We have been through a tumultuous year in 2020. With the start of 2021, I have found that people’s lives have not become steadier but instead more questions abound. We are being faced with a lot of division that is broadcast at a national level and even at global levels. However, these divisions and questions with them then trickle down into our work, communities, families and as individuals.
As I talk with leaders, they wonder how to lead at this time? As leaders, you wear many hats. You represent the organization and yet have your own individual convictions and opinions. You are also leading teams of people with their own thoughts too. How do you pull all this diversity together? What do you say and what direction do you go?
Asking the Right Questions
As we search for answers, sometimes the root issue is that we are asking the wrong questions. With these complex issues, we tend to ask “what.” What do we do next? We feel the pressure of the times and the urgency to move to solutions. “What” defines how to move to action.
I am not saying that asking “what” is wrong. Sometimes, though, we need to ask “why” and “how” first to fully inform our “what.”
The Why
The why is what drives you and is most sacred to you. For an organization, it is your mission and vision. For an individual, it is your purpose. I was talking to a leader who was processing how to live the conviction of his opinions while still knowing that others may possibly interpret anything he says as representing the organization. For this leader, he decided that stewarding the mission of the organization would be his compass. He also knows that the reason he leads in this organization is because the mission aligns with his personal purpose.
So, using the mission of the organization as a plumb-line for what he says individually is still being true to himself. It just helps him to reflect on how others will perceive his words and therefore what to say accordingly. How can you use stewarding your mission and purpose to shape your words and actions?
The How
The “what” may be a focus on a result, but the “how” is just as important and sometimes even more so. The “how” is demonstrated in our behaviors. How you go about doing something will speak louder than what you are trying to accomplish. This is because people see behaviors to guide their perceptions first. It is the adage that actions speak louder than words.
So how do you determine your “how”? You look at your core values to determine your how, which as an organization and as individuals we all have. Whether you have formally defined them or not, they are still there and directing your behaviors and your culture.
With the leader I discussed above, some of the core values of this person and their organization is to be caring and non-judgmental. This guides him in the words he says and how he says it in public venues. He also decided that with more personal opinions that he would still share, but the “how” mattered. He would share only in one-on-one relationships in the format of dialogue. This way if the other person had a different opinion, they could also share. Dialogue would allow them to understand each other as people. He determined that engaging through relationship in dialogue was the “how” for care and non-judgement to be demonstrated in his actions.
So, as you navigate these times, I encourage you to go to your “why” and your “how”. Use them to guide the “what” as a leader. Also engage your team in the “why” and the “how” to help you determine together your “what” as a team and community. This will build trust, define your culture, and bring clarity to your team, which will also provide more peace in the times of unknowns around us.