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If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
Over the past few weeks I was in Brasília, the capital of Brazil, and then in Monterrey, Mexico. I gave a talk to a few thousand people in Brazil followed by a small executive session for one of the largest banks. In Monterrey I met with the top 120 leaders of a 67,000 person company and shared my vision about the future of leadership.
Since much of my recent work has been around leadership and vulnerability I received several questions around how new leaders (whether they are first time leaders, new team leaders, or even executive leaders) should address their teams when they first get put into a new role.
I met with several employees to hear what they say and even sat in on a few meetings. I’ve done many of these over the years and there is one big mistake that new and seasoned leaders keep making which then sets the tone for the rest of their leadership tenure and impacts how employees perceive the leader.
Let’s pretend for a minute that you’re either a new employee who just got promoted to your first leadership role or even that you’re a seasoned mid-level leader who just got your first executive position.
When this happens it’s natural for you to say something to your team, usually via an all-hands meetings. The first words that come out of your mouth during that all-hands meeting will either set you up for success or they will start your path to failure.
What do you say?
In the rest of the article I’m going to review what most leaders say and why it actually hurts them and what you should say instead. Subscribe here to get access.
If you’re like most people you’ll probably say something along the following lines:
“Hi everyone, in case you don’t know me, my name is Jacob Morgan and I’ve been with the company for 3 years. Even though I’ve never been in a leadership role before I’m really excited for the opportunities ahead and I’m looking forward to working with all of you to make a big impact. Thank you”
It’s actually not a bad statement, but the challenge is that it only focuses on vulnerability, in other words, the only thing that statement does, is show that you have a leadership and competence gap. Someone working for you who hears you say that might be wondering, “why is this person the one leading the team?” or “I bet I could do a better job than Jacob.” And they won’t be wrong for thinking that. Vulnerability for leaders is not the same as it for everyone else and I have several stories that support that in my recent book which I won’t get into here. As a leader you are now responsible for employees, projects, deadlines, customers, salaries, etc.
If you recall, Leading With Vulnerability, is about adding competence to your vulnerability, so if we were to take that same statement above it would look as follows:
“Hi everyone, in case you don’t know me, my name is Jacob Morgan and I’ve been with the company for 3 years. Even though I’ve never been in a leadership role before I’m really excited for the opportunities ahead. To help make sure I’m going to be the best leader that you and this team have ever had I’m doing a few things. First, Jane who is the SVP of marketing is going to be mentoring me on a regular basis. We’re going to be meeting once a week to review how I’m doing. Second, I’m also going to be working with an executive coach who will be providing me with feedback on my leadership. Third, I’m currently reading these 5 leadership books that other executives have recommend, I encourage you to read them as well to keep me accountable. I’m looking forward to working with all of you to make a big impact. Thank you”
So what’s the big difference?
Hopefully you can spot it but in the first example I was vulnerable, meaning I talked about my gaps. In the second example I was also vulnerable and talked about my gaps but then I demonstrated what I’m actually going to do to close that gap…the actions I’m taking to get better, to learn, and to grow.
This is the biggest mistake that leaders across all levels make. They focus on the vulnerability while forgetting to add in the competence and the leadership.
As a result they begin their leadership journey in a state of having to prove their competence instead of demonstrating their competence and then just supporting it with action. As a leader your people need to both trust and connect with you and know that you have the competence required to lead them to success. If there is lack of competence then your leadership is immediately questioned. If there is a lack of vulnerability, then your ability to connect and inspire others is questioned. Again, you need both! Competence and connection.
The next time you are addressing a team or even speaking with an individual, it’s ok to be vulnerable and expose the gaps you have but just ask yourself, “what can I do to demonstrate that I am trying to close those gaps.”
Doing this will not only make you a better leader but it will also make your team more effective as well.
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If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
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