Psychological Leadership Hack

Listen FIRST!

By Connie Podesta, Business Motivational Speaker, and Human Behavior Expert

There are a LOT of leaders who come into their position waving their “I’m the boss” flag like gangbusters. You know the type. Hit everyone with new rules. New ideas. New ways. Grand proclamations about being IN CHARGE! Start marking territory. Um… psychologically speaking? That’s the fastest way to send your team upside down and underground awaiting your fall from grace.

Here’s a leadership hack for you: START by LISTENING. What? How novel! When people feel like they are being HEARD and SEEN? They’ll go to the mat for you. When they feel like you’re truly interested in what they have to say and how you can make EVERYONE (not just you) more successful? By removing obstacles? Mentoring them through weaknesses? Helping them leverage their strengths? They’ll line up to collaborate. Get creative. Strategize. Do the work.

Over the past 25 years I’ve worked with thousands of leaders and remind them each and every time that, in the end, the measure of your leadership ability will not be about how great you lead (or think you lead), but how WILLING others are to follow you, believe in you, trust you, and support you.

To do great things, teams must be both WILLING and ABLE to do their job way beyond what’s expected. Great leaders understand they must first create, then nurture an environment founded on respect and trust so their teams are WILLING to follow them. Then, their next goal is to teach, train, mentor, coach, and educate others HOW to be successful.

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