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Leadership Matters: Something deeper
During a recent leadership conversation, a colleague shared that she was often curt and dismissive of her staff’s input during operation meetings. She explained that she needed to be as time was of the essence. She however felt that this leadership behavior was hindering staff contributions and she wanted to know what she could do to make her staff know she valued their opinions.
I responded by saying that self-awareness is an important part of being a good leader, and I commended her on having this. I then shared my view that her staff’s feeling of being valued does not start or end with how she deals with their input during meetings. This is because her staff's feeling of being valued is based on her overall interactions with them - it is her daily actions that make them feel valued.
In short, if she treats her staff with respect on a daily basis, her curtness during operation meetings - where quick decisions are necessary - will have no bearing on how they feel. In my view, changing how she deals with inputs at meetings will have no effect. This is because their reluctance to share their thoughts and opinions is a symptom of a deeper leadership issue.
