Today I met with one of my clients and told him that I did NOT think he really trusted his team. This pissed him off. It’s fairly easy to piss this one off, truth be told. Now that I think about it, the same can be said for most of my clients…if you know their TRIGGERS.
Sadly, the same is TRUE of me. I just “went turtle” because someone told me something that they “feel” is true about me that couldn’t be further from the truth. Going “turtle” is soooooo much smarter than going ballistic. Will, at least THAT is my perspective!!
Why can’t I just let that go as another person’s perspective? Why do I feel the need to prove them wrong? Why do I want justice when I’m attacked unjustly and want some “grace” when I do the same?
No wonder relationships…
Back to my client. His response to my “perspective” was to agree to disagree. He explained to me that he feels he does trust his team and used as evidence the fact that he’s “betting” on them. He is practicing one of the most predictable responses when facing uncomfortable “perspectives.” I call this simply: Defend, Deny, and my personal favorite, DESTROY.
Moving on.
Betting on people is what every leader does. Anytime you hire someone you are betting on them. You are betting that you and the team will be better with them around. Anytime you fire someone you are betting that you will be better without them. It’s really that simple.
Here’s what few leaders seem to understand. Do NOT miss this. This is HUGE.
Normal leaders bet, BEAT, and focus on improving RESULTS!! They get ’em too. This works for awhile. This slowly wears your team down. Eventually, this approach wears everybody OUT.
Transformational leaders, bet, BELIEVE, and BUILD. They build sustainable high performance individuals, teams, and leaders. This does NOT guarantee results that are up and to the right. NOTHING does. This builds a team with chemistry. Deep trust is present. This team stays together because they WANT to. This approach takes time and is more risky. Once built, this team may work forever. This team we might just remember. This team, over time, will become excellent; they will become BUILT TO LEAD.
Does your team feel your belief or your beating?
When was the last time you asked them?
When people tell you their version of the “truth” how do you react when it feels like you’ve been attacked?
How are your ratio’s?
Are you communicating 9:1 positive to negative with your team?
BTW, when you win your “bets,” how are you distributing the winnings?
BUILT TO LEAD 