How leaders control a team?

Being able to take the leader’s role is mostly about understanding, not every person that works with you, but how human nature works in general. Today we attend to deliver the crucial pillars that lay behind every individual’s potential.

1. Diversity
   Every individual is different. Our past experiences and physical characteristics vary from person to person. People who grew up in the same environment, raised in the same family, and went to the same schools are, of course, different. They might have common behaviors, but they don’t act, feel, or think the same way. Even identical twins who have a common background in terms of genes differ a great deal. Try to accept that, and you will realize you can accept people as they are.

   There is no need to compare people since they don’t have an identical background. Einstein once said: ”Don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.” You see, we often have expectations that don’t reflect realistic situations. We end up comparing apples with oranges and finally don’t make sense of what is going on. When you accept people’s diversity, you will be able to take advantage of their unique positive characteristics instead of trying to bring out a thing they will never manage to deliver.

   You don’t need to agree or like their way of understanding the world. If you effectively respect everyone’s model, your interactions will be significantly better.

2. Behavior
   It is essential to understand that the way people behave is not who they are. An employee in your company may tend to be strict with his fellow colleagues. Don’t be surprised if you see the same person adopting a whole different attitude when he communicates with his supervisor. His behavior is the outcome of a state he is at during the specific period in that particular environment.

   The reason someone is acting in a way is what hides behind their reactions. Your job will be to figure out what is that stresses this person out and help them bring out their best. The meaning of its behavior also depends on the context it appears to. Sometimes being strict is useless, but sometimes it might be necessary to succeed or even survive.

   Imagine the same employee being a captain on a ship that is ready to hit on a rock. The same strict approach may save the boat from crushing and people from losing their lives. Besides, people lead themselves to specific behaviors because their experience has proven to them that this is a practical approach.

3. Intention
   Trying to understand a complex system as human nature is not an easy task. There is action and reaction, and there is intention and motivation. The intention behind someone’s actions should be considered to be good. The purpose may be the individual’s best interest, the company’s well being, or the partner’s happiness.

   Whatever the motivation is, people tend to act in a particular way that, according to their judgment, will bring positive results regarding what they want to achieve. On top of that, the resources, personal skills, and inner strength are not the same for everyone. In other words, people do the best they can with the resources they have available.

   All we have to do is provide people with these valuable resources to help them do their best. Thinking like that will help you take the blame out of people’s shoulders, to make it easier for them to become productive.

4. The potential
   Everyone, including ourselves, has all the necessary resources they need in order to achieve their goals. What does that mean? Most of the time, we have all the essential resources we need, but we have them in a false context.

   Let’s take the example of a person who complains that they are not decisive enough. Perhaps, they reach that conclusion because they have difficulty in selecting a partner. Ask that person what their job is and if they are thriving there. It is quite probable that the same person is successful in another sector and shows a great deal of determination in that field.

   It is not the person who has or doesn’t have a characteristic, but the context they are asked to function. Help people use their unique skills where this is possible, and reveal the potential that lays underneath their actions.

Written by Anna Siampani.