Never Let 'Em See You Sweat...

Have you ever had a coworker who always acted as if their hair was on fire? Everything seemed to be an emergency? The sky was almost always falling?

Exhausting.

What's worse? Having a leader (or being a leader) who leads this way. If there was one nugget of leadership advice I wish I’d have gotten earlier, it would have been to be much more cognizant about how my tone and communication style affected everyone around me.

There was this old commercial with the tag line “never let 'em see you sweat." Who knew ‘80’s TV could provide such great leadership advice? In my first few forays into management, I missed that lesson. Instead I probably drove my team crazy by being stressed out, working long hours and never quite catching up.

But hey… it seemed to work. We got things done. We were super-productive. We were the "Hi Performers" of the organization.

But looking back, I know my demeanor caused a lot of undue agitation. Because I portrayed everything as urgent, I'm not sure my team was ever clear on what was really important.

As a leader, what you say and how you say it carries a lot of weight with your team. Be cognizant of that and don’t diminish the power your words carry.

· Approach your people with calm and with kindness.

· Be crystal clear in your communication and expectations.

· Ask questions.

· Be conscious of your demeanor and how you’ll be perceived (and if you're in the wrong head-space, go for a walk, or take a few deep breaths before you dump on your team.)

Your team takes cues from you and when you’re even-keeled, they’re less stressed out and typically more productive. Then when you’re not, and there is a true emergency, they’ll step up.

Because they’ll know the difference.