How often have you heard it said of a leader, “he blows hot and cold” or “try to catch her on a good day”?
We’re all human and even the best leaders have good days and bad days, but if you’re the sort of leader about whom that sort of thing gets said, then it may be that you’re lacking in consistency in your approach to leadership, and you may not even realise it.
The best summary I ever heard about it was when someone said to me of their leader, "when he or the business is having a good week, we all have a good week, but when he or the business is having a bad week, we all have a bad week". What that person said they really wanted was for their leader to try to let them have a good week regardless of the immediate fortunes of the business, because, he said, that helped the team do their best work to improve those fortunes.
When he or the business is having a good week, we all have a good week, but when he o the business is having a bad week, we all have a bad week
It is hard sometimes to leave your troubles at the door, but essential if you want to create a workplace where people feel they can come to you with requests or for advice about problems. Without that, your teams will either make decisions that would have benefited from your input, make no decision at all, or let problems fester until they’re much harder to address.
That doesn't necessarily mean you have to hide the challenges from your teams, of course, it is just that consistency in your demeanour is key, even if personal styles vary wildly from one leader to another. The ideal scenario is to be authentically fair and balanced. Whether you natural style is robust, or laid back, collaborative or directive, be consistent. That way people know where they stand and can work out how to manage you and your expectations, without having to first work out what mood you are in.