Life’s Good – Three Things I Could Say To A Great Leader
Having a great leader to work with, can be far more valuable than a larger cheque or another perk at work. Experiencing a challenging, inspirational, and safe work environment, usually leads to a connected, happy, and yes, productive employee. Today more than ever, it is so important for employees to: Feel like they are connected to the purpose of the organization, Be able to relate to the work that’s being done by the organization and, Feel that the organization is connected with them specifically. A great leader makes all of the difference in the delivery of these important elements.
I have been quite fortunate throughout my career, to work with a number of such leaders. I learned a lot from those I’ve called a great Boss, and even more about me. I believe that developing a great working relationship with your boss, begins with accepting a simple premise. I like to sum up that premise by embracing this approach: “I accept 100% of the responsibility for my 50% of our relationship“. As a sidenote, I’ll mention that this is an approach that will provide a meaningful relationship and effective outcome in most relationships. I would also like to acknowledge that, the value of this notion, and the significance in the workplace, became most apparent to me, while working in franchised and Associate Dealer based businesses. I’ll discuss this further in a future article on relationships.
The importance of being 100% responsible for my 50% of the relationship, cannot be overstated. As a leader, and team member, I believe that it is my responsibility to demonstrate qualities including, courage, vision, and authenticity at levels that I hope to see from the individuals and groups that I’m fortunate enough to lead; And I hope they mirror the qualities from my leaders. I use the trait courage in this example specifically the great leaders that I have worked for had a few things in common. Chief among them, their courageous style of leadership.
There were even more similarities. In my experience, each leader tended, in varying frequency, to exabit one or two of the following examples:
- They consistently sought the input and thoughts from those they lead, on current matters. As a result, they would frequently ask for 10 – 20-minute chats during: A daily office pop in, or a daily phone call or joining locations (Branch, Store or Office) tour at the last minute, or show up unannounced at a meeting.
- They rarely if ever missed the opportunity to enthusiastically share, their thoughts on important innovation or directional adjustments, especially after attending conferences or retreats; And I can’t emphasize enough, when sharing these thoughts, on what they would like to do differently, they’d want to start the new items right away.
- From time to time, their availability would disappear. Short responses to email messages often included phrases like: “Do what’s best”, or “I trust your decisions/judgment” etc. They would become very busy and very focussed on their agenda, and/or priorities, with little time for team members or anything else that wasn’t part of their agenda.
Please make no mistake; I feel that these are terrific attributes to be sure. Even as I write about the attributes, I remember with fondness those great leaders and their preferences. The focus on their agendas, provided stability and consistency. Constantly looking for innovative tools and tactics helped the organizations we were in to anticipate changes in the marketplace and be ready for them and, of course, the enthusiasm they brought could be quite inspiring.
Ok. So, I have a leader that enthusiastically shares new initiatives, considers them a top priority, and wants to get started right away. A leader who wants to be involved and says things like, “I trust your judgment”. How does being my being 100% responsible for my 50% of the relationship possibly help? In order to help to get the best possible outcomes and avoid some of the less desirable circumstances, being 100% responsible for 50% of the relationship meant having to ask a question. One, sometimes two of three questions to be exact; And in the spirit of transparency, three tough questions. These questions get easier to ask as a relationship becomes stronger. However, they may not ever become completely easily asked questions and, usually start out as, pretty difficult questions to ask. So, without further ado, here are the three questions I feel were important to the relationship with the great leaders. Each has an intention or message that, you might want to be able to deliver to your leader, or equally important; want your team members to be able to deliver to you. In no particular order they are:
- Can I ask you to give me (or give my team and I) some space? The underlying message here is, I don’t want you in my office [or my territory, or my region, or in my meetings] every day. I could use a break from you. I appreciate all of your questions and thoughts but, sometimes I just need a break.
- Ok, I really love your ideas but, which current matters will I move from the priority list? The message here is: I really love your ideas but, I wonder if we must start all of them right away.? Can we arrange to meet and review all of the ideas? Establish a priority list which ones we will start on right now. Which ones will start on later and which ones we may never get to. From there we can arrange to meet once a month or once a quarter, and review the status/progress of all of the ideas
- Can I please have your attention for … (a 30-minute meeting, 10 minutes etc.) The message here is: I realize that when you say, “I don’t need to meet with you” or “I don’t need to know that”, this comes from trust, and often times your own workload and priorities but, I need time from you. I need time to ask you questions. I’m not asking questions because I’m trying to debate with you; I’m trying to catch up with or get aligned with you. I’m asking these questions so that I can deliver (the results or the project or the assignment, back) to you.
As I became aware of the responsibly of owning 100% of my half of a relationship, I also began to become more aware of the vast learning opportunity. I began a journey that continues today. Of the learnings I have experienced I can safely say that this journey is a solo effort. That is to say that each of us will deliver our 100% in our own manner. Take for instance the three things I could say to a great leader. While I believe that situations and sentiments may be familiar to many, how the statements or questions that I’ve mentioned are scripted and delivered will be much different from person to person. How relationships are built, how trust is formed, or a personal brand is developed, are custom built for each of us. Sure, there are common courtesies, cultural customs house rules and company policies that govern; But your traits and style are yours. They’re with-in you and in varying degrees have emerged. They’re also ready to grow and form the person, the leader and teammate that you aspire to be.
“If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.” – Thomas Jefferson