Leadership Tip: Watch your tone!

Leadership Tip: Watch your tone!

Your words matter. We all know that. And many of us are pretty careful with our words. What we’re less careful with, though, is our tone. What we say matters, but so does the way we say it! As a leader, your tone sets the tone.

Be aware of how you sound! Especially if you’re tired, frustrated, busy, or angry. That’s when you’ll run into the most problems. When we’re tired, frustrated, busy, or angry we tend to get selfish. All we want is a solution to our problem. So when something is brought up that doesn’t solve that problem, we tend to fire short snappy responses. It’s our way of getting whatever that is out of the way in order to get back to problem solving.

Obviously that’s not good. It causes problems in relationships, teams, and so on. So how do prevent it? How does a leader watch his/her tone?

1. Be aware of how you’re feeling

Being aware of your emotions, especially if they are one of the four above, will go a long way! Read up on emotional intelligence and you’ll find this to be true. Knowing your emotions is the first step in learning how to deal with them.

2. Pause before responding

Take a few seconds (or minutes) and think on a question or comment before responding. If you pause for a moment, you’re much less likely to make a harsh statement.

3. Tell the person how you’re feeling

If you’re too tired, frustrated, busy, or angry to think about something at that particular moment, try telling the person that. Maybe still pause first, but just say “I don’t have the capacity to consider that at the moment. Can I get back to you?” In my experience, people tend to respond pretty well to that.

Always be aware of you tone! Remember - what you say matters, but so does the way you say it!