Yesterday I spoke with a couple clients that tend to speak more than they listen. I understand, firsthand, their predicament. This is a common problem with the modern leader, not so much back in the day. Back in the day, most leaders led a team that made things that were concrete, steel, brick and mortar. These leaders tended to rise from the ranks and were accustomed to getting their hands dirty. Today, not so much. Todays leaders have, oftentimes, risen to the top by their thinking and their ability to connect others to their ideas. They tend to speak like they think, a lot.
If this fits your tendency, here’s a quick recipe that might help.
1. Speak less, do more.
2. Speak less, ask more.
3. And, remember that people have bad hearing. They cannot hear you unless they are moving toward you. As long as you are in pursue mode, your message can’t catch up, no matter how smooth your speech.
4. Slow down and reflect. How much of your speaking is toward those that are moving away from you? Why are you wasting your breathe chasing teammates with words they don’t want to hear? Why are you afraid of silence and feel the need to be heard?
BTW, if you are a leader, why aren’t people trying to catch up to you and your words?
God, help me get to the front and lead. Help me worry less about who is following and even less about who is in front. God, thanks for the few beside me. Yes, I understand, they are enough. I’m glad we had this TALK…
BUILT TO LEAD 