Role of the leader: Amplify good and dampen stress
“The role of a leader is to amplify good and dampen stress.”
This was advice given to me and my leadership team at Dragon Army by Doug Shipman, President and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center. You might remember that Doug met with my leadership team at Dragon Army recently and shared the sage advice for leaders to not pick up the oar and to let the sun rise when making big decisions.
When Doug talks, I listen, and this piece of advice really hit home.
Amplify the good
This is so important, and honestly something that I struggle with. As a growth-oriented entrepreneur, I’m always moving forward. Always.
“That’s done? Great, now look at this next thing we need to tackle. Let’s go!”
I’m constantly looking ahead to the next mountain that needs to be climbed so that I can make sure my team is appropriately prepared. As the captain of the ship, if you will, I have to always be navigating us to safe waters. Oh, and pointing out where land is.
It’s hard for me to remember to celebrate the wins and ‘amplify the good,’ as Doug puts it. So his advice was extremely helpful for me to keep in mind. And I’m so proud of my dragons, that its genuine how much I admire what they accomplish.
I just need to tell them more often :)
Dampen the stress
This one comes much more naturally to me, but I think its the harder of the two for most other leaders. I don’t get stressed very often. In fact, I get asked often if I ever do get stressed. At least at this point in my life, I’m able to see the big picture and understand that unfortunate things will occur, but if we’re smart and have a plan, we’ll figure it out and get back on track. Granted, it’s possible that these guys might say that in my earlier days as an entrepreneur I dealt with stress less effectively :)
So its more natural for me to attempt to dampen the stress of my team members. I try to find ways to alleviate some of their pressure and help them see the same perspective that I have. It’s also why I work so hard to build trust within my team, because trust is an exceptional stress remover. The more that they trust that I’m really ok with us making mistakes (hopefully we’re only making new mistakes,) the more they know its ok to fail and to put there energy toward making us a stronger company.
~ photo by @nate_dumlao
