4 Things You’re Not Doing That Influence Your Management Style
We often say that the actions we take define the leaders we show up as.
After all, “actions speak louder than words” right?
What about the actions we don’t take?
Everything that we don’t do or don’t say contributes to the revolution we are unknowingly leading.
If you’re the manager who doesn’t prepare for your one-on-ones, you’re silently giving approval for your teams to come to their meetings unprepared for a conversation.
If you’re the manager who asks your team to make monthly goals and never checks up on them, you’re saying that it’s okay to ignore a commitment.
Here are the top 4 actions we see that managers don’t take and what to start doing to turn that around.
1. What you’re not doing: sticking to deadlines.
Not the big deadlines. The annual budget you’re responsible for and the quarterly strategy your VP is expecting from you both probably get done on time.
But what about that proposal your employee needed you to review by Monday that’s sitting at the bottom of your email?
Or, your new hire’s performance review you were supposed to have done by yesterday?
What this says about your leadership
The deadlines you miss tell your team that their work isn’t as important as the projects you have going on.
What you can start doing
Schedule time in your calendar dedicated to important and meaningful tasks so that you commit to the deadlines you promised your team.
2. What you’re not doing: shortening unnecessarily long meetings.
Do you have meetings that would be better as an email or a short 15-minute conversation?
Can your one-on-ones be efficiently done in half the time?
What this says about your leadership
By being inefficient with your meeting time, you’re giving your team the thumbs up to hold meetings for the sake of holding meetings.
What you can start doing
Set a minimum default time for meetings in your calendar. That way, if anyone is booking time in your calendar and thinks they need more time with you, they can request it instead of blocking unnecessary time for you both.
Fun fact: Elon Musk has a minimum default time of only 5 minutes. Apparently, 5 minutes is all you need.
3. What you’re not doing: addressing your emotions.
Are you frustrated with an employee’s attitude about their quality of work?
Do you disagree with your boss’ decision to fire one of your employees?
Have you avoided your emotions for the above scenarios and said nothing?
What this says about your leadership
Not turning your emotions into actionable and feedforward steps and instead ignoring them and letting things slide, says that candor and honesty don’t matter.
What you can start doing
Start talking. With your teams, practice expressing your emotions in a way that moves a conversation forward.
4. What you’re not doing: being direct in your communication.
Did your employee not schedule the meeting you asked them to?
Have you clearly stated your expectations and by-whens for your employee’s project/task?
What this says about your leadership
Indirect communication gives the go-ahead for your team to have vague conversations with no actionable takeaways.
What you can start doing
When making a request of your team members to complete a specific task, clearly state: the request, who’s responsible, and the deadline. Clear requests lead to clear results.
A lot of the time, what we don’t do or don’t say shows more of our character than the actions we do take.
Based on this list and anything else that’s popped up for you, what’s something that you’re not doing that may be contributing toward an impact you don’t want to be making? What are you actually committed to creating?
Are you looking to build on your management skills? That’s what we’re here for! Let’s connect to see what you want to work on and how we can help you get there.