Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations

Word count this issue: 288

Estimated reading time:  1.45 minutes

Hello from a rainy Vancouver. Fall is really on the way, as we took the out door chair cushions off the deck today, to be put into storage downstairs. And the time change (Fall Back, for all those concerned) is coming on Saturday. The good news is that Christmas is coming too!

I’m still reeling from all the learning and adventures in San Francisco last week and the www.neuroleadership.com sessions I attended. Looking at my notes, I was struck by one insight. In working with people, ‘remember to focus on the person, not what I think about the person.’

We are homo narrens, even homo fictus as much as we are homo sapiens. (The creature the tells storys, as much as we are the creature that thinks.) And we love to make stories up about the people around us: hero stories, villain stories. Stories about how much they do or don’t appreciate us. Stories about how smart they are, or aren’t , compared to us. And none of the stories we tell ourselves about other people are true; we make all of them up. To be the best leader you can be, ask people about themselves, inquire about who they are, where they are from, and what they think, rather than making stories up about them. You’ll find that they are far more responsive, far more part of the team, far more than you can possibly imagine, simply by getting the stories you have about them out of your head.

May this week be filled with learning about people, not making stuff up about them.