mud.
When we tag people with stereotypes or with just one quality, it limits their ability to explore and expand.
A person seen as the reality checker may never get the opportunity to take chances and risks. There is a need for balance, that is, the ability to be one thing without losing sight of the possibility of having another quality.
Examine yourself to see where you fall short and ask yourself: “What is my part?”
