A new leader worries about having to become a dictator in order to meet her goals. She and her coach explore the challenges inherent in trying to be a truly democratic leader.

Core concepts in this episode:

When pressured, many leaders revert to giving orders.
People need time to feel safe speaking up to a new leader.
A democratic leader doesn’t have to give everyone their way, just give everyone their say.
When listening to ideas, just listen. Don’t fix or tweak or improve.

The Essential Communications website has many free resources for you.

The entire archive of episodes going back more than a decade is free and available to you.

Categories in the archive related to this episode are:
Leading Teams
Leadership
Perception – How You’re Perceived

Related episodes are:

How Teams Fight
Inviting Dialogue
Psychological Safety
Taming Meetings
The Conflict Conversation

If you’d like to be a tester for the new Essential Communications website, shoot Tom an email.

In this episode, Tom mentioned:

A progressive elementary school in Van Nuys, CA. The school is Children’s Community School.

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois Frankel

Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

Tom’s conversation with Ben Ritter on “The Live for Yourself Revolution.”

COACHES! Join Tom at the Executive Coaching Special Interest Group sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of ICF. Non-members pay $10 to attend. This month’s topic: Team & Group Coaching.

The Democratic Leader

The Look & Sound of Leadership