Are your leaders leading with Compelling Conversatoins?
In a series of posts on my 4 Ups! model (Bring it Up! Talk it Up! Wrap it Up! and Follow it Up!) I share that it is rare for any leader to be proficient at all four skills based on their personality, their natural Attraction Powers and Repellent Forces.
Once a conversation has been Brought Up, Talked Up, and Listened Up, it is time to Wrap it Up and gain heart-felt commitment by achieving mutual understanding, gaining agreement, and facilitating clear action planning.
How do your managers Wrap Up! conversations, meetings, and performance feedback? If they leave discussions with clear action plans, kudos to you!
What I most often hear however is,
- “She nodded her head up and down in agreement, yet nothing happened.”
- “I left the conversation not sure what action my manager wanted me to take.”
- “I don’t believe the solution is viable, so I’m going to do nothing.”
- “I’ll just go back and do what I’ve always done. This won’t work.”
Many managers leave discussions with a “hope and a prayer” or implicit expectations that actions will be taken. The better practice is to be explicit in what is expected.
In every Wrap it Up conversation, you will be much more effective as a leader if you use a little script along the lines of, “So, we agreed that X will do X, on or by X date, at X time, with X outcome, and report back to X in X way?” Where others may become angry, frustrated and defeated, you will have an approach for getting commitment and getting things done.