10 Things
Great Leaders Never, Ever Say
What's more important than what a leader says? What
they know not to say.
Your words have power, and they're among your most
important tools as a leader.But what's just as important as the things you should say every day? The times you should keep your mouth shut.
Here are 10 examples. (Got others to suggest? Let me know.)
1. I'll do it myself.
Deadlines
are looming. You've got 50 things going on. The last thing you have time for is
to teach someone else how to do his or her job, and the temptation is to step
in yourself and do what needs doing. However, a leader has to delegate.
Otherwise, productivity problems will persist, and your team members won't have
the chance to learn and contribute.
2. I'll deal with it later.
Does bad
news ever get better with age? Only with luck--and you're not leading a team or
building a business based on luck. Deal with it now.
3. I'll give you one more chance.
It's almost
always easier to overlook flaws--whether they're in an employee, a customer, or
someone providing a service to you--than it is to deal with difficult
situations. But you're probably not doing any favors by being a pushover. Be as
kind and generous as you can while putting your team's goal first, and make the
hard choice.
4. Let's put it to a vote.
There will
be times when your team disagrees among themselves. Sometimes they may all
agree with each other--but disagree with you. The easy way out of these
situations when a decision has to be made is to punt, by trying to let
democracy solve the problem for you. That's not what a great leader does,
however. When you're in charge, act like you're in charge.
5. I'm sorry to ask you to do this...
Never
apologize for asking someone to do his or her job. (But do be polite. That costs
you nothing.)
6. You're fired.
There's a
smart old adage: Hire slowly, and fire quickly--and when somebody isn't working
out it's your responsibility to rectify that situation. The trick here is that
a great leader never actually uses the word "fired." Instead, you
want to manage people's exits so that whenever possible, their transition out
of your organization is graceful and leads to better opportunities for both you
and them.
7. I don't care what you want.
Really? The
leader who says this is either exhausted, inconsiderate, or foolish. Of course
you should care about what your employees or team members want. That doesn't
mean you should accommodate every desire, but they should know that at core,
you care about what they care about.
8. We can't do this.
Former
Secretary of State Colin Powell used to say, "Perpetual optimism is a
force multiplier." The opposite of that is true, too--if your team gets
the sense that you don't have confidence, you're probably soon-to-be done. Be
realistic about challenges, but never let your fear win the day.
9. None of your business.
There are
some things you probably need to keep confidential. Sometimes you need to
control the timing of when news gets out. But by and large, transparency and
honesty are the best policies.
10. Never.
There are
exceptions to every one of these rules. So "never" is a very strong
word, and "never, ever" is even more ill-advised.
By Bill
Murphy Jr.
http://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/10-things-great-leaders-never-ever-say.html?cid=em01014week10e
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