Leaders everywhere are under increasing pressure to deliver results while fostering trust and connection with their teams.
It can feel like an impossible task to lead well and manage your workload.
To help you succeed in building trust and connection, you should stop doing these three things in your 1-on-1s immediately.
- Stop avoiding emotions.
- Stop jumping to solutions.
- Stop trying to lead people with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Stop avoiding emotions
It’s understandable to feel uncomfortable with emotions in the workplace, but avoiding emotions denies your team the opportunity to build an emotional connection. This can lead to a lack of trust, a lack of open dialogue, and a lack of understanding that it’s ok to make mistakes.
Stop jumping to solutions.
I, too, was trained to solve problems. I like solving problems because it feels good, they need to be solved, and I get praised for it.
But you need to stop.
When you jump to solutions, you aren’t allowing your team to develop their own solutions. It sends the message that they aren’t capable of solving their problems, which can be demotivating and discouraging.
I was quick to jump to solutions, trying to solve everyone’s issues from a need to be “liked”.— a recent Leading People Program™ graduate
Stop trying to lead people with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Policies, guidelines, and practices help enforce a minimum standard of quality.
But you can’t lead everyone the same way.
Leading people with a one-size-fits-all approach will only lead to frustration and disengagement. Everyone is different and has different needs. Creating connections requires recognizing people’s uniqueness.
Take the time to get to know each individual on your team and tailor your approach to meet their specific needs.
What to do instead
Now that you know what to stop doing, here’s what you should be doing instead:
- Listen. Listen to understand rather than come up with a solution.
- Connect. Connect with your team on an emotional level. Show them that they can trust you.
- Encourage. Encourage your team to take risks and think outside of the box.
- Support. Support your team in their efforts to come up with solutions to the problems they face in their job.
How? The Heart Habit
Join my webinar, Connection 101: Use The Heart Habit to forge trust and get results with less energy.
In this webinar, you’ll learn one of the foundational skills we teach in The Leading People Program™️.
We call it “The Heart Habit,” and it’s a simple framework for building strong connections at work.
You’ll start cultivating a culture of connection and trust when you practice The Heart Habit.
As you learn, we’ll show you time-proven techniques to help you get to know each individual on your team and how to listen to understand.
By the end of the webinar, you’ll have the tools to build strong connections with your team so that you can lead more effectively and get results with much less effort and hustle.
