As leaders we’re accustomed to the set pieces – the presentations, all-company briefings, big decisions – actions that are ‘on-show’ and probably being rated by those we lead.
We know too that leadership isn’t performance. The stuff that happens in the background also has an impact on the culture we’re creating…the character of the organisation if you will.
How well we listen to junior colleagues. How generously we acknowledge others’ work. How faithfully and positively we share decisions made at a higher level in the organisation. How we treat others’ who can’t help us.
Our days are made of these and many other interactions that we might assume aren’t measured. Except they are. In a leadership role others are always watching us, inferring what’s valued and permissible from our behaviour to inform their behaviour.
And it’s broader than that. Gaps between our ‘on-show’ leadership behaviour and what happens in the thick of the everyday contribute to a bigger gap…of credibility. And, those gaps undermine right relationship, founded on trust, and in which communication, connection, collaboration, and exceptional contribution flourish.
Contemporary organisational life tends to prioritise speed, efficiency, and results. Time for people, for the quiet actions, gets squeezed. The actions that build right relationship get deferred at best and forgotten at worst.
Are we caught in this trap? Reflecting on your week past and identifying the quiet actions can help answer that question. Were they in character or opportunities spurned?