My friend and fellow blogger Wally Bock published an article today entitled “The Things The Books Forgot,” to highlight what he sees as some of the most common things the leadership books don’t tell you. One of the things he highlights is the need to manage outside relationships. Your leadership is not just about you, your team, and your boss.
As a leader, you are the public face of the people that work for you. The things you say and do reflect on them and on your organization. Your personal reputation affects your corporate reputation, and your corporate reputation matters. Social capital is path dependent. It can takes years to build but can be damaged or destroyed in a single day.
But you are not the only public face of your organization. The things your people say and do as they go about their work reflects back on you as a leader. If they have integrity, and are speaking and acting in ways consistent with your individual and corporate values, your people accelerate the building and extend the reach of your social capital.
When they make mistakes – and they will make mistakes – you need to know when to hold your tongue and allow them to learn from those mistakes and when to respond as the public voice of your organization. Most mistakes your people make do not merit a public response from you.
But you better be crystal clear about the types of mistakes and egregious behaviors on the part of your employees, especially supervisors and other leaders, that do merit action on your part. When your people speak and act in ways that seriously damage outside relationships, you better respond quickly.
Silence signals assent. It’s as if you had spoken the words or displayed the behavior yourself.
Young leaders are more likely to be forgiven for not knowing when to be silent and when to respond publicly to the egregious mistakes of their team. If you are a more experienced leader, you have less wiggle room. You will pay a price for not being able to discern when your individual and corporate reputation is seriously threatened by the actions of others.
It’s a price you deserve to be held accountable for. You earned it.
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