As a leader are you aware that your style of leadership and the direction in which you lead your people is a direct reflection of where you are centered or focused?
When you are asked to lead one thing is clear: you lead from where you are centered.
Usually a leader is centered on one of three areas:
Where you are centered will determine your leadership style, influence, accomplishments and legacy.
Wednesday, May 13th, marked the first anniversary of the start of my blog on Life and Leadership Development Coaching. I had no idea when I started how long it would last or how consistent I would be. During the past year, I have been able to post a weekly blog without missing a week.
As I reflect on the past year, I am indebted most of all to God who called me to do something I knew was way out of my league and a huge mountain to climb. But I live my life following the quote on a plaque that was given to me by very dear friend. It reads, “The will of God never leads where His grace cannot keep.” These words have never been truer for me than during the past year posting a weekly blog.
Conflict is one leadership responsibility that you most certainly will have to face. Yet many leaders do not take the time in advance to think about how they will deal with conflict when it arises. Rather too many adopt a conflict avoidance style of leadership. The only action they are willing to take when conflict arises is to try to shut it down and hope it will go away in time.
When conflict is not managed in a healthy and helpful way, the fallout may be great. Relationships are broken or strained, people get hurt, and the people you are leading might lose their way. On the other hand when it is handled in helpful and healthy ways, the results are often positive and forward moving. Relationships are strengthened, obstacles overcome, and trust is developed in the leader.
So how should a leader handle conflict?
In any area of leadership, your most important asset is the people you lead. The worth of this asset increases or decreases depending on how you treat the people you lead.
In the relationship between leader and follower the banking principle of deposit and withdrawal is consistently at work. When something positive is said or given to a follower, a deposit is made. When something difficult has to be said, such as talking to someone about poor job performance or consistent tardiness, a withdrawal is made. Things can go very wrong if the withdrawal turns out to be larger than previous deposits.
For a leader to continue increasing the worth of those she/he leads, intentional deposits into these relationships are essential.