leadership
THE MORE LEADERS
DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY’RE
CARING, CONNECTED AND
CURIOUS, THE EASIER IT
BECOMES FOR TEAM MEMBERS
TO SPEAK UP ABOUT THINGS
THAT MATTER TO THEM.
cafeteria or even in the parking lot and
outside office hours. They approach every
day asking themselves the same question:
how am I going to be today?
Answering that question involves
three key elements: caring and connecting;
getting curious about the business
and its people; and communicating
with courage.
CARING AND CONNECTING
A good leader loves people, or at least
cares for them. It’s not enough to just present
facts and figures or explain goals to
your team and expect them to follow you;
you also need to connect with them on a
personal level. If you genuinely care about
your people, they will feel it and be prepared
to do almost anything to help you
and the team.
Good leaders know that truly caring
about people means listening – really listening
– and giving your employees’ ideas
full consideration, even if you can’t do everything
they want.
CULTURE OF CURIOSITY
Albert Einstein often said that he was
neither clever nor especially gifted, just passionately
curious. Curiosity is an important
trait of every good business leader – curiosity
about the business and its people.
Being curious means being willing to
ask questions, even if you think that doing
so might make you look dumb. In many
cases, asking a question provides valuable
information to others who may not be on
the same page, or who were afraid to ask
that same question. Being curious can help
your team get to a better solution.
COMMUNICATE WITH COURAGE
MolsonCoors has a policy of “straight
talk” – a common language that gives
people licence to say what they mean to
further their team goals. But straight talk
is not a licence to be mean or rude; it has
to be constructive and come from a place
of good faith. Yet even though people are
encouraged to use straight talk, it’s surprising
how difficult it is for some people
to speak up.
Good leaders understand that straight
talk benefits everyone because it makes
the business, and the people who work in
the business, better. And the more leaders
demonstrate that they’re caring, connected
and curious, the easier it becomes for
team members to speak up about things
that matter to them.
The most effective way to speak up isn’t
to just raise a concern, but to advocate for
what you think would make things better.
Have the courage to say “I want” something
specific done. You’ll be amazed at
how much more you can accomplish when
you state clearly and with conviction what
you want.
So while people are not necessarily born
to lead, almost anyone can become a good
leader. It all starts by answering that question
– how am I going to be today? – and
then using your head and your heart to
connect with and inspire your team. n
Kelly Brown is the chief people, legal and
corporate affairs officer at MolsonCoors.
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42 ❚ OCTOBER 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL