The Leadership Coach™

Frank Is Your Friend

Posted on 17. Nov, 2008 by Paul Andrew in Communication, The Leadership Coach™

When it comes to building great teams, frank is your friend. Not frank the person, frank the quality. Leaders who create environments where communication stays frank (open, honest & clear) set their teams up to succeed.

I’ve coached and spoken for numerous organisations and so observed many different cultures when it comes to communication. Cultures where you don’t ask questions. Cultures where it’s not polite to say what you really mean. Cultures where you don’t tell the boss bad news. Cultures where gossip reigns and people watch their backs. Cultures where no-one dares challenge the status quo.

And yet I notice highly effective teams are mostly quite the opposite. These teams know that things don’t tend to change until someone is prepared to be honest and say “this isn’t working”. Sometimes the most creative thing you can do is simply stop doing something that isn’t working anyway. The energy and time you’ll save can be better spent finding a solution that actually works.

Great teams understand that relationships don’t tend to improve until someone is courageous enough to ‘go there’. Most days I sit face to face with business leaders as their coach, and very often the solution to their so-called ‘people problem’ is simply this – have the honest conversation. Don’t hint. Don’t wonder. Don’t wish. Don’t manipulate. Don’t gossip. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t replace them. Don’t blame someone else. Don’t delegate it. Have the honest conversation.

So, what’s bothering you today that it’s time to be frank about? Frank doesn’t mean harsh… you can communicate clearly without destroying people, overloading emotions, or constantly mouthing off your opinion. There’s a time and place for frank.

What conversations have you been avoiding having? What price have you paid for avoiding them? The price is probably going up for you, for them and for the whole team the longer you allow it to go unaddressed. Simple advice… do it … this week.

Related posts:

1. You Lost Me At Hello
2. The Spare Time Test
3. Get It Right (The art of conflict resolution)

Tags: Executive Coach, Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Leadership Development, Leadership Training, Mentoring, Performance Coaching, Personal Development