I received an email from a leader that was asking how he could “fix his team”. They are struggling with missing deadlines, complaining/fighting, poor quality and just generally not running as efficiently as he would like. In that email he also let me know how he approaches the team and it involves, “not showing any weaknesses” and “putting up a strong front at all time”.
From the information I have received, I can deduce that the team doesn’t have a quality problem, a deadline problem, they have a leadership problem. That may sound harsh, but all the problems this leader shared were just symptoms of a deeper issue. Your people can see right through your front, your shortcomings and weaknesses are apparent to everyone around you…trying to hide it just breaks trust and makes you look bad. The worst part is it also creates an environment where people try to avoid failure, they as Simon Sinek says “Lie, Hide and Fake”.
To have healthy teams, that are highly effective for extended periods of time, you have to start with a foundation of trust and empathy…that foundation begins with you being your authentic self, warts and all! Pretending like they don’t exist isn’t reality and isn’t doing you or the team any favors. Your weaknesses and failures, shows your team they can have weaknesses and failures and still find success! That knowledge and comfort in it, it priceless and goes a long way with people.
Be yourself. Own your dark as much as you do your light. We all have both.
I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care!
