Don’t Ruin Your Reputation
By VICKY BROWN
One of the things you’ll quickly realize, as you start building and growing a team, is how much the you of you actually makes a difference.
What I mean is, a huge part of your leadership X factor is who you are, how you show up day in and day out. Your reputation for being fair, and upholding your word, and doing the right thing. And building that reputation doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, and consistency.
And don’t fool yourself – your team is watching you every step of the way. That’s how they build trust – trust that you won’t lead them astray and that you have their best interest at heart. That’s why people will follow you – because they feel like you’re going to do what’s best.
But, while it can take time to build your leader reputation, it only takes a few mis-steps to badly damage it. So, while this isn’t an exhaustive list – here are a few important tips to help you steer clear of deadly pitfalls.
Being indecisive or failing to make decisions falls high on the list because that’s so much of what your team will look to you for. In order to make progress, and move forward, someone has to be in charge and say – OK, we’re doing that, or we’re going this way. Without that – you just have chaos.
If you’re slow to make decisions, or wishy washy, or seem timid or confused – well, it definitely doesn’t inspire confidence in the team. And that opens everything up to people 2nd guessing you, or complaining about the choice, or simply refusing to do something. At worst, it can become a bit of a dumpster fire. And at best, you’ll leave people confused, and ineffective – nothing will get done.
So, take time to clearly lay out the options. Talk to other people, even team members, to get their perspective, weigh the pros and cons. And then – decide on a course of action, and take it. And be sure the whole process doesn’t take too long – if you fail to decide and move forward, well that just looks like inaction. And that absolutely doesn’t help.
The twin sister of being indecisive is failing to respond in a crisis. Now this one is a critical part of the leader’s role. When there is a crisis, immediate or eminent, you’ve really got to show your stuff. Step up, take charge, manage next steps, problem solve, and use your visioning ability to understand what additional problems might be on the way.
Now, no way am I saying this is easy – actually most of the things on this list will require real effort on your part – but it’s imperative that (especially during a crisis) you show up as a strong leader who can steer the team out of danger or difficulty. This is the moment when you have to show your superpower. And again, you can certainly take in information and perspectives from others if possible (that’s what good leaders do), but make no mistake – the accountability and responsibility are squarely on your shoulders. And if you don’t perform – well that will definitely impact your reputation.
“… You’re doing so many things (all at once), you’re dealing with so many people inside and outside the company, and your brain is always active (you’re thinking about the company’s goals and objectives, and the next strategic step), that it’s easy to overlook having a consistent line of communication.“
Along those same lines, if you don’t take accountability – your reputation is going to take a real hit. No one, and I mean no one – not your clients, not your team members, not your board members – no one appreciates a leader who has the “it’s not my fault” vibe. And that’s because, it actually is your fault. If it happened on your watch, well then you are accountable for it.
“It was Elizabeth’s mistake”, or “John really blew it” – those are excuses, and not a good look for a leader. You are responsible for Elizabeth and John being on your team. If they were acting on a knowledge gap, you are responsible for them not having the skill to do the thing. And I know we’re all human so mistakes happen, but you are still responsible for taking steps to ensure that mistake doesn’t happen again, and (and this is most important) you are the one responsible for apologizing to the client or whomever, and making it right.
OK,I know that sounds like the least fun thing to do – ever. But it’s our job. We all have to do it at one time or another. I had to do it recently, and I’ll tell you, it never becomes easy. But – and this is kind of a mantra for me – I stand in front of my team. If there are arrows headed their way, I step up and take them because it’s my responsibility to do so as a leader, and it’s important that the client or whomever is on the other side understands that the whole organization is activated to resolve the issue, and my team member needs to know that I won’t hang them out to dry – they aren’t alone.
Now, that doesn’t mean I won’t take the appropriate steps to deal with their performance gap – but I absolutely will not throw them in the water as ‘chum’ for a feeding frenzy.
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Poor communication, or failure to communicate is an easy trap to fall into. You’re doing so many things (all at once), you’re dealing with so many people inside and outside the company, and your brain is always active (you’re thinking about the company’s goals and objectives, and the next strategic step), that it’s easy to overlook having a consistent line of communication.
Sure, you know the goals – they’re in your head- but does every team member know them, or the company’s mission and vision? Or what happened to make you decide to completely change that SOP. Or even where you’re trying to take the organization?
Just because you talk to some people, about some things, doesn’t mean the whole team is properly up to speed. And you can’t conquer this by just blurting things out to people when it crosses your mind – you’ve got to formalize it. Town halls, all hands meetings, good agendas for the meetings you already have – once you bake a communication process in, then you can stop hoping that people are reading your mind – because, well they aren’t.
And finally – not giving feedback to your team. People want to know how they’re doing, if they’re being successful. Oh and by the way, feedback isn’t just for dealing with performance – when you give good, solid, applicable feedback – then people know that you know they’re there.
You ‘see’ them, and you acknowledge their contribution. They aren’t just a nameless, faceless cog in the wheel – they matter. When you don’t give feedback, it comes across like you don’t care. So why should they?