Health & Fitness
Leadership, Syria and Growing Your Business
Lessons in leadership for business owners...from a heated political topic.
By The Silent Partner Marketing
Around election time, I would log onto my personal Facebook page and find the entire newsfeed lit up with banter back and forth about "my guy vs. your guy". It seemed there was no shortage of opinions...and very HEATED opinions, at that.
That's why I've been surprised to log onto Facebook lately and find more comments about Miley Cyrus, 50 Shades and the next season of of Grey's Anatomy than anything about Syria.
How is it possible that people with such strong convictions around election season...on both ends of the political spectrum...could have NO opinion on Syria?
I've seen the polls - and they've all varied widely. 92% of people oppose US action in Syria. 87%. 58%. It depends on what poll you look at (despite the fact that they all claim to represent ALL Americans).
The polls - and Facebook - sort of left me thinking that perhaps people don't know WHAT to think.
So I conducted my own non-scientific study yesterday. I posted this status:
"Your thoughts on Syria. And......go."
Slowly the responses began to trickle in. All of a sudden, it was like I opened a floodgate.
And they weren't divided by party lines, like you might expect.
In this non-scientific fashion, I found people were confused...not just by Syria, but by the leadership. Some point out that we should trust our President when he says Syria used chemicals on people. Others point out that Putin declares shennanigans on this, saying that the rebels would benefit more from framing Syria. Touche. Others point out that our President wouldn't lie to us. Others point out Benghazi, Fast and Furious and the IRS. Others point out that he doesn't need approval to bomb Syria. Some say he does.
So without making this blog political, I want to point out a lesson that, as business owners, we can learn from this completely political debacle.
What's your message? Who are you as a leader? Do your people trust you and want to follow you? Are you a decision-maker...or are you more concerned with politics and with ultimately being able to point the finger at someone else if something goes wrong?
A friend of mine is the CEO of an insurance company. He brought up some interesting perspective the other day.
"It doesn't matter if you make the right decision or the wrong decision - every leader needs to make a decision. The litmus test for whether it was right or wrong isn't whether it WORKS...but it's whether your employees will stand behind you and support you."
Do YOU pass the litmus test with your staff? Have you cultivated an atmosphere of trust and respect? And if the answer is no...how are you going to change that, starting TODAY?
