I had a conversation with a young man recently who is managing a Sales Team for the first time in his career after a long time, when he was preparing to earn his first leadership position. It was exciting to see how passionate he was for this opportunity to contribute to something bigger than himself. It was gratifying to see how serious he was about doing a great job and making a difference for the members of his new team. He asked me during the conversation for some uncommon advice. He wanted me to give him a nugget that would make all of these separate thoughts that were bouncing around in his head congeal into something he could hold onto. I thought about that for a few minutes quietly. Then I gave him his “nugget”. Here it is…

Remember The Water Cooler

No matter what you say or do in your life, you are always going to be susceptible to the conversations that take place around the water cooler. You see, people just love to gossip and tell one another what they think about the things that are going on in a business, upstream from them. You can’t change that. It’s going to happen. So, ask yourself, what do you want them saying about you? Do you want them talking about how negative you are? Do you want them talking about what a pain in the neck you are? Do you want them rolling their eyes about how out of touch you are? Of course not. So, for heaven’s sake, be positive, instead of negative. Be optimistic and believe the best in yourself and in everyone around you. In doing so, you remove a lot of the fodder for the water cooler talk.

Bring YOUR Best, Every Day

Don’t waste your breath on complaining, because nobody wants to hear it and it does absolutely nothing to make your situation improve. Don’t waste your time making excuses, because nobody wants to hear those either. Don’t waste your energy blaming others, because it only makes you look petty and small. Instead, position yourself for maximum success and influence, all day, every day. Be the BEST person you can be. Go first. Show others how to be a person who recognizes opportunity, who realizes the power of positivity, and can provide leadership to others in a moment when leadership needs to be courageous. Bring your very best ideas and energy to the effort, no matter the circumstances or the challenge. Meet adversity head-on. Look the snarling dog in the eye and let him know you will bring your fiercest to the battle. Never back down. Just do your BEST and let the rest sort itself out naturally.

Bring out the Best in Others, All Day… Every Day

I’ve never met a human being who didn’t yearn for other people to take an interest in them. People want to be understood. They want to matter. They want to live lives of purpose. They want to make the world a better place. They want to win. They want to win with others. Tap into those motivations as you work with others. Believe the best in others. Know that they can perform miracles. Understand that they might not look like much at the moment, but that if you see them in terms of their potential, they start looking better immediately. With that perspective, now you can begin investing in them, and learning what they can become when they have an ally helping them to confront the opportunities and adversities that come their way in life. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your team will want to follow you if you show them that you care about them. As they recognize you investing in their best interests and telling them the reasons WHY you are making the investments they will voluntarily sign up and help you to achieve your objectives, as you help them to accomplish their goals.

The Takeaway

My talented young Emerging Leader was starting to pick up what I was laying down. He smiled and said, “I’m going to start giving people the benefit of the doubt…” and I smiled. I paused for a few seconds and offered “That would be good. Once you’ve done that, you will have moved a great distance in the direction you need to go. Then, I want you to reflect and realize that one day, you will remove the doubt…entirely…”

Talk To An Experienced Coach

Michael Beach is an executive development coach who works with many developing leaders around the United States in the fast-growing, high technology industry. Michael’s Emerging Leader Program has enabled hundreds of those aspiring leaders to shorten their learning curve, to gain confidence quickly and to develop themselves into strong Leaders with Executive Presence. If you’d like more information about becoming one of our Emerging Leader clients or if you’d like to begin investing in developing a whole new generation of leaders in your business, contact us at info@michaelbeachcoach.com. Michael’s growing team of outstanding coaches is looking for aspiring Emerging Leaders and Companies who want to guarantee their long term success by investing in leadership development for their future leaders today. Contact us for a free 2-hour consultation.