You get the team you deserve!

They do what you do, not what you say.

How is it that some leaders feel they can say one thing and do another?! As leaders our people are watching us all the time. Sure they listen to what we say and they read our emails: But much more important than what we say, is what we do. That directly impacts our team and pulsates through the whole organisation. And when we say one thing and do another, it has at least 2 deeper knock-on effects:

I) “(S)he gave us the briefing and told us to do one thing, yet the next moment (s)he ignored it and did the opposite! I have to pass on the briefing to my people, but I am not going to do what it says either.”

II) “If (s)he is doing that now, when else is (s)he doing it? I can't trust this person.” 

Getting something wrong is OK, so long as you own it and learn. Much worse is the dissonance for your team of ‘say one thing and do another’. The leader who does that & somehow believes that their team will not realise, is sowing the seeds of a dysfunctional team. And then one day (s)he will turn round & ask “why doesn’t my team say what they really mean, why don’t we challenge each other and solve the business problems together?!”

We get the team we deserve!

So what can you do?

1) Treat people how you would like to be treated yourself.

2) Communicate simply and with clarity. Be straight with your people. We don’t always fully agree with company-wide initiatives, but we can harness them authentically our own way. 

3) Role model humility, commitment and a desire for understanding. Encourage your people to learn from set-backs & from successes.

It is never too late to change your own leadership behaviours. In this VUCA World, our people yearn for authentic leadership. Start now, be the best you, and your team will respond and become the team the best-you deserves!

Peter Soer