03 Jun a clear positive message

Message is defined as a significant point or central theme, especially one that has political, social, or moral importance.

As a leader, the message you share, especially in moments of crisis, is one of your most important responsibilities.

Throughout my career, I have witnessed both positive and negative messages shared by various organizations and leaders. I have been in bad situations where 100’s of people have had to been fired or let go, but the message from the leader was one of hope, teamwork, and forward progress. On the other end of the spectrum, I have observed situations in which tremendous success has been achieved by teams, and yet the leader diminished the accomplishments and deflated team morale.

Whether the COVID-19 pandemic or the #BLM movement, I have seen examples of positive and negative messages from various leaders spanning from the government to medicine.

Negative messages instill fear, anxiety, worry, and a flight or fight response. It causes an individual question their own safety or well being.

Positive messages do exactly the opposite. They create a sense of excitement, encouragement, unity, and safety. A positive message can instill and build trust within a team and an organization.

As leaders, we need to remember that while we want to be transparent, open, honest, and rooted in reality it is also essential to ensure that our message (and how we convey that message) is performed in a positive manner.

One instills fear, unnecessary commotion and stalls progress.

The other continues to build trust, team unity, and forward motion.

Remember, there is always something to be learned in any situation. Whether you make it positive or negative is up to you as a leader.

Leadership and positive messaging is a choice. A choice that happens at the N of 1.

As always feel free to email me at cancergeek@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter and Instagram as CancerGeek

~Cancergeek