Business owners and managers face challenges their subordinates sometimes never consider. They are constantly called upon to provide inspiration and direction that many times they themselves may question. This lack of confidence may rest on the question of who can they talk to and discuss their own concerns? The current podcast episode provides tips that can point you in the right direction.
Many owners or managers attempt to establish professional distance or an air of assurance that ultimately may work against them in getting accurate feedback on how they are doing. As one manager put it: “When you hold that position of authority, you’re expected to have all the answers. It does weigh on people.”
A line of self-doubt can be established that may go in one of two very different directions. In the first instance the leader attempts to project a surety of vision and those around him or her become fearful of voicing anything that contradicts that vision. As a result, the leader may become surrounded by “yes” people who simply provide the answers that are expected no matter what is happening in the real world. For the second, it is more a matter of perception. In other words if I show too much self-questioning then I will be exposed as not knowing what I am doing, and my workers will think less of me. In this scenario, the myth of the all-knowing authority figure is the standard that is looked to and much like those air brushed images we see in magazine is almost impossible to achieve. The thing any leader has to keep in mind is that it does not have to be one or the other of the scenarios outlined. That there are things every leader can do to keep themselves accountable and yet human while moving forward with a vision.
Set metrics
Setting effective tracking or ways to determine how close you are to the goal can be found in a number of places either through software or reports that provide snap shots of what is going on within your team or company. Just be certain to also get feedback from the people affected so that compiling data does not become a greater burden than doing the job itself.
Confide in the right people
Be careful who you decide to confide in because it is tempting to get things off your chest, but doing so with the wrong person can come back to bite you. You can overcome this by having trial balloon conversations and then evaluating the consul provided or what happens within the organization following the conversation. This experiment will allow you to gauge how confidential the conversation actually was in addition to the type of feedback you can expect from particular people.
Get a coach or join a peer group or organization
Being able to discuss your concerns freely is critical and going the coaching or peer group route can provide this. A good coach does not have skin in the game and will allow you to freely discuss areas of concern. Peer groups also allow you to find out what others are doing and how they have dealt with particular situations because they wear similar workplace shoes.
Understand your values
Having a clear idea of your world view provides great insight into the steps you took along the way to get to your position of authority. Focusing on how you see the world has a lot to do with the procedures you decide to put in place. Study after study has indicated that leaders who understand their core values make better decisions in addition to feeling better about those decisions.
I’m sure there are others areas not touched on in the episode but these at least should get you started toward feeling a little less lonely and more self-assured.
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