Samantha Tassone, GrowthFuel President. Brain-based Leadership, Influence and Communication Coach.
Read Article: Published on Forbes.com
You’ve likely already started looking back and reflecting on your past year. How many times have you been asked if you have a New Year’s resolution? Many of us are not sure where to start and desire something more than committing to that annual top resolutions list—losing weight, more time with friends and family, more travel, etc.—to which I say, “boring.”
Instead, think about how you want to show up and lead differently in the new year. What will it take on your part to show up as a new version of yourself and upgrade your leadership chemistry?
What should you let go of or eliminate in this new year as a behavior that is not serving you or those around you? How will you work to dial down what triggers you? Are you able to release the urge to be fulfilled by always being right?
Korn Ferry’s research indicates that “up to 70% of an organization’s culture and climate can be determined simply by leadership style.” Energy is indeed contagious, as is the climate or weather around you, which you help create—meaning, how you make others feel at every turn, including the trust deposits you leave behind for others in every interaction. Remember, employees are watching you, noticing how you role model behaviors every day. This is what is known as company or team values—or “how we do things around here.” This relates to simple things like how you dress, how you enter and walk through a room, how you behave in times of crisis or stress, how you handle adversity, how you communicate, how you manage others’ expectations, how you relate to others, etc.
Think of this as an ecosystem you are trying to cultivate; it is all interconnected, and you set the tone. You manage yourself to manage the ecosystem. You repair the ecosystem when it goes “off the rails” and bring it back. And you actively work to extend yourself, first into the ecosystem to create psychological safety and then to release judgment because being curious is caring.
Ask yourself: “What is others’ reality and/or perception of my leadership style? And more importantly, how do I make others feel by what I project in every interaction?”
Then pretend you are looking back five years from now. What would you want your team or others to say about your leadership style, your personality as a leader and your legacy? What impact did you have on them or what did they learn from you that impacted their personal growth in new ways? Write down these thoughts as if you were in the third-person perspective, a reporter, interviewing you and your company’s employees—what might you want them to say about you?
What do you care about most going into the new year? How will you let others see and experience what is important to you as you make this behavior and leadership style shift? Remember, do so with conscious positive intent and demonstrate consistency as much as possible because it takes much time for others to notice you have grown and to change their perception of your new behavior. Relationships can thrive as a result of this constant level of self-awareness, which aligns your intent with your impact. It’s not easy, but remember: Anyone can do nothing!
Source: Forbes.com
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