The Leadership Coach™

Label Maker

Posted on 25. May, 2010 by Paul Andrew in Leadership, The Leadership Coach™

The label maker is a versatile device. Saviour of kids’ belongings that would otherwise disappear at school. Stalwart of office filing systems. It can categorise, declare ownership, explain purpose, give instructions for use, even declare value. The label is a powerful thing.

But I’ve noticed that labels switch from helpful to harmful when we use them on people instead of things. I was a youth worker for some years and I often saw the crippling toll that a label could take. Like being described by your parents as their “accident”.

I once trained a group of school principals on how to be coaches. We were discussing the power of “limiting beliefs” – which coaches define as “any belief which doesn’t support or challenge you towards reaching your goals”. I asked them to share from their own experience what might happen to a hypothetical 9 year old student who failed an exam and was labeled “stupid” as a result.

The room was charged as principal after principal told the imaginary tale, sadly because they’d seen it happen in real life all too many times. The child believes the label. Then they look for other evidence to prove they are “stupid”. They stop noticing all the times they do well, or dismiss them as a fluke. They stop trying as hard on tests because they believe they’ll fail anyway. That provides more evidence. They form friendships with other students who are struggling at school. They choose easier subjects. And on it goes.

The Catholic principals called it a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. The power of a label.

So what can a leader do?

1. Be label conscious
Notice the labels people bear, and don’t blindly accept them to be true. Even when the facts agree I’ve yet to see how it helps a person to be labeled as a “single Mum” or a “divorcee”. Or an “addict” or “unemployed” for that matter. Be conscious of the labels on those around you and stay vigilant to their impact.

2. Be a label changer
Wherever you find those labels that limit people, dare to challenge and change them. Be the leader that helps people redefine themselves for good. Maybe the “rebel” is a “natural leader”. Perhaps the “dreamer” is an “innovator”.

3. Remember your influence
For better or worse, when leaders label people they tend to be much stickier. Of course that can be positive when you’re helping a person change for the good. But one of the key challenges of leadership is getting comfortable with the fact that you’re leading all the time, not just when you want to. Hard but true. In a moment of frustration, tiredness or moodiness a leader can do years of damage with a careless label.

So then, if I’m to be a label maker, let my legacy be people whose lives were enlarged and improved by their contact with me. Let my labels lift people, not limit them.

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Tags: Change, Leadership Impact, Leading People, Mentoring, Team Building