The conversation on leadership intentions sparked good conversations. Samantha Hall asked a key question about how we can really evaluate our intentions accurately and honestly, and Alli Polin posed a key point on what happens if an intention is good but the action is not. In other words, what happens when intentions don’t match?
Samantha’s comments resulted in my post on Lead Change – How Do You Check Your Leadership Intentions? – and All’s comment instigated this post on actions and intentions.
The crux of the matter is impact. However our leadership intentions and actions come together, there is a resulting impact from the combination.
Thinking through this question and point seemed like a ripe opportunity for a two by two matrix (one of my favorite ways to analyze a concept, challenge, or question!).
The Impact of Leadership Intention and Action Alignment
Remove. When intentions and actions are harmful, the actions are clear:
- If you are someone in this quadrant, remove yourself from the organization. Find a new job. Find a new team. Better leaders exist; find them.
- If you are the leader delivering this harmful combination, you are not a leader. Change your ways or you will be a very lonely individual, likely in jail or sidelined permanently.
No one wants to work in this quadrant, and these are the worst type of individuals who disguise or call themselves leaders.
Always have money set aside for these occasions. When you need to walk away and not look back, having the money to survive is essential. Some recommend having savings for six months of living expenses to make these transitions. Do this so you can make the transition to work in a more engaging, positive culture if you need to.
Doubt. When intentions are harmful and actions are heathy, the resulting impact is likely doubt. If we understand what a person’s intentions are and they are harmful, then any “positive” action will be viewed in distrust. We will question motives and be very hesitant to engage fully.
If possible, try to erase your doubt about the person’s true intentions. Ask questions to gain insight and observe their behaviors in other situations.
Confusion. When intentions are healthy yet actions are harmful, the resulting impact is confusion. We will begin to question why the individual is taking these actions and red flags are raised to the leader’s true intentions. Trust will erode if the action goes unchecked or unquestioned.
Ask questions like “If your intention is to collaborate effectively, your action of dominating the conversations is making everyone confused and disengaged.” Try to clarify.
Empower. With heathy intentions and actions, we feel fully alive in the work we are doing. Trust is in full bloom. The art of possibility is open along with crafting creative solutions to problems and challenges.
A positive environment is the result, along with highly engaged people. Take note of what is working and embrace it fully, protecting it from slipping into one of the other quadrants while fostering further growth in what is working.
Fine Line: Lead in Trust, Flounder in Distrust
The mismatch of intentions and actions raise two significant points:
- You have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. If your healthy intentions and actions don’t match, the results will be turnover, confusion, and doubt. Your business will ultimately fail.
- Build trust in all you do and ensure your intentions and actions construct healthy partnerships, transparent actions, and fully engaged teams.
Leaders can slip up quickly and the resulting impact is big. Much is at stake. Being a trusted leader is key to healthy intentions and actions.
As leaders:
- If your intentions are misaligned, you create confusion and doubt.
- If your intentions and actions are harmful, you damage relationships, reputation, and integrity.
- Trust is in the balance. Healthy organizational cultures are challenging to build and easy to destroy.
Step up to your leadership intentions and always, always raise your standard of leading.
Just look at what happens if we don’t lead with healthy intentions and actions. Distrust invades like a cancer.
As Ted Coiné and Mark Babbitt point out in A World Gone Social, we are leading in a Social Age. Our teams expect more from our leaders. Our times create intriguing opportunities that require sound leadership skills and principles. When leaders slip, trust will erode at the speed of social conversation and interaction.
Our leadership challenge is clear. Lead with healthy intentions and actions. Lead to build trust. Yes, we may slip-up at times but we need to correct quickly. Leaders need to own their errors and missteps and return to healthy, trust-filled leadership intentions and actions.
How do you keep your actions aligned with your healthy intentions?
Jon,
You did an exceptional job with this 2×2. It absolutely captures the employee and team experience.
Also, tying in trust is critical. The negative impact of misalignment is more than doubt and confusion – it breaks down trust. That’s really at the core when we believe we’re being manipulated. I also know leaders who are in the remove quadrant and by persisting, they’re hurting everyone in their path – including themselves.
Really fantastic!
Thank you, Alli. Appreciate you pushing this idea further and inspiring this added post on leadership intentions and actions. As you highlight, trust is essential and, if you don’t focus and align, much can be lost. Thanks! Jon
Great job, Jon in tying together trust with our intentions!
