I delivered the keynote address this morning to the fantastic folks at the Virginia SHRM State Conference in Virginia Beach. It was a full, large ballroom of incredibly gracious attendees who warmly gave me their attention and kindly laughed at all the right parts.
One gentleman approached me after and told me how much he agreed with me on the idea of leaders exposing more of their whole persona to their employees, rather than just constantly wearing their “game face.”

He said he served in the Air Force for many years under a certain O-6 colonel that carried himself in a typical, respect-commanding, fear-inducing way.
He said at one point it was discovered that the colonel had cancer and was in the hospital recovering from treatments. The man told me how refreshing it was to see “the Colonel” relaxing in a hospital bed, stripped of his formal attire and just there in jeans. He said it made the leader more accessible, made him seem more like a real person. From then on he had a new appreciation for his Colonel…his respect for him had not weakened, he simply no longer irrationally feared him nor grew unnecessarily nervous in his presence.

When we let others get to know us a little, or employ fun and levity to bring a more familiar mood to work, we allow them to see more of us than just our “boss” look and in turn respect and trust begins to bloom.

Tags: "serious boss" "levity effect" "air force colonel" | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments RSS