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Leadership Connection Removes These 6 Threats

An article in Inc. magazine, 9 People You Must Remove From You Inner Circle, offers some solid advice for creating a top notch leadership inner circle. Yet one tip it offers continues the myth that you don’t need to maintain relationships. It suggests that the need to check in and maintain relationships means the person is needy and therefore a threat to success.

There is a difference between needy people who only produce when you connect with them and those who produce well through maintained relationships and collaboration. You wouldn’t want very needy people on the leadership team. Yet, leadership connection with those in your inner circle is not the same thing as catering to the needy.

Leadership Connection, Connect With Inner Circle to Remove Threats Image by:JimmyMac210

Image by: JimmyMac210 via Creative Commons License

Leadership Connection Removes These 6 Threats

• The Common Sense Threat. Many leaders have failed from the assumptions they live. I call it the common sense syndrome. They don’t communicate and clarify what they mean for they believe it is just common sense. The antidote to the common sense syndrome is two-fold: stronger relationships to ensure all are comfortable questioning what the top leader says and of course, communicating expectations. Leadership connection sustains this comfort and keeps the message clear and unified. Related post: Leaders, Common Sense Doesn’t Actually Exist.




• The Threat of Disjointed Efforts Instead of One Circle. Top leaders like to believe that once leaders in their inner circle understand the vision and mission, all efforts will connect to reach the goals. The truth is you can get many disjointed efforts that do not unite. As the inner circle leaders lead their teams, challenges, constraints, and time pressures often block cross-team communication. Inner circle leaders who check in with each other replace the threat of these disjointed efforts with teamwork and communication. Leadership connection makes a significant difference.




• The Threat of the Ordinary. No matter how inspired you stay as the top leader, inspiration does not automatically remain high among your inner circle of leaders. Your regular connection with them removes the threat that daily work becomes dreary and ordinary. Leadership connection is not a touchy-feely waste of time. It builds morale and sustains greatness. Leadership connection fuels success.




• The Threat of Protection. People are people no matter how inspired or talented. When you as top leader frequently check in with your inner circle, you develop intuition about them and can spot the littlest change in their behavior. If they are struggling over whether to tell you about a mistake, you will prevent the threat of protection by drawing them out. Whether they are protecting you or themselves, leadership connection can prevent the threat of protection.




• The Threat of the Needy Label. When your leadership approach is “come around when you need something”, your inner circle leaders will be concerned about looking needy when they do come to you. When you check in with them on a regular basis, you define connection as the vehicle for success instead of the sign of weakness.




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• The Threat of Conflicting Workplace Cultures. Top leaders who reach out to their inner circle of leaders and engage them, model a culture of employee engagement. If you assume your leaders know how to engage their team members, you create the threat of conflicting workplace cultures. People generally lead from their comfort zone. If your inner circle leaders are not naturally comfortable with engaging employees, they too will lead with the message “come around only if you need something.” You will end up with a less than engaged organization and results fall short of what they could be.

Traditional leadership theory and practice operated on the belief: “come around when you need something” else don’t bother. Many claim it worked well. Perhaps in more command-and-control static business environments it was effective because it saved time. However, when you look more deeply at leadership inner circles of the past, they did spend time building and maintaining relationships — be it on the golf course, over drinks after work, or at frequent fund raisers. Certainly in today’s ever changing business world, leadership connection and strong relationships matter just as much or more.

Do not fall into the trap of connecting only when there is a need. In tough times, strong relationships speed collaboration and solutions with a unified purpose. Get to know each other and maintain relationships. Leadership connection makes a big difference.

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

Related Posts:
Leading Change Requires Networking Our Inspiration

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Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading morale, 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.

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