Do You Need to Stop This Trust-Breaking Pattern?
Are you a nice boss?
Maybe too nice?
Does this sound remotely familiar? Ninety-five percent of the time you show your confidence in your team’s judgment and initiative by giving them a lot of latitude. You know most people chafe at being micromanaged, and you swore you’d never be that kind of boss.
But you also notice that the rules get bent a little too far a little too often.
You feel disrespected, and despite your best efforts to stay true to your anti-micromanager philosophy, you find yourself at a breaking point. You’re resentful. Maybe a little passive-aggressive. Or you might be the boomerang-blowup type, putting your now-cowering team into lockdown. And then everybody feels discouraged, agitated and undermined.
Worse, you feel ineffective and you worry your team no longer trusts you, or likes you. So you cycle back into leniency, and after a couple of awkward days, things start to normalize.
Until the rule-bending, foot-dragging and frustration starts up again.
What if you could forever change your trust-breaking pattern of extremes?
James, a manager at an accounting firm, did just that when he signed up for my new Unleash Your Strengths Jump-Start Session.
- an in-depth 30-minute online assessment
- a professional review of assessment results
- a private 75-minute phone session to develop effective strategies to begin using immediately
In less than 2 hours, James understood how his well-intended flexibility was tying him in knots of niceness, and thanks to his Jump-Start Session, he walked away with a practical and thoughtful strategy for untangling the knots.
How James Used His Strengths to Nix Trust-Breaking Patterns &
Build an Accountable, Respectful Team
James saw that his boss’s unrelenting focus on the bottom line led to staff burnout and disengagement because they felt like replaceable cogs in a machine. James’s antidote was to compensate by doing everything he could to be the opposite, to be the nice boss. But he was the too nice boss. He had a perpetually open door.He bought lunch for the office.He corrected people’s work for them. He approved multiple requests for flex-time. He looked the other way when deadlines were missed.
Sooner or later, James would begin to feel taken advantage of, and when he switched gears and tried to enforce the rules, his staff ignored him and refused to do what he asked. He was left with disappointment and a nagging worry that his staff would quit because they didn’t like him.
In his Jump-Start Session, James and I discovered that two of his best-of-self strengths, kindness and love of learning, were the keys to creating a new approach to his leadership.
Now James uses his innate kindness constructively.
- He holds staff members accountable for deadlines.
- He points out when the quality of their work needs improvement.
- He takes time to guide staff members as they learn new skills.
- He gives recognition to people’s best efforts when he meets with them.
James is building up the reserves of trust in his staff – and they in him.
To keep his own momentum moving forward, every day at the close of business, he asks, “What I am learning about how I am leading now? How can I use this tomorrow?”
Start Writing Your Success Story
By Scheduling Your Unleash Your Strengths Jump-Start Session Today
Stop trust-breaking patterns. Anchor your leadership in your strengths. Lead with confidence.
Sign up in the next 20 days to get my special pricing of $147 (a $250 value).
Jump in now! Scheduling for my Jump-Start Sessions ends March 31 and won’t be offered again until midsummer.
Or call 601-362-8288
Here’s to the best in you,
PS: Here’s what James says about his new approach: “I now understand how my strengths interrelate and I found a way to use my two key strengths. Creating opportunities for my staff to be accountable shows I believe in and value them, and that makes things better for everyone.”
PPS: Next week I’ll share my own story of how using best-of-self strengths transformed my career and birthed a business.