The Heart of Leadership

Embracing the spirit of Valentine’s Day – considered a day to celebrate romantic love – why not bring more heart into the workplace? As the world has seemingly shifted on its axis, so has the working world. Norms and expectations have changed among organizations, leaders, and team members. It’s a clear call for leaders to step up. Time for more heart?

The Challenge for Leaders

We live in a time of great volatility, fueled, in part, by politics having seeped into the workplace. A recent survey shows:

• Workplace conflict is rising: 91% have observed or experienced political clashes at work, and 81% say the workplace has become more tense
• Political discussions are becoming more frequent and heated: 72% say they’ve increased, and 75% say they’ve become more intense
• Political divisions are affecting workplace relationships: 51% actively avoid collaborating with coworkers with opposing views
• Many employees want restrictions on political discussions: 92% support policies to limit political talk at work.

What Can Leaders Do?

Here are five “tried and true” tips that worked for me while in senior leadership roles and have been successfully shared with those I work with today. Not all may work out well or comfortably for everyone. As I frequently say at the outset of a coaching assignment, “Think of these suggestions as if I were taking you shopping and picking out five work outfits you would never wear. Try them on. You may not like two of them, yet the three others feel good, and one of the three makes you feel spectacular. Buy them.” Equally, try on all five of these tips, and embrace those that work for you.

Five Tried and True Leadership Tips in These Turbulent Times:

All the tips are driven by compassion, the requirement to create a safe workplace for the team, and are focused on the team over the leader.

• Listening and Asking (vs. Telling) Is Still a Leadership Superpower

  • Adopt the habit of speaking last in a team meeting
  • Encourage others to build on the ideas of their colleagues; to raise potential pitfalls, ask someone to play the Devil’s advocate
  • When a team member looks out of sorts, ask them how they are doing, how you might help them, and explain how you will – or will not – deliver the request and why.

• Regularly Give and Ask for Feedback: Embrace the Two-for-One Rule

  • Give two positives for every negative.  Example: “I really appreciate your volunteering to take this assignment on, and for delivering on the date we agreed.” “I didn’t see where you answered the question I thought I posed. Maybe I didn’t explain it well. Here goes again. To make sure I was clear, repeat to me what I want you to do.”
  • Focus on “acts, facts, and conduct,” avoid “conclusions, opinions, assumptions, and attributing motivation to others.” See the example above.
  • Seek feedback from others. Example: “Time for you to give me some feedback. I must have been unclear when I gave you the assignment. Tell me what I could have done better.”

• Be Strategic: What Is the Goal the Leader Is Going After?

  • Adopt the second of Stephen Covey’s 7 habits, “Begin with the end in mind.” Determine what the aim is, then craft the message accordingly. Since the goal is (hopefully) never to anger the recipient, the leader should focus on how to deliver the message that will be understood, prompting the action the leader wants. Example: When giving constructive feedback, deliver it in a way that will lead to dialogue and a change in conduct, such as, “I know we’ve been a little lax on work hours, and I apologize for that. However, it’s critical that as the receptionist, you arrive at 8:00 am. I recall having asked you in the interview if there was anything that would prevent you from being here at 8:00 am, and explained why the start was important. You said nothing would prevent you from doing so. Should you be tardy again, I will follow the company’s progressive discipline policy.”

• Engage in Conflict Management vs. Conflict Resolution

  • Conflicts that are fact-based can be resolved. Example: The policy is that only one employee can take a vacation at a time. Kaylie and Josh both asked for the same dates; Josh was first, so he got the days requested.
  • Conflicts that are values-based cannot be resolved; however, they can be managed. Political differences are values-based. Thus, leaders should adopt a conflict management process. The one I like: identify the issue; discover what the differences are; agree to disagree on the matter; and then find areas of agreement. Example: Gun safety. Some believe that gun ownership provides the ability to hunt and personal safety; others believe the proliferation of guns leads to more deaths and homicides. They agree to disagree; yet they both agree that guns should be registered, only those 18 or older should be allowed to own them, and individuals convicted of felonies should be prohibited from owning them.

• Avoidance Is Not a Strategy: Leaders Must Step Up and Facilitate Solutions

  • Whether these tips are helpful, leaders should adopt processes and communicate in ways that facilitate safety, compassion, and heart!

 

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay