Leadership Intention and Impact
Intention and Impact. Is there a gap there? Are your leadership intentions and the impact of your words and actions aligned? Most of us think our intentions are clear, transparent, until something goes wrong, not as well as we thought it would or business results suffer. Leaders, especially those who have self-clarity (clarity in our own mind exists), tend to assume that the impact of what we do will follow our clear-as-a-bell intention. Certainly, it’s clear because it’s clear-as-a-bell in my own mind.
- Have you ever been misunderstood?
- Was it because what you said or did was mis-interpreted, it missed the mark?
- Have you found yourself having to explain, maybe apologize to repair a relationship?
- Did you have to do double work to straighten things out?
Stop. Back-up. Establish clarity from the beginning. I recommend actually using the words, “my intention is…” These three simple words can prevent a lot of headaches, problems and hurt feelings. They can prevent a simple change effort from going bad.
This works in personal relationships too. Use the three words, “my intention is…” and they will save you from having to use a whole lot of extra words on the other end. Make alignment of your leadership intention and impact one of your strengths and your team will be that much further ahead in achieving your goals.
Tags: business results, change, gaps, goals, impact, intention, leaders, relationships, strengths, team
February 8th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Excellent point, Alison. Back when I had a traditional job, I remember the thing that upset me the most was having someone question my intention. Often, when I backed up, I realized I had not been as clear about it from the beginning as I could have been. In my own business I try to make it a point to state my intentions – first to myself (so I know what the heck I’m talking about) and then to my team and clients. It has helped tremendously.
I wonder what some of the now infamous CEOs are thinking about intention and impact (regarding bonuses, airplanes, etc.). I’m guessing they didn’t think a lot about the impact their decisions would have, but I also wonder if they had thought through the intentions.
Hmmm…
Nina!