Are you keeping it real?
At Soul Trained we believe leadership is a behavior not a title. We also believe that leadership has nothing to do with your pay grade and everything to do with the extent to which, when you look around, you have followers.
Leaders who are worth following share a number of traits, one of which is their ability to create intentionally brave spaces in which psychological safety is a natural bi-product. Intentionally brave spaces are environments that allow for mistakes to be made without fear of blame, for the generation of ‘silly ideas’ without fear of embarrassment, and for people to show-up just as they are without fear of shame.
Soul Trained’s Values are designed to create intentionally brave spaces. Over the next few posts we’ll be sharing some top tips for the creation of intentionally brave spaces. First up: relevance
Relevance: leaders who keep it real are more likely to be in tune with the emotional climate of their teams and therefore make moment-by-moment course corrections in their leadership style and approach. This will fuel trust and help drive useful behaviors.
Here are 4 simple tips for operationalizing the value of relevance:
- Remember that your people are human beings, not human doings. Checking in on their emotional wellbeing will enhance their performance not detract from it.
- Hold regular 1:1’s with your people that deliberately focus on the person rather than their product.
- Humans are really good at spotting when information is being intentionally withheld so, when there are bumps in the road, communicate with truth, candor, and kindness. And when you can’t communicate openly, let your people know that you can’t so that trust is not eroded.
- There is no such thing as a “Work-Me” and a “Not-Work-Me”. The reality is that wherever we go, there we are. Leaders are called to recognize that human beings don’t leave their problems at home. They go where we go and it will serve you well, as a leader, to remember that your people are likely dealing with a lot more than you know.
Are you keeping it real?
