Leadership People Skills: Successful Leaders Choose AND Not Or

Leadership people skills engage employees. They tap all talent for innovation and success.

To bring these leadership people skills to life, successful leaders choose AND — not OR — thinking. Why?

Leadership People Skills: Picture is Ampersand

Leadership People Skills: Successful leaders Choose AND Not OR Thinking Image by:chrisinplymouth

Leadership People Skills: Picture is Dollar Sign

Leadership People Skills: Choose AND Not Or For Success Image by:bsperan

“AND”

Thinking

Gets Results

With Commitment

Featured Image “Ampersand” by: ChrisinPlymouth and featured Image “Dollar Sign” by: Bsperan via Flickr Creative Commons Licenses.

Leadership People Skills: Engage All w/ AND Not Or Thinking

Want to engage employees for more commitment? Think “AND” not “Or”!

  • Empowerment AND Accountability. People oriented leaders give employees a voice in empowerment but sometimes skip over their accountability. Results driven leaders primarily focus on employee accountability yet skip empowerment. True empowerment includes accountability for the outcomes. Think AND not Or and your leadership people skills will have you engaging employees for timely results.
  • Individual AND Team Recognition. There is no need to be trapped in the choice between individual and team recognition. Individual talents combine to form team results. Ego driven employees don’t become team players by overlooking their individual talents. Team oriented employees don’t become egotistical by honoring their individual talents. Think individual AND team recognition and your leadership people skills will inspire each employee to contribute to the whole.
  • Confidence AND Humility. Arrogant overconfidence disengages employees. The message to them is “I the leader have all the answers.” Conversely, sheepish indecision abandons them. Be confident in your knowledge and humble in delivering it. Think AND not Or and your leadership people skills will model confident humility for tremendous team results.
  • Empathy AND Objectivity. Today leaders are barraged with advice to care for employees needs. This is important. It works when leaders combine care for employees with care for the business they are leading. Use an “Or” approach and both the employees and the business suffer. Think empathy AND objectivity and your leadership people skills will engage employee commitment for sustainable results.
  • Intuition AND Observation. Leaders who never listen to their gut instinct — their intuition — play it safe with observation and often lose in the delay. Leaders who don’t see where the reality contradicts their intuition meet fateful results. Intuition AND observation are partners in success. Personality type research strongly suggests that most people are stronger at one than the other. Think “AND” not “Or” and your leadership people skills will engage team members of different strengths for sound timely results.
  • Optimism AND Realism. While optimists and pessimists argue over whose right, optimistic realists move everyone forward. Successful leaders choose optimism AND realism for it uplifts with hope while keeping people grounded in delivering tangible results. This “AND” approach engages everyone in healthy skepticism to assess risk and a can do attitude to reach the goal.
  • Persistence AND Innovation. Leaders who continue to lead a path that is no longer viable are suffering from OR thinking. They believe that initial persistence can’t innovate and shift to something better. Their leadership people skills engage people to be stuck! Successful leaders engage all to persist when they see potential AND innovate when they sense futility.


You might believe that AND thinking leads to indecision and chaos — too much data and too many opinions delaying timely results. Not true.

“AND” thinking gives strength to your leadership people skills to engage employee commitment. With today’s employees who don’t just follow orders, engaging their commitment is essential for reaching timely outstanding results.

What other “ANDS” would you add to the leadership list to deliver outstanding results?

From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

Related Posts:
Leadership Success: Think Balance Beam Not Mountain Top
Leaders, Never Confuse Humility And Humiliation

©2013 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.


Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

16 Responses to “Leadership People Skills: Successful Leaders Choose AND Not Or”

  1. Khalid says:

    I would add an impressive leadership AND that you havd Kate (which also apply in general) -> Speed AND Quality

    Your quality shows in your creative posts and your rate in making them available impress me 🙂

    Thanks Kate for your enlightment

    Khalid

    • Kate Nasser says:

      Good one Khalid. Speed AND quality remind us all that speed alone is not good and perfectionism misses the mark!

      Many thanks for your continued insights on this blog.

      Warmest regards,
      Kate

  2. Karin Hurt says:

    Yes! Great leader create and encourage ANDs at every turn.

  3. How about “Long-term planning” AND “short-term planning”…

    “Fully engaged in leading an organization” AND “fully engaged in loving my family”

    “Doing what’s best for the organization” AND “doing what’s best for the people in the organization”

  4. Page Cole says:

    I would say Innovation & Tradition
    Many people are in such a rush to develop the “next big thing or idea”, they lose sight of the value of traditional or successful patterns and practices from the past.

    I also feel like we all tend to naturally gravitate to one side of the “&” or the other, based on the type of behavior is most comfortable for us to perform or have expected of us. Once we realize our tendency towards ease, I believe it makes the challenge to step up and have balance on both sides of the “&” more clear, and I know it gives me more motivation to do so as I embrace the challenge.

    • Kate Nasser says:

      Thank you Page. I love the extra attention you put on our naturally tendency and importance of stepping up to embrace balance.

      So appreciate your comment here and invite you to share on any post of interest!
      Warmest regards,
      Kate

  5. Dave Moore says:

    Belief AND Reality
    Positive beliefs about yourself can help you achieve what you want but what you believe about something else cannot be a belief until you experience it, only then is it a reality.

  6. This is this most practical article I have read on leadership in a long time. Trying to find the ideal balance between the two extremes is key. When I think I have figured it out – I quickly learn I haven’t. Thanks for the article.

    Regards,
    David –Strategy-News.org

  7. Scott Mabry says:

    Thank you Kate. I am a great believer in the power of and. I like to use the phrase, “think BOTH AND” instead of Either OR”. The ideas you have contrasted here are fantastic examples. There is great power and experience in living in the tension between both / and. It is not the path of least resistance so the temptation is to default to something we perceive as easier.

    • Kate Nasser says:

      Excellent point Scott. Either/or feels easier to many. It takes away the grey and offers black & white. Unfortunately, the problems that creates are many! It doesn’t represent real life, nor feelings, nor does it bring about collaborative success.

      Many thanks for contributing to this discussion!
      Kate

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