Here’s the thing that most Leaders neglect…
…It’s the value of social connection
Even though we may be adept at hiring the best people and surrounding ourselves with teams of experts, we can unconsciously sideline the most important part of building effective teams; taking the time to be truly, deeply, and trustfully connected with each other.
Having spent a career researching, understanding and training Positive Leaders, I’ve found that a common thread to their success is the principle that the sum is greater than its parts. That is, more can be achieved together than by a series of individuals working in isolation. And yet, time and time again I see leaders who forgo the connection that is an essential component of building successful tribes and then wonder why they aren’t hitting their targets, engagement is dropping, or the real feedback isn’t coming to the table.
Instead of shutting their teams out, Positive Leaders actively work to enhance the potency of their teams’ effectiveness - particularly through the little things. And the good news is, you can too with things like building connections, understanding what makes the people on your team tick and creating the psychological safety to let people act with respectful candour. It’s about building meaningful relationships, and deliberately slowing down parts of your day to engage, listen and celebrate successes. And it’s about not shying away from those difficult conversations where giving feedback and constructive criticism may be more kind than offering praise.
So next time you think about shutting the door, closing out your team, or putting off the difficult conversation, maybe see how you can put some of these principles into practice. It’s not a sign of weakness to know that together you will achieve more; or unkind to speak a gentle truth. It’s a sign of tremendous strength and courageousness as a leader.
As you look ahead to this month, how can you increase the quality of your connections with your teams?
Try Active Constructive Responding:
In your next team meeting, try attentively listening for positive news. When you hear it, acknowledge it, provide positive feedback, and share your excitement and emotions on learning the news. In doing this, we tilt our focus from the natural negativity bias of our brains, to tune into and amplify what is working well.
Benefits include:
creates a sense of genuineness
reaffirms the news, and offers a moment for the sharer to savour the goodness of the experience even further
heightened sense of empathy within the relationship and intensifying positive self-regard
you may also notice personal benefits such as increased positive emotions, better wellbeing and self-esteem, and lower levels of loneliness
The potential power of your tribe
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s some feedback from a Power Testing colleague following a leadership development training course CLPL delivered:
“The training we have completed has been an eye-opener for me. I now feel part of a well-organised and professional team, where we all pull together and support each other. I have mentioned before that I have learnt a lot about myself and identified some key areas where I have used the training techniques to improve my people relationships. I now feel more confident to approach and deal with issues, and I am also more aware of other peoples’ emotions and my own. Being able to listen more before jumping to conclusions and also accepting criticism and other peoples’ views has made me a better leader.”
Introducing my work tribe, the CLPL team
Here at CLPL you’ll find a group of talented and highly accomplished coaches and psychologists (picture above!). We work closely with you to support your bespoke Leadership requirements. Just head on over to our who we are page to find out all about us, or get in touch to have a conversation. We’re looking forward to supporting your leadership requirements.