I’m a believer in leaders making things obvious. Teams and organizations must never guess their leaders’ stance on those things that define their teams and organizations.
Silent leaders are silent team killers. Everyone knows this but, we forget from time to time; silence speaks. Organizations must never have to guess what their leaders think of some things. Leaders must articulate…
Every leader needs some sort of channel or platform for articulating values, culture, the things that matter.
The silence of leaders can be translated thus:
Acceptable
When leaders are silent they indirectly communicate approval. People tend to take silence for approval. It could be how things are done. Or how someone on his or her team carries on. For instance if they don’t address anarchy it becomes the norm.
Leaders must break silence to bring a stop to things that are contra-culture. This helps keep the ship in the right direction.
Breaking silence celebrates what is acceptable and expected. When leaders speak up to celebrate “awesome” they communicate it is what it is desired. They encourage more of it.
Uhm…
When a leader doesn’t articulate anything it creates uncertainty among those he leads. Where leaders are silent teams with no confidence sort of act.
When leaders speak up they build up. They encourage people to act. Directions are authority and confidence to act bestowed on teams.
The silence of leaders doesn’t inspire courage and resolve. It chips at the confidence of the team to act. Those you lead need constant reminders about why they do what they do. They need to be inspired often.
Notice
As a leader, you cannot acknowledge people in your team in silence. Patrick Lencioni highlights anonymity as a critical sign of a miserable job.
Leader, you lead people and they not only want but also deserve to be noticed. When you are silent, that is, having any connection with them, they might just feel they don’t matter.
See people. Acknowledge them.
Crux
The silence of leaders leaves too much to subjective interpretation. Effective leadership demands leaders to speak up and leave as little room for destructive and distracting assumptions.
Leader, where do you need to speak up to build up? It might be time to be brave and ask your team where they want to hear your “voice” more. Break the silence. Speak up to build up. Lead.
[photo credit: stu00c]
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