I get so frustrated when I work with people who give out mixed messages of what they say they feel and think and the actions they take. It makes me unable to cultivate an honest relationship with them.
Sometimes I think people have so many hidden agendas that they can’t act in a healthy way. We each need to check-in with ourselves and stop judging. We need build honest connections and then we will have trustworthy teams.
Thanks Jon!
Excellent points, Terri. The mixed messages and hidden agendas dampen the spirit and talent of too many people. We need to get our leadership intentions and actions aligned in a positive way. Appreciate your insights! Jon
Terri said what I was going to try to say, only better.
Great 2×2, Jon.
Thank you, Skip. Terri did say it well!
Such a great way to visualize and communicate your thinking on trust. I’ve seen so many leaders get frustrated because their “intentions” are solid, and therefore think the team should be reacting differently. It is so important to look at both intent and impact. GREAT post.
Thanks so much, Karin, for your feedback and comment. Appreciate your trust-centered leadership! Jon
Jon this posts timing was perfect. A great reminder for when stepping away from people and a situation that are not honorable in my book.
Agree, Michele. We need to take those steps at times. Appreciate your comment! Jon
I love your 2×2 grids and that you’re a trust activist! When it comes to effective leadership, trust trumps all.
Randy
Thank you, Randy. You lead the way in keeping us centered in trust. Appreciate all the reminders, actions, and key ways to lead in trust. Thanks! Jon
Jon,
Great write indeed! Coming from a customer service background, trust is hard to build and it takes seconds to destroy one that take months to build.
So yes, top notch and I can’t help but nodding all you have written!
Have a blessed weekend and take care!
Appreciate your comment, Reginald. I agree. Trust is hard to build but can be taken away quickly. We need to remain diligent. Grateful for your insights! Jon
EXCELLENT post Jon! And thanks for the mention.
This post also comes at a perfect time. Just yesterday something happened publicly on Twitter that, for me, being on the receiving end, was filled with confusion, doubt, and a big reason why I didn’t give the person what they wanted.
I had a made a comment to another Twitter follower (and a personal friend) about the topic of trust in regards to America and lists, etc. For me, even though this was technically a public conversation, it was still private in the sense that it’s NOT something that is posted on the main part of my Twitter profile page. And in order to even SEE the conversation, the viewer would have to also be followers of both my friend and myself. Which brings me to what happened.
Someone from an organization came out of the blue yesterday on this comment that happened not even recently! It’s been days or even a week or longer so it’s not even a FRESH conversation, and started asking me questions about my comment.
Whether or not this person had good intentions were not really clear because:
1. I did not personally know this person.
2. Neither of us were following each other.
3. And because of this, I didn’t trust the persons motive due to the simple fact that she was entering a PRIVATE (public) convo that wasn’t even current. So how did she even see it??
To me that was a huge red flag. So instead of receiving her inquiry as genuine concern and curiosity, it came across as if it was some sort of inquisition demanding me to publicly divulge personal details about me, my life, and perhaps a ‘situation’ that was frankly, none of this persons business! Especially when you consider the person is apparently the leader of an org on trust and asking me questions that could set me up in a big way of I WAS ignorant enough to answer the questions directly and publicly.
This is an example of what NOT to do if you are a leader trying to build trust.
The motives were unclear but did not come across as innocent.
If the person had a genuinely GOOD motive, why didn’t they bother to try and contact me privately by stating that in a public tweet after they noticed by resistance to want to answer questions?
NO such attempt was made.
So at this point, how likely would I be to recommend this person or their org to anyone?
Not likely at all.
Trust matters. And it must be EARNED. You have to build it with people and you can’t just charge into a private conversation like the spanish inquisition with an air of entitlement that someone else OWES you personal information about themselves or someone else, especially if that could potentially put anyone in a hazardous situation.
Thank you so much for once again another excellent post and great diagram that even helped me today articulate what I didn’t like and trust about the public Twitter conversation that happened yesterday with an unknown organization leader in America. (unknown to me anyway!)
Thank you, Samantha, for sharing this story and highlighting the key points of earning trust, being transparent on your motives, and keeping your actions aligned in healthy intentions and actions. Earning trust takes time and effort, and we need to act in a trusted way at all times. What your story shows is the importance of establishing a relationship, earning that trust, and then maintaining a trusted relationship in healthy ways.
Appreciate your questions, stories, and insights. It always helps me think more deeply about topics and makes us all better through the expanded conversation. Thank you! Jon