practice it: Un-Plug: Call it what you will: Going off the grid, unplugging, disconnecting, shutting down - taking conscious breaks from technology is essential to our productivity and our overall mental health.And that’s why making sure your employees are aware of, understand the restorative powers of, and regularly partake in a digital detox is a responsibility that, as leaders, lies squarely on our shoulders. Step Back: When there is a particularly stressful meeting or conversation you are about to go into either with a client or a team-member, try to silence your thoughts for a couple of minutes
August 2016
to think, reflect, step away from the pressures of the situation which is not like the environment of going in there to attack the task at hand. The leader’s skill lies in stepping back differentiates the process of the discussion. Listen More: In case you’re thinking listening-centric leadership is a fleeting fad, it has actually been around for thousands of years! In fact, Lau Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher wrote: A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. So the next time you are heading up a meeting and you need to hear some ideas, thoughts, etc. make sure
you are giving your team and yourself every opportunity to contribute. A few extra seconds longer than you would normally wait is usually all it takes. In fact silence is a greatly underestimated source of power. In silence, we can hear not only what is being said but also what is not being said. Switch and Shift: It is only through silence and stillness that we can come to our thoughts in any meaningful way and from that spring, take action we think best. Successful leaders do not consciously work towards creating an atmosphere of silence and instead capture and benefit from the moments as they happen.
Truth be told, we’re not likely to stop using our smart phones and electronic gadgets. Instead, our goal should be to consume more silence. It will help keep the noise from deafening us. And it will certainly help keep it from demoralizing us. Besides, silence is what makes sound meaningful in the first place. I look forward to hear from you at pavan@ittige.com on where you are in the journey of being silent and switching off your sensors to build quiet times into your schedule. Pavan Sriram is the CEO of ITTIGE Learning, a performancebased training company that works with organisations to improve learning outcomes. www.ittige.com
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