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4 Leadership Lessons That Leaders Say they Wish They Had Learned Sooner Behind every complaint is an unexplored question. Meetings are more than employees simply getting together to talk and "figure things out." Meetings provide an opportunity for connection and belonging. Nowhere else are there such glaring opportunities to build community, make decisions, connect and find meaning. However, counterproductive workplace behaviors, such as showing up late or having sidebar conversations, pose direct threats to such opportunities. Even a seemingly benign remark by an employee provides insight into that employee’s world. Instead of ignoring it, ask the employee to help you understand his or her thinking behind it. Otherwise, the same problem will persist or worsen... https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffboss... Jeff Boss is a principal and senior advisor at N2 Growth, author of Navigating Chaos: How To Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations and former Navy SEAL. https://www.n2growth.com https://twitter.com/jeffboss9 https://www.facebook.com/jeffreyboss236/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffboss236

4 Leadership Lessons That Leaders Say they Wish They Had Learned Sooner Making the right decision vs. making the safe decision. I spoke to a healthcare project management team one time and I asked the group, “What does leadership mean to you?” One of the participants responded, “Leadership is about being liked.” No, leadership is not about being liked. If leadership were about being liked then it wouldn’t be called leadership, it’d be called friendship. Leadership is about having the courage to make unpopular decisions because they're the right decisions. It's also a leader's job to communicate not only the why behind that decision so people understand the rationale behind it but to also to listen to people’s concerns so you can make a more informed decision...

4 Leadership Lessons That Leaders Say they Wish They Had Learned Sooner Emotions aren’t scary. Emotions are uncomfortable topics for weak leaders. That’s a strong statement, I know, but in my experience as a leadership coach, the strongest leaders are comfortable talking about emotions because they’re confident with themselves. Think of it this way. Leadership takes courage. If leadership was easy then it wouldn’t be an approximate $130 billion industry and I’d be out of a job. Performing a skill you’re already good at or having a discussion about a topic you’re already comfortable with isn’t leading, it’s execution. It takes courage to talk about uncomfortable topics (emotions in this case), and when you do, you become not only more resilient as a result but also a leader that people are willing to follow because of your courage...

4 Leadership Lessons That Leaders Say they Wish They Had Learned Sooner

 Emotions aren’t scary. 

 Emotions are uncomfortable topics for weak leaders. That’s a strong statement, I know, but in my experience as a leadership coach, the strongest leaders are comfortable talking about emotions because they’re confident with themselves. Think of it this way. Leadership takes courage. If leadership was easy then it wouldn’t be an approximate $130 billion industry and I’d be out of a job. Performing a skill you’re already good at or having a discussion about a topic you’re already comfortable with isn’t leading, it’s execution.

4 Leadership Lessons That Leaders Say they Wish They Had Learned Sooner

 There is no work/life balance. Stop chasing it. 

The whole work/life balance thing doesn’t exist if you’re ambitious, motivated and hungry. You can’t get to the next level, achieve your goals or pursue your dreams if you’re only playing 50% of the time. To do what you love and love what you do takes work—a lot of work. I certainly didn’t become a SEAL because I had “balance.” Instead, what I had was an obsession. I had a goal and was obsessed with achieving it. As a result, I created impact in my life and in my work.

4 Leadership Lessons That Leaders Say they Wish They Had Learned Sooner Behind every complaint is an unexplored question. Meetings are more than employees simply getting together to talk and "figure things out." Meetings provide an opportunity for connection and belonging. Nowhere else are there such glaring opportunities to build community, make decisions, connect and find meaning. However, counterproductive workplace behaviors, such as showing up late or having sidebar conversations, pose direct threats to such opportunities. Even a seemingly benign remark by an employee provides insight into that employee’s world.

Jeff Boss is a principal and senior advisor at N2Growth specializing in team coaching.