The influence of your leadership, like the value of a publicly traded stock, is either going up, or it’s going down.
There are no flat lines when it comes to leadership stock.
When your stock is rising you are able to cast stronger visions, create more effective strategies, nurture healthier cultures and build more cohesive teams.
But when your stock is falling everything is harder. Much harder. People just seem to tune out to your leadership, and few initiatives you attempt to launch really seem to get off the ground.
Such is the importance of paying attention to whether your leadership stock is rising or falling.
But there is one key and important difference between your leadership stock and a publicly traded stock.
Whether your leadership stock is rising or falling is almost entirely within your control. How you conduct yourself will have a direct and usually immediate impact on which direction your stock will trend.
There are many obvious ways that every leader affects their leadership stock. Achieving goals, or failing to achieve goals, is a readily apparent indicator.
But there are many far subtler actions that can have a dramatic effect.
In a future post I will outline some of the ways you can see your line go up and to the right. But today, here are 10 subtle things you could be doing that can cause your leadership stock to fall.
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Being constantly late for meetings
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Failing to return telephone calls
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Failing to respond to emails within 24 hours
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Talking more than listening
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Making decisions without consultation of colleagues
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Holding meetings where nothing happens; no follow up or action steps
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Engaging with people only if they can help you
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Accepting undeserved credit
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Deflecting deserved criticism
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Repeatedly not following through on commitments
There are dozens of practices that could be added to this list. The main point is that a leader’s stock is affected by numerous subtle practices and habits. Leaders must carry enough self-awareness to recognize these habits and know how they are affecting their stock.
Because a leader’s stock is either going up, or it’s going down.
And it’s tough to lead from a plummeting stock.
