Should modern day business leaders adopt a light touch guiding/enabling/collaborative approach or use a “tougher” kicking ass leadership style? Or maybe a mix of the two according to the situation?
Coaching business leaders for over 30 years has given me the experience of understanding how in terms of leadership behaviour the gentle touch supportive approach is consistently superior to an approach to people management that goes in hard and critical even if only occasionally done when a strong telling off seems definitely well deserved!
Although many managers and leaders operate under intense ongoing pressure to perform and drive business performance and many are themselves sometimes managed harshly I believe that is not an excuse to ever to go in too hard on your staff.
Going hard on your staff certainly can get short term results and make the manager feel powerful and important as employees jump to their orders and go off tail between their legs determined not to get “bollocked” again but longer term performance improvements won’t come from staff that have been disempowered by their boss whose used heavy handed tactics.
Going too hard on your staff can install fear and have your reports shrink back and become dull compliant risk averse shadows of their true potential.
But isn’t being gentle, patient and understanding a weak way of managing where your reports will take advantage of your being so nice and never make the grade?
Not at all. I’ve never ever worked with a person who complains their boss hasn't been hard enough on them when they’ve made mistakes or have an appraisal.
I have witnessed the most inspiring examples of leadership by those with the most gentle and caring dispositions where those they lead would go to the ends of the earth for them.
The strongest leaders are also the softest hearted leaders.
We are all delicate souls under our body-mind complexes no matter how hard we portray ourselves and employees just as children thrive with supportive loving kindness and encouragement.
The Business world is no exception!
All my training courses incorporate the ethos of gentle interventions where every individual attending is encouraged, supported and celebrated and when you take the pressure off it’s amazing how individuals grow and develop and business performance improves dramatically in the most delightful and effortless of ways.
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