Leadership Is Language

Whether it is a conversation with a boss, a peer, or a colleague who reports to you, every conversation is an opportunity to reengiheer the way we interact. You can shift yourself into a temporary state of bluework, then pause and reflect on the situation in order to come up with a response that's deliberate rather than automatic. Just ask yourself

I had a client that used the word "exposed" a lot and in a negative way. They wanted to make sure no one felt "exposed." This reluctant exposure is a symptom of low trust and vulnerability and high levels of judgment. They are doomed to mediocrity because they infantalized their employees and no one will risk a new idea. The key

Amy Edmondson of the Harvard Business School did research based on surgical teams adopting a new technology and showed that teams with flatter gradients among surgeons, nurses, and other attendants had more back-and-forth communication, better error correction, and more learning. This led to a more successful implementation of the new technology th

The CEO of a public organization in Scotland told me how the group's business planning cycle occurred during the last quarter of the calendar year, which was also its busiest time of the year. So not only was it difficult to take people out of execution during this time, but none of the redwork performed during that last quarter, which might amount

CONNECT

Connect is the enabling play that makes all the other plays work better. The Industrial Age play is conform. Connect is about caring: caring what people think; caring how people feel; caring about their personal goals.

Connect is not a superficial "friendship" but caring for someone else and wanting the best for them. Connect is lov

Assume good intent. But if people are trying to make decisions that align with the organization's objectives, then we ought to trust them. Trust people first because your trust in them will affect their behavior. They will work harder, stay longer, and unlock more discretionary effort when they feel trusted.

2. Admit You Don't Know
   
   It's hard to connect with a know-it-all, and a know-it-all is not going to care what you think. Instead, we get the sense from know-it-alls that all they care about is what they think. For a long time, I made a living being a know-it-all. I was supposed to know all the answers and have all my decisions be correct. I was not rewa

Using nouns rather than verbs might take some of the sting out of a comment. Compare "You performed poorly" with "Your performance was poor."* How judgmental does each one sound? If you sense that the former places more emphasis and judgment on the individual, you're on the right track. One way to tilt toward observation over ju

TO MOVE FROM CONTINUATION TO COMPLETION:

1. Chunk work for frequent completes early, few completes late.


2. Celebrate with, not for.


3. Focus on behavior, not characteristics.


4. Focus on journey, not destination.