{"id":181,"date":"2018-06-11T17:57:57","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T17:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/107.170.231.162\/2018\/06\/11\/a-leaders-word-is-not-the-word-of-god-heres-how-to-make-sure-your-team-knows-that\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T13:22:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T21:22:00","slug":"a-leaders-word-is-not-the-word-of-god-heres-how-to-make-sure-your-team-knows-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2018\/06\/11\/a-leaders-word-is-not-the-word-of-god-heres-how-to-make-sure-your-team-knows-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid this leadership mistake: Your team listens to your word too closely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the boss speaks, people listen\u2026 too<\/em> much. Here are two phrases to counteract this common leadership pitfall.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Watch the ears perk up. The boss says something, and folks become extra attentive. It’s not a leadership mistake they’re making on purpose \u2013 it’s the unintentional by product of being the boss<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of sudden, someone underlines a phrase in their notebook because the boss mentioned it. Another person make a mental note that project X, which the boss briefly<\/em> touched on, should get bumped up in the priority list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether we realize it consciously or not, the owner\u2019s word weighs a ton<\/a>, as precisely put by Basecamp<\/a> CEO Jason Fried<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s most frustrating as a leader, is trying to figure out what you should do about this<\/em>. It’s not a leadership mistake you’re making on purpose \u2013 it’s the unintentional by product of being the boss<\/a>. How do you get your team to understand they shouldn\u2019t heed your word so mightily\u200a\u2014\u200awithout undermining your own point of view, or handcuffing yourself from being candid in what you say? Does this mean you can never vocalize a strong position, or ask a pointed question?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura Roeder, CEO of MeetEdgar<\/a> (a company she bootstrapped to $4MM ARR in 2.5 years) wrestled with this herself, firsthand. She admitted<\/a> to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt can be easy not to realize how powerful a side comment from me as the leader\/CEO\/founder going \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know about that,\u201d to someone else can read as \u201cLaura has vetoed this, this will never happen,\u201d when maybe I mean like, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you flesh that out more?\u201d But I need to say that explicitly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For Laura, this was her biggest leadership lesson learned: As the boss, your word is often interpreted as the word of god. And, the best way to offset the weight of your word is to explicitly tell people know what your word is not.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a deceptively simple solution\u200a\u2014\u200abut it works. Your team internalizes your word so strongly because you aren\u2019t telling them otherwise. The default assumption they\u2019re operating under is, \u201cMy boss\u2019 word matters.\u201d In many ways, it\u2019s a good, respectful, even admirable thing. But because it can be dangerous when applied blindly, we as leaders have got to make things clear: \u201cMy word isn\u2019t<\/em> the word of god. It\u2019s one perspective, one person\u2019s thought. My word as a leader should not <\/em>matter as much as you think it does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t expect folks to infer that an opinion of ours is, well, just an opinion. We\u2019ve got to say outright, \u201cThis is an opinion.\u201d That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two phrases that Laura rigorously uses, in particular, to avoid the leadership mistake of her word being leaned on too heavily:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake this decision without me.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake this decision without me<\/em>,\u201d encourages your team stop looking over their shoulders, circling back to you for approval as a knee-jerk reaction. When you state this clearly, you give explicit permission to make the call without fear of repercussion. You can follow this up by saying \u201cI don\u2019t need to see this<\/em>\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019t show this to me<\/em>\u201d to further emphasize that it\u2019s your team that should be owning a specific decision\u200a\u2014\u200anot you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not urgent.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This second phrase, \u201cThis is not urgent\u201d<\/em> is handy when you\u2019re curious about something random, say a report or a statistic. Laura told me that when she asks off-handedly about a report or statistic, she\u2019ll even write, \u201cTHIS IS NOT IMPORTANT! THIS IS NOT URGENT!\u201d in all caps in the email. While seemingly hyperbolic or over-the-top in the moment\u200a\u2014\u200ait\u2019s effective. Laura said how doing so has truly helped make sure her team doesn\u2019t prioritize things they shouldn\u2019t. You\u2019re providing the context your team needs to figure out where your request fits in the broader scope of what they should be focused on. Without it, they assume you mean \u201cASAP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both phrases slow down your team\u2019s impulse to react to your word on a whim. While the perking up of the ears and underlining in the notes may still happen, you put the decision back in the hands of your team when clarify the weight of your word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake this decision without me<\/em>\u201d and \u201cThis is not urgent<\/em>\u201d help your team calibrate your word accurately. Unless you\u2019re explicit about it, your team will assume otherwise. <\/em>Don\u2019t mislead them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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