Leadership mistake: putting on a fake smile.
As a human being, you have great days, and of course, you also have terrible days. Your mood is affected, and your surrounding may also be.
As a leader, both great and terrible days can affect the vibe and whether your team will over-perform today or end up in a bad mood, not delivering the quality output you know from them.
In the end, as a leader, you will have to deal with your own bad days. You cannot always avoid them, but you can learn how to manage them so they don’t affect your performance or that of others.
To be honest, I often find myself in a problematic situation regarding emotions and mood. Sometimes I had a bad call in the morning, or I couldn’t sleep well because my brain was working on many different information, scenarios, and ideas. That’s — of course — affecting my mood and start into the day.
So what happens?
I arrive at our office and turn off my e-scooter, feeling totally pissed off.
And then sometimes, unfortunately, I put a mask on. I hide my emotions, put on a fake smile — and open the door to the office. A big mistake I make way too often.
Why is it a mistake?
Because I value authenticity so much. I aim to build a company culture where everyone in my team can be as real as possible. Because I believe in individuality and the success one can achieve when being himself. My team can evolve when everyone can be authentic and be however they want to be.
So why do I pretend to be a happy person? Because I need to set an example for my team and show them how to behave properly. But is it really necessary? No, not at all.
Why should my team be authentic when I am not leading by example?
I am working on it. But how?
I am working on communication, I am convinced that good communication will solve such situations. I’m just walking in, bro-fisting everyone as I am used to doing every day and telling them that my morning didn’t run that well and that I’ll need 15 minutes to get my good mood back. I’m trying to convince myself that it’s ok to be in a bad mood sometimes and that my team will understand. But they don’t and I am the one who needs to change.
Everyone will know that it’s not because of them, the vibe will still be great, and my team can perform.
