Let Them See You as Human

A young and inexperienced supervisor I know expressed a desire to become more of a leader in his organization. He felt it wouldn’t ever be achievable because he was an introvert. He believed that all the best leaders must be extraverts. This belief held him back, because he didn’t have a desire to “act extraverted”, and it was against his nature to do so. He found it surprising that many of the best leaders I knew were introverts who learned to lead in an extraverted world.

We all have beliefs that hold us back. Yet some of the simplest activities can allow your humanity to shine through whether you are introverted or extraverted – or anything else - to create connections that are good for you and your organization.

Instead of trying to be something you’re not, how about letting others see you as human? The best way to do this is to connect with others on a regular basis. This is not difficult, but it does take willingness and consistency (and may be a little out of an introvert’s comfort zone).

Get out and converse

Get out of your office and visit with your stakeholders on a regular basis. Informally visiting with your direct reports, your employees, and your peers often doesn’t require a lot of effort or time. Block time on your calendar – fifteen to thirty minutes 2-3 times a week or an hour once a week may be adequate. If you have a geographically disbursed team, you can also blog, have conference calls or use a web cam between actual face to face visits.

Casual conversation during these visits is encouraged, and it can be mixed with more work-related discussions. Ask others about their weekend or their hobbies; let them know, in small doses, about your own interests outside of work. Ask them how they see their job as connected to the bigger mission or vision or what your organization could do better.

Listen a lot and allow your curiosity about others to help you to formulate and ask some questions to move the conversation along. Discover areas you can unite with others on – agreement on similar interests or like mindedness on a topic will help develop connections. Allow people to get to know you through the stories you tell (but be careful to do more listening than talking).

Remember what you’ve heard to create deeper connections

Remember what you’ve heard. Thank the people you’ve talked to for spending some of their time with you and let them know that you enjoyed the conversation. On your next visit, refer to something they said; this will help them to know that you listened and create a bond because you remembered something about them.

Connecting through being seen and having conversations will help you to learn about others views of the organization and help them to get to know you. It provides a venue for discussing to connect people with the work of the organization and it helps people to see you as human.

Continue reading here: Now, Embrace Your Weaknesses

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