OK gross generalisation coming up - I meet two types of line managers .. those who take way too much responsibility for their people and those who take too little.
My first type can really go over board with this even to the extent of feeling responsible for the emotions of their staff and holding sense of failure if everyone is anything less than happy and content. This can result in leaders who fudge feedback, struggle with the difficult conversation or (just) spend their spare time in a state of angst. Not good for them and probably not good for their people either. Coaching this type of leader often involves getting them to see that they have reasonably done all that that they should do and separating out a little from the emotional life of their team.
My second type tends to hold relationships at work at some distance and often have problems reading where other are coming from . They don't see that they are part of the life of the team and like it or not do a lot to set the tone and climate in the workplace. It can be a considerable shock for them to find that there is something of a gap between their intent as a leader and the actual impact they are having. Coaching this type involves strengthening the empathy 'muscle' and getting them to use feedback to monitor and manage the intent/impact gap.
So .. what sort are you? Do you take more or less than your 50%?
No comments:
Post a Comment