How Your Leadership Philosophy Can Defuse Future Crises
Quality Digest does not charge readers for its content. We believe that industry news is important for you to do your job, and Quality Digest supports businesses of all types.
Here’s an example of how maxims can help you through a tough spot. When I was a young platoon leader, I had two maxims that I shared with my soldiers: “Work hard. Be honest.” It could not have been any simpler. One day one of my soldiers violated my “work hard and be honest” maxims. When I called him on the carpet for his egregious transgression, I asked him, “What am I going to say?”
“Then what?”
To create your maxims, you need to explore how you want to interact with those individuals. This self-examination requires you to figure out what you want to stand for and what your team should expect from you in every interaction. You must also think about how you’ll build their skills and capabilities.
Our PROMISE: Quality Digest only displays static ads that never overlay or cover up content. They never get in your way. They are there for you to read, or not.
You’ll create maxims to remind you to treat your team members with respect, both for who they are as individuals as well as for the work they do on a daily basis. Finally, you’ll generate maxims to help you remember to take risks on your people and give them opportunities to grow their skills, experiences, and careers.
Published: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 – 12:03
The maxims you create to describe how you’ll lead will govern your day-to-day interactions with members of your team. When you define these maxims, you’ll articulate aspects of your style that are comfortable and effective for you.
We need something to lean on to help us through those tough situations. Creating personal leadership maxims for how you want to lead your people helps you manage those difficult situations and conversations.
Managers who establish clear expectations and rules that are communicated to team members find it easier to deal with employees when they violate those rules.
“You’re going to point out I failed to do that, sir, and I’ll tell you you’re right. Then you’re going to tell me I’m subject to disciplinary action. Next you’re going to recommend I get busted down a rank.”
The maxim was so simple, clear, and well communicated that this soldier was able to accurately predict my reaction because he knew my standards and had bought into them. If I hadn’t shared those maxims with him prior to the lapse in behavior, I would have had to explain my standards, his failure to meet them, and the fairness of his punishment, all in that moment. That would have been a much tougher conversation to have than the one above, where he took care of the discipline himself.
“I think it’s fair and it’s the right thing to do, sir.”
So please consider turning off your ad blocker for our site.
By answering these four questions, you’ll create a team environment where people feel comfortable, valued, and challenged. You likely often hear a great deal about how important “employee engagement” is. If you write these maxims well and live them every day, you’ll have some of the most engaged employees you’ve ever seen.
“People situations” can be frustrating and confusing. We have a hard time having difficult conversations. Those conversations are difficult because we’re the bearers of bad news, corrective actions, and feedback. That feedback generally causes people to feel like they don’t measure up as a person when, in fact, our assessments should be focused on the actions, not the person.
A maxim is nothing more than a rule of behavior or conduct to follow. You can write your own set of maxims and use them in a variety of situations. Maxims set expectations with your team members for how you’ll treat them. They provide you with a solid foundation for building consistency into your behaviors and reactions to unpleasant situations. If you’ve written your maxim well and communicated it clearly to your team, there are no surprises when those unpleasant situations arise.
How Your Leadership Philosophy Can Defuse Future Crises
Creating a guiding maxim helps your people think ahead, too
Providing transparency and consistency to your team does wonders for making interactions smooth and peaceful.
Answering four straightforward questions can help you define a powerful set of maxims for leading your people. Those questions are: 1. What’s your natural style? 2. How will you remember they are individuals? 3. How will you stay connected to your team’s reality? 4. How will you commit to their growth?
Yes, that’s a lot to think about. It’s even harder to articulate. This is where I have seen many leadership philosophies turn into a mush of flowery crap that has no meaning. You’re striving for clarity. You need simplicity to achieve that.
“And what do you think about all that?”
However, someone has to pay for this content. And that’s where advertising comes in. Most people consider ads a nuisance, but they do serve a useful function besides allowing media companies to stay afloat. They keep you aware of new products and services relevant to your industry. All ads in Quality Digest apply directly to products and services that most of our readers need. You won’t see automobile or health supplement ads.
“You’re going to remind me we all agreed to work hard and be honest, sir.”
