Every Conversation is Crucial

For every leader charged with growth at a “people-centered” organization, there’s no such thing as a conversation that isn’t crucial. Every interaction, whether big or small, has the potential for high stakes. Ignoring this reality can come with a big price—retention problems, poor performance, low engagement, bad customer service, reduced innovation, and on and on. 

Have you ever had what you considered to be a casual conversation with a colleague, only to find out later that something you said or did triggered an unforeseen reaction? Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of a side comment that touched a nerve or caused an unexpected reaction. Perhaps even more frequent are the digital messages that, read without the context of body language or tone of voice, can cause serious harm if there isn’t enough opportunity to build trust through face to face dialogue.

Prioritizing people is not something that happens by accident. It is highly conscious and requires constant care and feeding. And since humans are dynamic and highly complex, one formula doesn’t work for everyone. In other words, acting as a conscious, people-centered leader is much harder to actually do than the oft-heard platitudes make it seem. And almost by necessity, it requires taking risks, making mistakes, and choosing to be open and vulnerable. In a world where “performance” is mostly measured by outputs other than relational health, it can seem like such a distraction to take extra mindspace purely to think about relationships—but this is exactly what we must do to build, sustain, and grow high-functioning, innovative, healthy teams. 

One simple, yet highly powerful technique is to set Relationship Objectives every day (or weekly). For example, writing out what heartfelt impression you would like to leave behind with key colleagues can be a great way to keep your intentions front and center in your mind. This has the added benefit of helping regulate emotions during conflict. Plus, it can be a great conversation starter that sets the tone for a highly human, open conversation. For example, “Melissa, before we start the meeting, I’d like to let you know my task and relationship objects.” This creates a great benchmark to review at the end of the meeting, and one that increases the likelihood of a high-growth, human interaction. Team members who routinely experience this kind of communication from leaders will be more open to feedback and will be more likely to perceive that they truly belong to a “people-centered” organization. 

#highgrowth #peoplecentered #consciousleaders #relationshipsmatter