Following with sharing the lessons managers participating in ArteVis Leadership Programs take out as the most valuable.
Part 2: Do your people get you?
In our interactions with the team we need to keep in mind that people are always going to assign their own meaning to our words and actions.
The meaning person gives to any event they experience is always determined by social environment they grew up in, their past experiences, what they have learned to be truth, their mindset, values etc.
We are all so very different. We carry such different life experiences and our minds often work very differently. So the huge possibility that the message we want to get across will be lost in translation.
In my work with managers I very often witness how, in their busy day to day life, they forget this. As a result they face some really unnecessary problems with their teams.
There are situations where we need to be extremely careful about this.
The most simple and common situation is “Unclear Expectations ”.
If we think the message is clear enough it doesn’t mean it is clear to everybody else.
If we are not clear and thorough enough with our message people will naturally fill the gap with their own story.
This seems so very obvious, but I cannot tell you how often I see this fact overlooked.
So many times, we believe that we have been clear in our communication, just to see our expectations not met 1-2 weeks later.
Then we are disappointed and wonder why on earth people don’t deliver as expected.
They didn’t deliver because your message was not translated correctly.
Take time to communicate with your team often.
Be succinct and Clear in your communication.
Explain Why.
Never assume they know or that they understand.
Ask and Confirm that the message is taken as you intended.
And then if needed explain again and again…
