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Leading with Positive Intention – Part 2

By on February 9, 2011 in Communication Skills, Productivity

So the concept Paul and I are working on is this…can the way you think actually change the way you lead your team, thus change the culture of your organization? I was excited to check in with Paul this week to see how he made out with his “positive intention” homework. To recap, Paul had 2 pieces of homework last week…1) spend time at the end of each day journaling about what went right; and 2) identify at least one positive trait that each employee displayed that day.

Paul and I sat down to discuss the week and he said his biggest surprise was what he learned…mostly about himself! As Paul struggled with the journaling exercise he admitted how challenging it was to keep the focus on what went well…he was truly amazed at just how hard habits are to break. The ‘negative thinking’ cycle that Paul was in was proving to be much more difficult to break than he had imagined. He discovered just how firmly entrenched he was in looking for the negative as opposed to seeing the positive. As much as Paul first balked at this exercise…”I don’t have time to journal every day, I’m trying to run a business”…the importance of taking the time to complete this exercise was starting to dawn on him. As the week went on he found it easier to identify the positive things that were going on within his organization. As he recognized the positive he made a point to pass that positive feedback on to his team. He said he got lots of surprised looks and blank stares which made him realize that his employees apparently were not used to hearing positive comments from him. Wow…what a revelation! Paul really had no idea the impact he was having on his own organization. He thought it was his employees who were creating the negative culture, he truly was not aware of his own role!

Armed with this new found reality, Paul renewed his commitment to make time to focus on his leadership skills and continue the ‘positive intention’ exercise so that he can create the change he desires in his organization.

Think about your last week…how did your leadership contribute to your work culture? Was it a positive contribution? What did you notice about yourself and your impact on your culture?

As I pondered this question for myself I identified a communication breakdown that occurred in my own organization last week. It would have been easy to blame another team member for the incident; it was a little grey as to whose responsibility it was. However, considering the fact that I was focused on ‘leading with positive intention’ I decided it really didn’t matter who dropped the ball, ultimately it was my responsibility to show leadership in the situation. I took full responsibility with the client, in front of the team mate involved, and then the three of us came up with a resolution to ensure the situation would be dealt with differently in the future. As tough as it is to admit weakness as a leader, the result of this seemingly small incident was a stronger connection with both my team mate and the client…trust was restored very quickly!

Stay tuned to see how Paul made out with Part 2 of his assignment…identifying positive traits in his employees.

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Leading with Positive Intention – Part 1

By on February 2, 2011 in Leadership, Teamwork

Think about your day yesterday…how many times did you think positively about a team member vs. think about how that person was not living up to your expectations…wasn’t trying hard enough…didn’t care about the outcome as much as you? The list can go on and on!
What would the corporate world look like if we lost our negative judgment of people? How would we lead people differently if our assumption was that everyone was doing the best they can with the tools and information they currently possess? What would our leadership look like if we treated every direct report like he/she was a special project? I can imagine it would be a very different world!
I met with a business owner this week, I’ll call him Paul. The purpose of the meeting was Paul’s need for some help in hiring a senior level employee. As we were brainstorming the kind of person Paul was looking for, the conversation quickly turned to Paul’s desire to change the culture of his organization into something more positive…more rewarding…more energizing. As I mined for information around how Paul viewed his current culture, I became conscious of the fact that there were more negative statements coming from Paul about his current employees than positive. He seemed only to be able to focus on how they were not living up to his expectations as opposed to what they were doing right. Every so often Paul would throw in a positive comment however the tides quickly turned to the negative.
It has been said, in many different ways by many well known leadership gurus, that what we focus on we create. If, as a leader, Paul is focused on the negative traits of his team that is what he will see. If that is what he sees, then that is what he will focus on…and so on, and so on, and so on. It turns into a vicious circle.
Now understand, Paul is a very good person and a successful business man, and he is by no means intentionally sabotaging his own culture. However through his current perspective he is unconsciously contributing to the creation of a culture that is exactly opposite of what he would like to have.
His homework for this week…1) spend time at the end of each day journaling about what went right; and 2) identify at least one positive trait that each employee displayed that day.
Stay tuned to see how Paul makes out!

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