Every team has a rumor mill. Part of this is uncontrollable, leader. Humans got to have some gossip to grow. This is part of our nature. However, part of your rumor mill is controllable.
You see, when there’s a vacuum of information, teams will fill it. The need is for clarity and we’ll create many a story to give ourselves a sense of it, even preferring a false sense to no sense. Nonsense, I know. Teams crave clarity, especially when change happens. Last night, we sat on the tarmac in Chicago for one hour. No communication from the cockpit. Silence. The flight attendants huddled by the coffee maker. Nothing. Back in the airplane a whole bunch of sat and told stories. We’re waiting for bags. Nope. We’re waiting for connecting flights. Nope. We’re waiting for weather. No, it was a beautiful night to fly in fact. The cockpit offered nothing, so we made up stories. Lost confidence in our leaders. In fact, I for one have lost confidence in this airline. They told us frequent flyers we were getting seat assignments in 2025. The year is nearly half over. Nothing. This is not leadership. This is incompetence. Their customers are filing the information vacuum and the stories are not in SWA’s favor.
The same truth goes for your team leader. Be CCD (clear, concise, and direct). When stuff is changing, communicate before you have the entire story. Tell them what you can and don’t be afraid of incomplete information. We expect it. Can handle it. And, it’s much better than allowing the rumor mill to rule your airwaves.
Side note, I think SWA is in real trouble. They might just be going down. Pass it on. See how easy it can get started, leader?
Live hard. Love harder…
BUILT TO LEAD 