OK, so the majority of what I teach, what I share as a trainer and consultant is about tactics. I speak to store managers about what they need to do deliberately…what they do consciously to exact a specific return or response. I teach coaching and communication. I teach how to create a learning experience when giving a meeting. I teach what to say when “x” happens. Today, I am walking off the porch. Did I just give a porch reference? I am going to speak about what we do as managers and leaders unconsciously. Huh?
OK, we have a job to manage and lead a team of people. We are tasked to do “x, y and z” each and every day. We do these things. We develop our people. We sell our widgets. We get the job done and are incredibly aware of what we are doing. Most of the time, what we are doing is deliberate. We do “this” to create “that”. Sometimes it is not so deliberate…not so conscious.
Let’s create a context. I will teach a manager to do this specific coaching act or use this specific coaching tool with the intention to make a certain thing happen. That is a deliberate and very conscious act to exact a desired outcome. But what about what we do when we don’t have an agenda. You may think, “Oh, you mean role-modeling?” Not necessarily. You see, if I have a new hire, I may have them shadow me while I interact with a customer or do a certain operational process. My intention is conscious. I want you to see what “good” looks like and then (this is key) circle back with you and have a learning experience. I will coach and share thoughts. I will ask questions like, “what do you think?”, “what would you do?” and “what might you do differently?” You see, that is deliberate and very conscious. When I say unconscious, I mean, you are not circling back.
If you are a parent reading this, you may link this to the concept that a parent’s actions and reactions indirectly mold behavior. That what someone may do in a circumstance will influence another emulation of the same given a similar or relative circumstance. I immediately think of a recent commercial. I think they sell insurance. The crazy part is I do not even know what the brand or product is, but I have the commercial clearly in my head. In essence, someone does something nice for another, or picks up some trash, or saves someone from being hit by a car and someone else sees that. The next scene is the person, now energized to do something equally as nice or “right”, then they do something nice or right and the chain continues. Kind of a “pay it forward” kind of concept. This is what I am referring to as unconscious leadership. What we do without any kind of deliberate act of creating a learning experience can create a learning experience. Yep, I knew you would go cross-eyed at some point.
Your team sees everything you do; like how you act and react and what happens when you are in stressed situations. You may not be aware of their awareness. You are not circling back and having any kind of learning moment. You are just being you at that certain time on the job and EVERYONE IS SEEING THAT. Does that make sense? I had a manager who played favorites. His action and reactions became very apparent to me. It shaped not only how I did my job, but also how I viewed him as a leader. Wait for it…it also shaped how I now manage others. Wow, really? Yes, really. Your team needs to see what good looks like without an agenda. They need to see you deal with crisis, with customers, with operations and with everything that and will come up as a manager and leader. AND they will emulate (or at minimum store the data for a later date) on how one does…well whatever “it” is.
So what is my point? OK, good question.
- How do you currently manage? What do people see when you are not paying attention? What are your reactions?
- How do your relationships in the team shape perspective? Does the way you chat with Mary impact what Skippy thinks?
- When “x” happens, are you aware of how everyone sees that?
And perhaps the biggest reality is that retail is the revolving door. You may be waiting for that one job. This is especially obvious with Gen Y. Another job, you know if this one doesn’t work out is…”well, yeah duh.” And I wonder, if you are that generation, how much of that may be influencing how you are managing and leading your team. You are doing this job NOW. You can dream about the other one…for sure. Someone is expecting you to do this one, right now. How much of what is outside the job is influencing how you are doing this one? It is impossible to eliminate your personal from your professional. The key is to do the right thing now so that the right “thing” later is amplified. Do you get that or is that just a question mark? I get that retail is a revolving door. Trust me on that one. But you are here right now and you can amplify your abilities right now! For whatever happens next.
What you do influences others…especially as manager and leader. What are you doing? What happens next? When you show up tomorrow, just doing your job, no learning experience planned, what will Skippy, Todd and Mary see? Nothing deliberate; just your day.
Unconscious learning opportunity.
Cheers