Читать книгу Better Leaders Ask Better Questions - Lindsay Ph.D Tighe - Страница 15

Given the critical role managers play in creating cultures, it makes sense to start this journey by asking you to look at your role as a manager or leader. The starting point to reflect upon is our mindset, because what we think drives our behaviours, actions and, ultimately, the results we achieve within our role. Very often I find that before we can look at changing anything, we have to start by looking at the way we are and the beliefs that sit behind our behaviour.

When we look closely at our beliefs, we frequently find that what we think isn’t something that we have chosen; it is something that has become programmed into our brains through:

•historic experiences or perceived experiences

•being passed on by relations/friends/significant people in our lives

•the media

•religious teachings

•cultural norms

•conforming to popular opinion or the ‘normal’ way of doing things.

Rarely do we make conscious choices about what we believe, and it can be shocking to realise how much of our thinking is based on conforming to set views rather than on independent, well-considered, rational thought. We have a natural tendency to go with the crowd and to conform, and most of the time we don’t even realise we are doing it.

In our workplaces, one of the first things that we experience when we take on a new role is an induction program. Whilst there is merit in undertaking such training, it is that we are being inducted into ‘the way we do things around here’, and the conforming starts without most of us being conscious that we aren’t making choices about what we’d prefer to do. Whilst I accept that this isn’t about having a free reign to do whatever we choose, I suggest that it isn’t always good to make everyone fit into the same box.

Two good questions to consider are: ‘What are the expectations of my role?’ and ‘How do I want to go about meeting these expectations?’ Very often the answers to these questions are outlined to us by our organisations in an overt way in the form of job descriptions, during interviews and in the directions provided when we start our new roles. We have to remember that whilst expectations of us are outlined during these processes, we must also consider what guidelines we are being given about our approach to achieving these results.

Sometimes these guidelines are provided by values and behavioural expectations, although frequently the ‘how you go about things’ is left to your discretion. That said, we often receive subconscious messages that will provide us with guidance. How often do people give you some friendly advice about what you should and shouldn’t do to be successful within your organisation? In addition, during conversations and interactions we are subjected to ‘role modelling’ behaviour by our colleagues and, in this way, we are indoctrinated into the culture of our organisations. Whilst the messages delivered to a new employee are frequently subtle, it is interesting to note the impact they have on the employee and their way of thinking, which in turn affects the way in which they fulfil their role.