The danger of a vacuum
Bite sized leadership advice
Fear is a big driver of our behaviours. Our safety is important to us and times of change are times when our safety often feels at threat.
When we feel under threat we see the worst in everything. A survival mechanism to prepare us for danger.
We fill vacuums in communication with the worst possible outcomes and unsurprisingly, bad news travels fast, so that we can prepare ourselves to attack or defend.
Leaving a vacuum in communication invites your team to fill it with their worst possible nightmares or scenarios. Every nuance that you did not realise that you had made can be converted into a skyscraper sized monster.
Do not create an own-goal. Fill the vacuum. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Layer your communications and repeat.
But what if you don’t have the answers, what then?
Do not hide away, use the time to create trust, to help others understand how you think, so that they can predict the likely outcomes. Share the timelines or triggers when you will have more information to share.
Uncertainty paralyzes your team and their performance. Whatever you can do to remove the uncertaintly, fill the vacuum and give the team the predictability they need to feel in control helps.
Some practical advice
- Communicate, communicate, communicate.
- Layer your communications and repeat.
- If you do not have information, set expectations of the time, or trigger which will change that situation
- Find ways to remove the uncertainty and give predictability
This is part of our Leadership Wizdom series, bite sized leadership advice for leaders who wish to improve their leadership, but don’t have much time. For more indepth articles check out The Change Wizard.
We coach leaders and help their organisations become more adaptable at www.thechangewizard.com
