STOP! Just Stop Doing It & Improve Your Leadership Instantly.

We all know that person who got promoted to a senior role and felt the need to show off their new status by making their presence known – Which is the total opposite of great leadership.

Peter Drucker shares “We spend a lot of time telling other people what to do, we don’t spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop”. How True.

When was the last time a seminar was held by your organisation titled “stupid things our top leaders need to stop doing now”. It is probably not the likeliest topic to be broadcasted in all honesty.

The recognition and reward system of organisations are centric around the “doing of something” rather than the reporting of the ceasing of an activity – Yet they are flip sides of the same coin.

The scene of the sales guy who come back to declare a win, and shout it from the roof tops – but never to announce they have pulled out of a deal when considering it would cost the firm or not be able to be delivered. Would the latter be boasted about and rewarded with recognition? Hardly.

That’s the funny thing about stopping some behaviour, it gets no attention but it can be as crucial as everything else we do combined.

Outside of work we are more likely to recognise those area’s we did stop activity around. That business venture we never entered, the bad relationship we avoided or that ponzi deal which was too good to be true. Those that have successfully stopped smoking and been congratulated by people around them.

Appraisals are another area where ‘what we have done’ rather ‘stopped and not pursued’ is the measurement of success.

★ The Solution:

All of this can be improved by upgrading our mindset on how we look at behaviour. Get out of the positive and negative tagging system that we us to assign and let things be in “neutral”

That new leader that wants to make their presence known

➤ Could let suggestions be made openly in a meeting by their team rather than commenting critically at every one made.

➤ When someone challenges a decision they made – don’t argue with them, or make excuses, quietly consider it and say nothing.

➤ When someone makes a helpful suggestion – don’t remind them you already knew that. Thank them and say nothing.

The beauty of this state of neutrality and knowing what to stop is that it is so easy to do

Correcting this behaviour does not require polished skills, elaborate training or arduous practice or supernatural powers.

All that is required is to intentionally stop what was being done in the past that does not serve.

For all your leadership coaching needs, get in contact with us to discuss how we can enhance your future.