Our little boy loves playing with
his Dad. It’s different to playing with Mum. Sometimes it’s faster, more
exciting, louder. Is it better? At times, we guess it is. Sometimes Mum’s way
is best.
We’ve watched with interest as a Dad at our local play ground does the exact
same exercise with his little boy that his Mum does. Only where Mum swishes the
little boy side to side in a rhythmic calm fashion, Dad swooshes fast left –
right – left suddenly. The little by calmly enjoys Mum’s interaction and
giggles with glee at Dad’s.
As business coaches working inside businesses every day we’ve seen the same
thing with staff in their work environments responding differently to each
different leader.
Some interact as friends, others as confidants, others are the go to person
when something needs fixing, others are the expert in different areas, others
are feared (slightly!) and some are respected more or less on different topics.
Everyone has their own leadership style. Both of ours have certainly evolved
over the years and are completely different to the 21 year old versions of us
when we were both so desperate to prove that we were old enough and experienced
enough to lead.
Interestingly, there are people who are leaders in our clients workplaces who
aren’t business owners. They’re leaders
because of the open and honest way they communicate. They’re leaders because of their knowledge.
They’re leaders because their opinion is respected.
What’s your leadership style? More importantly- what do you wish your
leadership style was?
Pick a few words from this list that you wish people through about when they
considered you as a leader:
Accountable, Dependable, Ethical, Moral, Honest, Trustworthy, Respected,
Knowledgeable, Helpful, Compassionate, Caring, Experienced, Wise, Expert,
Dreamer, Vision, Leads by Example, Involving, Well Planned, Fair, Integrity,
Gives Credit, Humble, Open, Creative, Dedicated.
Now – why not ask your team to anonymously list up to 5 words they think relate
to you as a leader. Is what’s coming back to you representative of what you
would like to be putting out?
Until next week,
Heather & Marcus