Boundaries for Leaders

You can be steadfast and have clear expectations without being harsh, critical, or demeaning. You can reset the terms of the interaction by watching your tone and by remembering the phrase: “hard on the issue, soft on the person.”

But the truth is that there are five right plans. There are a lot of ways to get there. The real problem is getting the people to do what it takes to make the plan work. That is where you win or lose. It’s always about the people.”

Leaders, through a handful of essential boundaries, make sure certain things happen, prevent other things from happening, and keep it all moving forward.

and energy am I fostering when I enter a room? When I give feedback? When I make a request? When I make a correction? When I communicate agendas and set performance targets? Further, what kinds of experiences am I building into my teams, reporting relationships, culture, and climate that make sure that there are positive chemicals flowing through t

The founder of a successful manufacturing company was in the process of succession planning and was grooming his son to take over the business. One day, as he walked through the factory, he saw his son angrily berating an employee in front of the person’s coworkers. A lot of yelling, put-downs, and shaming—apparently it was an awful sight. The fath

Watch for this tendency in your own style, and do everything possible to let your people know you will be supportive and for their success, even when they don’t get it right. This in no way means that you will be “easy” or allow ongoing patterns of incompetence or nonperformance. That is equally destructive. You must always hold people accountable

They sat her down, she explained in the interview, and reminded her that it was OK if she made a mistake, if she didn’t win, or if she blew it. Don’t

Another resistance to change is the desire to “make sure everyone is on board,” or “we reach consensus,” which is sometimes code for “I want to make sure everyone is going to like it.”

not. You are “ridiculously in charge” of the vision, the people you invite in, what the goals and purposes are going to be, what behavior is going to be allowed and what isn’t. You build and allow the culture. It is all yours. You set the agenda, and you make the rules. And what you find there, you own. It is your creation or your allowances that h