“The greatest way to live with honour in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” Socrates
When asked in a professional setting what your values around team management are, I am sure you provide an answer that you believe to be true.
“I have open and honest relationships with my team members.”
“All team members deserve equal respect.”
“I don’t need people to be perfect and get it right all the time. Mistakes will happen, and that’s okay.”
“Team culture starts with the top, so I make sure I lead by example.”
However, I am going to ask that you reflect on your behaviour – what you DO every day – and challenge whether your actions speak as loudly as your words.
Often, despite our best intentions, our behaviour fails to live up to our own, carefully constructed principles.
“You are what you do, not what you say you will do” are words to live by.
If your ‘behaviour’ is not congruent with what you ‘say’, you will struggle to develop trusting and respectful relationships with your team.
There are many methods to improve personal performance. Firstly, though, you need to discover where to place your focus. Be mindful of your actions and communications throughout each day. At the end of the day, maybe on your commute home, reflect upon your behaviour, identifying times when you could have delivered a better performance.
My next blog will provide tips on how to achieve quick results in improving your performance.
It the meantime though, do your best to walk your talk!