Leaders are just people. Imperfect, flawed, emotional, human people.
Expecting anyone to be perfect is begging to be lied to and disappointed. While we cannot always influence expectations placed upon us, here are a few examples of ways leaders can positively influence their teams:
1. When you're not in the frame of mind, say so. It can be very easy to readily accept or reject something based on one's mood. A simple request to have some time to ponder it shows your team you're going to do your due diligence and sets a standard that immediacy can be saved for urgency.
2. If you're going to accept a question, reject everything else. Acting like you're listening while it's clear you're doing something else communicates that the other thing is more important and the human in front of you (or on camera) is not important. Take your team member's questions with full focus or ask them to hold on until you can be focused.
3. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct behavior, and move on. There's no benefit from ruminating on a mistake or doing the same to someone on your team. Acknowledge the error, learn what needs learning, fix to move forward effectively, then move forward.
As a leader of leaders and teams, how do you demonstrate your humanness?
Cover Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash