The gap between your intention and the way people experience it

Hints from the WBECS 2017 pre-summit meetings: Liz Weiseman.

Liz Weiseman (on June, 12th) and Carol Kauffman (on June, 13th) have dealt with leadership from a two different perspectives.

In both cases, the role of a coach can be seen either as the figure helping the leader improving his skills and performances or, a leader him/herself. We know how Positive Leadership and Coaching (must) have many traits in common. We also know that the soft skills and personality traits of a positive leader can be uselful to anybody to better live and relate to others.

Liz Weiseman is well known about developing the concept of Multiplying versus Diminishing Leaders, on which she abundantly wrote on.

The Diminisher are the kind of leaders who think: People won’t figure it out without me. Through this thinking, what they do is to hoard and underutilize talents, create stress that stops the thinking, tell people what to do, decide before opening the debate and manage every details (they’re micro-managers). The most prevalent approaches to dimishers are confronting them, avoiding them, quitting, complying, ignoring the diminihing behaviours. Convincing them you’re right or taking HR action are the least effective ones.

What Multipliers think instead? People are smart and will figure it out. This way of thinking reflects their behaviours: multipliers attracts and optimize talents, they create space for the best thinking, extend stretch challenges, debate (and then decide), are willing to invest through instilling ownership and accountability in others. Thus multipying talents, intelligences, and money. She reminds us that intelligence is extensible.

If you think about it, such a behaviour can be profitable for everybody.

How do we build multipliers all over the world?

Liz W. asks, underlying the need and benefits for everybody of learning it. How to break the diminishing death spiral? A very simple and powerful way is both a bohaviour and attitude: be curious.

Ask questions, ask Why and mean it.

Make challenging questions to, do not fix goals for others.

Another interesting way to work at  the foundation of being a multiplying leader relates, again, to coherence. If you feel like good, with some respect of your behaviours and thinking, are you sure this is way people feel about you?

 

 

The gap between your intention and the way people experience it.

 

Through her speech what I liked most, as a content as well as a tool to work on one’s leadership abilities, has been considering the gap between the intention of the leader and the way people experience it.

 

 

For instance, there is the Idea-guy leader, the one who gets wonderful ideas; how followers perceive it? They might wander around, trying to understand where to go, waht to do, they might feel lost.

 

 

There is the Always-on leader, he has enormous energy, but: what about his followers? Might they feel empty?

 

The Pace-setter, who creates spectators

around; the Optimist, looking only at the upside: the Rescuer, felt as caring so much that one can be overprotected and hindered to act; the perfectionists…

 

Can you see the gap between your intention and the way people experience it?

What can you do to fill in that gap?

A very useful question and training tool.