4 tips for leaders who wish to move forward based on connection

As a leader in an organisation, you have an important task to work on creating a vital working environment in addition to achieving results in terms of the content of the work. You do this by investing in healthy connections. What does this require of you as a leader?

4 tips for moving forward as a leader based on connection:

1. The lessons we have learned about how to deal with connections travel with us on a subconscious level. Acknowledge (and recognise) these patterns from your own past and see how they subconsciously influence your contact with your employees. Be curious about the lessons of others. There are more systems present on the work floor via your employees than you might think. Welcome this rather than wanting to keep these connections out.
2. Be aware that organisational patterns in the undercurrent influence the behaviour of employees as well. What desires to become visible? What still demands attention?
3. Make sure you are ‘present’ as a leader. You do not always have to be physically present on the work floor, but when you are there, make sure your mind is not already on the next meeting. Be available. When you find yourself in the moment, you are best able to pick up on signals about connections that are under strain. Incidentally, you pick up these signals by using your whole being and not just your cognitive abilities. The best way to pick up information about group dynamics is through your body’s signals. Do you suddenly feel shivers down your spine, do you feel cold or hot, do you suddenly get a headache? Then pay close attention to what is happening!
4. Make sure you can be ‘multi-partisan’ in conflicts. Listen attentively to everyone involved and try to see things from every perspective. Ask yourself what order wants to be restored by this conflict? This requires a non-judgmental approach and a willingness to include everything: the good, the bad and the ugly. Be aware that not everything is what it seems and that a conflict is apparently necessary to restore something in the undercurrent.