You are only as impactful as your conversations
Leadership is an ongoing conversation between a leader and their team.
If you wish to improve your impact as a leader, make every conversation impactful.
This is easier said than done - there are many blockers to having even a conversation without distractions, let alone an impactful one.
If you are looking to make your conversations more impactful, I recommend a framework shared by Groyseberg and Slind [1]
According to this framework, impactful conversations have 4 characteristics :
? INTIMACY. How "close" do your team members feel to you. Do they feel an emotional connect? Or is the power distance too large?
?? INTERACTIVITY. Is a conversation with you a dialogue, or do you do all the speaking?
? INCLUSION. Do you make people feel they belong, that they matter, that they are safe?
◎ INTENTIONALITY. Do your conversations have a purpose - even if it is to entertain or to just engage as colleagues?
If you wish to be an impactful leader, start by making your conversations impactful.
? Further Reading
Leadership Is a Conversation. Boris Groysberg & Michael Slind. Harvard Business Review (June 2012)
