Sometimes as an owner or leader of a business gets hardened by negative experiences or sticky situations with people, he or she starts to become less inclined to do the right thing. We probably see it more often in terms of how they handle internal situations and their people, but occasionally it will occur in the areas that involve our customers and clients.
As an executive coach, sometimes I will have a leader point out something that I suggest as a leadership principle to practice, but they notice that their leader does the opposite. They will ask me why their leader does it that way. If I am coaching the leader, I may explore the area with him or her in a session, but sometimes I am coaching the leader’s leaders.
In those cases I usually say that because I am teaching them a leadership program where each step is built on the last, they should practice what they’re learning. In my mind all the steps lead to the most effective results for today’s world.
The other day a leader told me that his client needed a report to answer some questions he had. The needed report happened to be done by the CEO and she was especially busy that week. The CEO said, “He’ll get it when I get around to doing it.”
This is one of those times when the leader could have “walked” the CEO’s “talk” and given his client that same message. That, however, could have cost the organization some business.
Luckily, the leader was very creative and resourceful and found a new way to get the necessary information.
A LEADERSHIP QUESTION FOR TODAY
As a leader of your organization, are you walking your talk and making sure that if you have become “soured” about anything, you reconsider what you say and do so that your organization doesn’t lose business because of something you did or said?
