The term “April Fool” originates back to when the world was settling on which calendar to use. Some believed that April 1st marked the new year. Those who disagreed identified such people as “April Fools.”
Times were changing; either you were a fool or you changed.
ELEPHANT ALERT!
Do you know anyone who is dragging their feet while entering the 21st century way of leading? Such people still believe you can force, demand and manipulate people into being productive.
The result: companies struggle for profits as they try to manage a workforce that is disgruntled and doesn’t care. Even a village idiot can do that math; the answer will come when leadership evolves.
The biggest elephant in the office is the leadership culture that pervades so many companies. Today is national Leadership Fools Day.
STOMP THE ELEPHANT
Labeling managers as leadership fools won’t help. That will only assure there’s at least one fool in the room – us. So what does work?
Leadership fools are hypnotized by the results medallion swinging in front of them. We all must help them realize that this medallion turns to gold when we are more concerned about HOW results are delivered. This means it’s time to talk about behaviors.
Most of us aren’t about to walk into the boss’s office and talk about behaviors. So here are three things we can do:
- Acknowledge when we see desired leadership behaviors instead of when we don’t. Everyone goes toward their focus; this becomes a new swinging medallion.
- Participate in conversations about what behaviors are important to us, instead of those that aren’t. Most people talk about what they don’t want; thus, they are at a disadvantage.
- Celebrate the characteristics of your company identity of which you are proud.
Bottom line: OUR leadership has to change before we can change anyone else. Or, are you a fool?
Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?