Just Listen

I know I know…in the last blog, I asked you to speak up, and now I am asking you to listen. But let me explain how 'just listening' can help you be the BEST leader to your employees.

I was raised by a strong father and then worked for a strong man in my 21-year career in manufacturing. I saw both of these individuals spit out the RIGHT ANSWER to any question that was asked of them because they believed that to lead, you must have the right answers.

I grew up thinking I always had to have the RIGHT answer, and with this came the need to control the people and places around me. As I grew up and started to think on my own, study successful business owners and leaders and really dig into the topic of LEADERSHIP, I was pretty surprised to learn what I did.

You see, there are many different leadership styles out there. My boss and dad believed they needed to know the right answer to be a leader. To them, it showed "who was boss" and gave them the leverage to tell people what to do. I am not saying that is wrong or ineffective in some industries, but I believe there is another way to create change and get people to come behind you and fight for what you believe in: LISTENING.

I know it seems soft to start. You might wonder, "Michelle, how can I JUST listen and be a good leader?" It is counterintuitive to what most articles and books tell you to do…but I ask, are you like everyone else?

NO. I don't believe you are. You are a person with your own views and ideas. A person who is confident enough NOT to KNOW THE ANSWER and ask those around them for their opinion. A person who hires individuals with skills you don't have to compliment you and grow your business. You are not someone who has a big ego and needs to be told daily how great you are because, in the short run, that sounds awesome, but in the long run, you are not being told the truth, and that truth holds you back from your greatness and your company's greatness.

What I propose takes guts and confidence that you know best. You know when to speak up and tell the truth. You know when to keep your mouth shut and listen because there is something to be learned here that you don't know about.

Leadership is an amazing privilege. How you lead your people and your organization tells those who look up to you - your employees - what is possible for them and how they should act. Most leaders don't realize the power they have. They don't realize that what they say MATTERS to their employees. They don't see the opportunity to grow and cultivate amazing leaders below them, not by what they say but by what they don't say.

I challenge you to LEAN INTO your natural leadership style. Who do you really want to be? How do you really want to lead? What do you wish for your employees to take away from your leadership style? How is your current leadership style holding you back from success?

Being honest with yourself and making changes because you see it isn't easy. If you need help with that, let me know.

Email me at michelle@lifeaholicllc.com, and we can have a 20-minute call where I LISTEN, YOU SPEAK, AND MAGIC HAPPENS.