pic-for-leadership-masks

With Halloween upon us, what better time than now to expose how hiding behind a frightening mask can impact our leadership. Working with leaders at many different levels, I have seen the craziest and most debilitating leadership masks. One healthcare leader had the scariest looking eyes mask and seemed to stare at everyone he met. Another young leader hid behind her mask of “never asking questions” until she fell flat on her face.

Masks have become a “norm” for some leaders as they muddle their way through their jobs and careers. We might think that a mask can protect our imperfections and blind spots but honestly by tackling the challenging pieces of our leadership strategy we will become more authentic leaders. We owe it to ourselves and to all the people we work with to get out from behind our masks.

[Tweet “When leaders hide behind their masks they can’t be authentic.”]

Here are four scary leadership masks and how to remove them:

1. COMMUNICATES BY SHOUTING

Some leaders speak in louder voices than others but there is a big difference in an elevated volume level and a bully. A mask of shouting sends the message that we feel our voices are more important than the words of our team members or colleagues. When we raise the volume to a level that we sound like we are yelling, we will never be heard. In fact we will probably be muted.

Remove this mask by: Recognizing the volume of your voice and commit to taking it down a notch. Be aware of people not listening to you and instead share your message in a calmer, more moderate tone and volume. Remember yelling reminds adults of their parents or teachers reprimanding them. Big turn-off.

2. JUDGMENTAL THINKING

When leaders make assumptions about what others say and do before understanding the entire situation, they may jump to the wrong conclusions. In one of my recent workshops a team leader thought someone on their team was being lazy by continuing to hand back a project to them for completion. They eventually found out that the reason the team member did that was that they really had no understanding of a key concept.

Remove this mask by: Asking relevant and empowering questions about why an individual is unable to complete a particular assignment. Don’t rush to judgment or dream up reasons about a person’s actions. Help team members identify both their strengths and areas they need to grow.

[Tweet “When leaders judge others they often jump to the wrong conclusions.”]

3. NEVER ALLOW EMOTIONS OUT

Of course there is a time and place to reveal our emotions, but leaders who are never willing to show their emotions are not revealing their humanity. When we do display humanity we become authentic and build relationships. We need more humanity in the workplace and leaders need to model the way.

Remove this mask by: Sharing a story of mistakes we made along the way that reveals our vulnerability. In one of my programs a leader shared how she was very shy as a child but had a teacher who encouraged her to speak up. Through this incredible mentor she found her inspiring voice.

4. CONTROL FREAK

Do you ever find yourself thinking that no one can complete a project or deal with a customer as well as you? If you answered yes, then perhaps you are a bit of a control freak. Leaders fall behind this mask frequently and the result is that they are constantly left finishing everything themselves. By hiding behind this mask we can’t develop future leaders.

Remove this mask by: Delegating and sharing the workload. Get out of mindset that it’s “Your way or the highway”. Take time to coach and mentor others to grow. Projects can be completed in several different ways and maybe someone even has a better approach.

What other types of scary leadership masks have you noticed?

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

 

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This