The Democratic Leader

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 PerceivedRelated episodes are: How Teams Fight Inviting Dialogue Psychological Safety Taming Meetings The Conflict ConversationIf 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 FrankelDare 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.