Sustaining Responsive Habits

In chapter three of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell defines “The Law of Process” by saying “Leadership develops daily, not in a day.” The art of responsiveness follows the same process. Listening when we have time won’t cut it. Providing a timely reply on occasion isn’t enough. The investment in responsive relationships will be ongoing, especially if we hope to give or receive meaningful mentorship. And refraining from throwing our file folder down the hallway tomorrow is a solid starting point, but we can’t drop the ball the next day. Sustaining responsive habits is critical for any of these steps to take root.

Through Emerging Leader Development, Leading At The Next Level, and other various programs we’ve created, Cindy and I have written more than 200 hours of curriculum to date. Every single one, whether we deliver it in person or as part of one of our digital course offerings, closes with a specific call to action: identify ONE thing you pulled from the lesson that you can take action on immediately. But we don’t stop there. The final question in each “assessment” asks the participant to identify three additional steps they can put in place over time that will help them sustain that initial action step. 

Even then, sustaining behavioral change is tough - and the primary reason we ever started offering Strategic Leadership Coaching. We all have good intentions for making changes that have a positive impact on the teams we lead, but the urgencies of life often derail us. The most valuable thing I’ve been able to offer through the coaching process has been helping the participant turn their initial action step into a behavior they perform routinely. Without keeping that new behavior top-of-mind until they’ve built it firmly into their everyday process, what they’ve been used to doing for years creeps back in - especially when stuff hits the fan. Even gentle accountability helps them create habits.

Responding quickly today is great, but has little lasting effect if we don’t do it over and over again. Unresponsive relationships don’t yield mentorship. Responding calmly the last time we were under tremendous pressure but blowing our top the time leaves our team wondering which version to expect on any given day. Regular responsiveness, intentionally adapted to our team’s needs and provided with extreme consistency, builds lasting leadership credibility.

One thing Cindy and I have seen over and over in organizations where the client-facing team members aren’t responsive is that this starts at the top. To quote John Maxwell once more, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” To leave a responsive legacy throughout our organization and across the communities we serve, we have to set the example. We’ll tie this together by working through that next. Until then, I’ll challenge you to do a self analysis on your responsive habits; are you sustaining your best intentions? If you identify opportunities for improvement, is there a system you can put in place to build the necessary habits? The right systems allow us to be more effective - even under extreme pressure.