Intentions

Over the 25 years as an executive and team coach, I’ve come to recognise 3 things that distinguish high performing leaders and teams. They master, what I call, the three ‘instruments of leadership.’ 

We all have the opportunity to ‘play’ instruments. Many of us have had the opportunity to play the guitar, few of us have committed to master the instrument. High performing leaders commit to master 3 ‘instruments’ of leadership:

1. Intentions

2. Intimacy and 

3. Impact 

In the next series of newsletters, I will share more about each ‘instrument’ but let’s focus on the first:

Intentions

We are our intentions; they never lie to us. The word, intention is derived from the Latin word, ‘intentio’ which means ‘to stretch or purpose’. Our intentions reflect the purpose of all we say and do.

 Try this – before you next say something, stop and ask yourself, “why am I talking?”. Truth is, we speak with the intent to be understood or to understand. 

Leaders who master the ‘instrument of intention’, consistently do three things: 

1. They set their intentions: they know what they intend to achieve by saying and doing what they do. For example, before giving someone feedback, they are clear about whether they intend to build the person up or to break them down. 
   

2. They share their intentions: they declare their intentions and by so doing, take responsibility for their actions and words. No one is left guessing, they know. Before giving others feedback they are explicit about their intention to help the person learn and grow. That doesn’t make things easier to listen to, but makes what they say, more valuable to learn from. 
   

3. They stay with their intentions: they honour their intentions. They do or say what they declared they would. They give the person the feedback and speak their truth knowing and trusting they have the person’s best interest at heart. They speak their truth with care and compassion. 

I’d love to know your thoughts on what I’ve shared and other insights you may have. Stay tuned for my next newsletter where I’ll share more about the second instrument, “intimacy”.