http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/2010/12/20/for-leaders-balancing-care-with-candor/
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"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." (Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas)
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As we approach Christmas and the end of 2010, a little bit of John Maxwell is something we'd like to share.
His thoughts on "care" and "candor" as they relate to leadership:
^Care without candor creates dysfunctional relationships
^Candor without care creates distant relationships
^But care balanced with candor creates developing relationships
Maxwell goes on to be specific about how this combination should work:
+Caring values the person while candor values the person's potential
+Caring establishes the relationship while candor expands the relationship
+Caring defines the relationship while candor directs the relationship (getting the team moving together to accomplish a goal is the responsibility of the leader and that often requires candor)
+Caring should never suppress candor while candor should never displace caring
Maxwell has a "caring candor checklist" for working with people. Before having a candid conversation, can you answer "Yes" to the following questions about leading a team:
Have I invested in the relationship enough to be candid with them?
Do I truly value them as people?
Am I sure this is their issue and not mine?
Am I sure I'm not speaking up because I feel threatened?
Is the issue more important than the relationship?
Does this conversation clearly serve their interests and not just mine?
Am I willing to invest time and energy to help them change?
Am I willing to show them how to do something, not just say what's wrong?
Am I willing and able to set clear, specific expectations?
An answer of "Yes" to all of these questions means you have a good chance of communicating effectively.
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We'll close our postings for this year here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for those who celebrate that way. The happiest of holiday seasons to everyone.
In this first year of the second decade of the 21st century, it's hard to believe we've posted 110 times on all sorts of business and economic issues. As long as there's an audience, we'll continue.
Be well.
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Beautiful post, Mr. Hazzard. As always, you leave us with something to think about. Great reflection for the upcoming holidays.
ReplyDeleteI wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. It was great meeting you this year!
Thank you for all the great blogs this year Professor Hazzard.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and Happy New Years
It is hard to believe that you went from not wanting to do this to 110 blogs in a year! We are very lucky to have you (and Maxwell) giving us such good advice.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year!
Thank you for all the great blogs! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article!
ReplyDeleteIt applies to beautifully to the balance between care and candor defines the patient/physician relationship. At its core general docs try to lead patients to make healthy decisions. This requires being very candid, but when physicians have not taken time to establish a caring relationship - candor can lead to conflict.
Great share Thanks again!
Thanks all for your comments! It's now 1/3 and we're back. It's nice to see how some of you felt about how we ended 2010. We'll try to keep it up in 2011!
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