Be thoughtful, kind and understanding.
It sounds simple, yet many of us get too caught up in the day to day of life that we forget to be thoughtful, kind and understanding.
I have learnt some very confronting truths about myself, and to this day I must thank Priceline Pharmacies and Richard Vincent (CEO) for the opportunity that changed my life.
You see, during a leadership course at Priceline, we were asked to analyse our own behaviours, how we treated those around us, and I came to an awful realisation; I was not really the thoughtful, kind and understanding leader that I thought I was.
Was this hard to face into, you are damn right it was!
But I was lucky, I was given the time, and opportunity to change.
So, what did I do?
1) I apologised to my team and promised that I would do better, but that I needed help
2) Stopped sending emails late at night to my team – no matter what you say, you are interrupting their private time with their family, and this is not acceptable
3) Treat your team like adults, there is no need to micro-manage
4) Do not ask why your employee needs time off
5) Remove roadblocks for your team and ensure that they do not work long hours. Have a chat with those that are, not the ones that are not
6) Have respectful conversations
7) Listen!
8) Celebrate success
9) Be at the back of the room when things go well, be in front when they do not
This is not an exhaustive list, but it was a great start.
Do you need help being a more thoughtful, kind and understanding leader?
Why not give me a call for a no-obligation free chat about how I can assist you.