Do You Care Enough? – Part 2
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer
Last week I started my post by asking if you are a person who cares for others and also encouraged you to reflect on if you care enough. Do you care enough to confront those you care about when they need it? Do you care enough to confront them in the right ways? I also shared five tips for addressing issues that arise. Today I’d like to look at five more tips.
- Avoid sarcasm – Some people address conflict with sarcasm. They think that the person will get the message by using this subtle approach. Well, most won’t, and the problem will likely continue or even get worse. The key is to explain the facts in a way the person can accept. I will get into this step more during this week’s podcast.
- Avoid words like “always” and “never” – I am a person that often speaks in absolutes. (I almost wrote I always use absolutes, but I’m trying to get better.) These words can inflame an already tense situation. Just stay away from them.
- If appropriate, tell the person how you feel about what was done wrong – This can be tricky because you can only use it when a personal wrong has occurred. Trying to make something personal when it isn’t personal has the potential to make the situation worse. We also will lose the opportunity to coach the person through the challenge or issue.
- Help the person develop a game plan to fix the problem – Leaders are dealers in hope. Once we have communicated the issue, our next step is to help the person develop a game plan to fix the problem. Don’t just hand them the solution; help them discover the solution. I will explain this more on the podcast.
- Affirm them as a person and a friend – Once we have identified the problem, work with the person to develop a game plan. It’s time to help them know that we believe in them and are there to support them moving forward. If we do this correctly, the relationship will be much stronger than before we engaged in the correction.
When you care enough to engage, you take your leadership to another level. You also prove to that person that they mean more to you than the job at hand. If you would like to hear more about the application of these tips, please join Marisa Norcross and me for Episode 218 of The Next Page podcast.
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