The ripples in our words

Background

A few years ago the entire customer success team disappeared. One moment there and then gone. Their manager came to me lost for words (and panicked) we looked and then made a call to one of the team. Turns out all four of them were just downstairs, catching a rare Pokemon that had just shown up in the PokemonGo app

On discovering this, their manager was livid and requested that I sit in while she "scolded" the team. I said I would but suggested that I lead the meeting - relieved she agreed

In that meeting I used the SBID approach and after talking about the situation behaviour and impact of what had just happened led a discussion on what the team thought - and rather than feeling scolded they came to understand that it hadn't been a good decision on their part and that they would choose to do things differently in the future...

Present day

Recently I met up with one of those team members who told me that the episode with the Pokemon was a defining moment for them to understand what good leadership and proportionate response looks like. I was astonished that what I took to be a simple conversation had such an impact

Leadership behaviors - good or bad create ripples across the years and across careers. How will your behavior today impact those around you?