By Karen Schmidt
When did gardening get so noisy? I was taking a walk around my neighbourhood the other day and came across these two gardeners working outside an apartment building. The noise coming from their hedge trimmer and leaf blower was so loud they needed ear muffs. What a shame I didn’t have any. In the past gardening had a reputation as being a quiet pursuit, something that relaxed your mind. Today it has gone high tech and a lot of noise comes with that. As a leader you also have to deal with a lot of noise in your role.
Workplace noise can take a few forms. There has always been gossip and office politics, the noise of people speculating and posturing for attention. Now we have added social media, which many people consider a form of noise whether it is for personal use or has a business goal. It is hard to keep up with the constant stream of posts. I also think about the noise that comes from creating a culture where everyone is encouraged to make suggestions for improvement. This can create a lot of noise for frontline leaders who need to constantly have their ears open for new ideas. That is certainly a big change from the past when leaders were the only ones making the noise and team members were doing the listening.
Whatever the type of noise a good leader needs to be able to protect themselves from being overwhelmed, from the equivalent of hearing damage. You need your own ear muffs, like my gardeners, otherwise you will lose focus and miss out on important information. It is an art to learn how to tune out to the “white noise”, to filter out the unhelpful voices that can make you question your decisions or get caught up in the negativity that some people with very loud voices want to share. Only when you can separate the good noise from the bad can you effectively process ideas.
Here are some questions for you to contemplate (hopefully without any background noise)…
- Where does the noise come from in your organisation?
- Are you spending too much time listening to unhelpful noise?
- What can you do to create space in your day where there is no noise invading your thoughts?
About
If you want some help coping with the noise contact me to discuss how coaching can help you to get focused.
Karen Schmidt from Let’s Grow! is the frontline leadership expert. As a speaker, coach and facilitator she works with frontline leaders and the people who develop them.
Her mission is to grow frontline managers into frontline leaders so they perform better, which improves team productivity, giving senior leaders peace of mind.
To learn more about her services visit http://www.letsgrow.com.au
