The Softer Side OF Business: Don't Criticize

By: Santi Chacon
Denver, Colorado
Business Coach

The Human Strategy

As executives consider their leadership in a given industry importance should be attributed to emotional intelligence. What is considered adequate leadership of employees and customers is the enemy of effective leadership; just as complacency is the enemy of progress.

If you are expected to compete in the rapidly changing business environment you are witnessing today, you must redefine your leadership. If you have one blog reader, one customer, or one employee you are a leader. If you are a leader the need for regular evaluation of what you consider soft skills is critical to your ability to compete in the marketplace.

Defining Leadership

Transactional leadership is what most people consider adequate or just enough to get through the work week. Transactional leadership is leadership through obligation. If you are starving and I have an abundance of bread you will follow me because of what I possessed not because I am a good leader.

Authentic leadership is leadership, in which individuals have options and choose to follow a person regardless of the leader’s faults. I would argue that the most effective strategy for business embraces people. There's a thought a business strategy that actually loves people! What is missing from the corporate experience is an admiration toward who is served, whether employee, or customer.

The Ethics Of Love

All ethical challenges in business environments have been because of the lack of admiration an executives has for his stakeholders. If executives learned to love those they are serving ethics will never be an issue. Sure, there will be hard choices ahead; however, the values of Wall Street will have faded into a distant memory. How you treat people under your stewardship is a key to human excellence as you compete in today's corporate environment. This brings us to:

Principle #2: Don't Criticize

The most effective way to break the human spirit is to criticize at every given opportunity regardless if you put 'constructive' in front of it or not. At this point I assume you knew what you were doing when you recruited your people. Since you knew what you were doing when you chose your employees, partners, and customers; realize people development is not an event but a process, so treat it as such and create a plan. If your employee knows he screwed up and he knows you know he screwed up than get over it! This is an opportunity for improvement, so decide to coach versus criticize, and respond don't react.