Here's a simple tip to improve your effectiveness as a manager: The first thing you say to others matters more than you think. Those words set the tone for interactions and can help build your reputation as a leader.
Here are five common scenarios. Think about the first words you're most likely to say when:
- Someone pops into your office on a busy day and asks if you have a minute.
- You're about to edit a reporter's story.
- You're leading a brainstorming session.
- You're calling an employee's home on the person's day off because you need some information.
- You're sending an employee an e-mail reminder that a project is due in two days and you'd like to know where things stand.
Great bosses know that even everyday exchanges like these bring opportunities to let people know what you stand for -- and where they stand with you.
So that's why:
- Instead of waving off the staffer who wants a minute when you have none to give, you offer an exact time when you can get together later. I like to suggest something like: "I have a minute, but I bet you deserve more. Can we talk this afternoon at 3, when I'm out from under this work?"
- Instead of diving into that story you're editing and pointing out the first hole you see, you ask the reporter to tell you about the story before you review it, note things you like and then ask questions about the rough spots.
- Instead of simply telling your brainstorming team what you want to accomplish, you set people at ease by talking about ground rules that encourage risk-taking and fun.
- Instead of opening your calls to employees' homes with direct questions about business, you express appreciation for their help on their off-time. And you know the names of their significant others so you can acknowledge them, too -- especially if they're the ones who answer the phone.
- Instead of e-mailing, you speak face-to-face with your employee about the pending project because you know how easily e-mail can be misinterpreted. A benign inquiry can be read as "I don't trust you to make deadline." But if e-mail is your only option, your first line makes your intention clear -- you're sending a friendly note for a status check.
Great bosses know that their words have the power to teach and to motivate -- or to dismiss and deflate. That's why they choose them carefully, starting with their opening lines.
Opening lines are especially important when it comes to coaching employees on their work. I share an exercise I use in my teaching to demonstrate that in today's three minute podcast: "What Great Bosses Know about the First Thing They Say."
Poynter's "What Great Bosses Know" podcast is sponsored by
The City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. Poynter's leadership and management expert Jill Geisler shares practical information on leadership and management that's valuable for bosses in newsrooms and all walks of life.
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