When I wrote last week about why understanding belief systems is critical for leadership, I talked about how we empower ourselves – in life and in business – when we let go of our concerns that others will judge us and replace these concerns with the understanding that when they do it’s a reflection of their belief system and not of our personal value, worth, or truth.
This is such an important principle and one I wish I had understood much earlier in life.
What this means in simple terms is if I judge you in some way, my judgment is about me – a reflection of my belief systems and even of where I am “at” in my life – and not about you. When you, as a leader, judge those who work for you or your colleagues, your judgments are about you and your belief systems, and not about them.
What This Means to You as a Leader
As a leader, it’s critical that you lead on purpose, create and nurture a vision, and align your team and strategies to bring this vision to life. To evaluate your success in these areas and the success of your team and your business, it’s essential to have objective measurements because your personal belief systems are going to subconsciously drive your own subjective evaluations.
For example, if a member of your team disagrees with your vision and tells you they “can’t be true to themself” if they help you work toward it, the obvious decision is to let them go because they will hinder the progress of your team. The question is, will you judge them for disagreeing with your vision? Will you judge others who have a different belief system than you do? How will you handle these judgments?
Some people may have a belief system that would judge a person harshly for disagreeing with a leader, or for choosing to “be true to themself” in potential detriment to their career. A leader like this might not support the team member, look down on them, ridicule them in front of others, and make it very difficult for them to find a new role in another company.
But a leader who recognizes that the team member’s decision is a reflection of their different belief systems and not of their team member’s personal value, intelligence, integrity, strength or what have you, would say, “I’m sorry we won’t be able to continue working together but I respect your decision and will do everything I can to help you find a new role where you’ll believe in the vision.”
What kind of leader are you?
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6 Response Comments
Love your post, this is my number one goal when working with loggering crew supervisors. Working to bring leadership skills into the woods can be daunting, but I find that a very simple equation proves the point. Us + The Crew = Team. By the time they leave my workshop they see that all they can do is try to understand where their crew members are coming from and work on strengthening their ability to understand why others do what they do and strengthen their leadership skills. Most times s call to me ends in “why did he do that?” fo more times than not, in the woods it’s always the other guy who is an “idiot”. My reply to that question is “did you ask him?”…tradition in the woods trumps emotions and years of the “just git er done” attitude is slowly changing.
Thank you, Wendy and I love that you are working so hard to help them understand each other and the concepts of team! They are lucky to have you! Keep me posted on your progress; I love to hear success stories. All the best and have a wonderful weekend!
Lisa,
Very well said.
I think it also exercises another key leadership trait – courage. The courage to have those moments of truth with people. Courage to mutually care, love and respect one’s values while preserving their dignity but remaining true to what you value. It’s not that their values are wrong as you imply – they are just different. And, there is very likely a place in the world for that person to plug in and be successful.
Hope the balance of your weekend rocks.
M
Thanks for the brilliant comment and point, Mike! My weekend was wonderful – hope yours was as well! All the best and hope to see you tomorrow night on LeadershipChat.
Every time you judge you lose an opportunity to love
Leave it to you to make it so simple and clear, Greg! Thank you. 🙂