What Kind of Weather are you Making?

For the past couple of years, I’ve had a lot of great conversations with my clients about the idea that leaders control the weather. You can test this idea for yourself right now. Have you ever worked in a place where the first question everyone asked when they arrived in the morning was, “What kind of mood is he (or she) in today?” Most of us have, and if you have, you understand right away how leaders control the weather. If the leader is sunny and bright, everyone else is likely to be sunny and bright. If the leader is stormy and cloudy, get your umbrella out.

If you’re the leader, what you say and how you say it matters. A lot. In this Coachable Moment video from “The Next Level” self-assessment, I offer three simple, practical and immediately applicable ideas on how you can get a handle on the impact of your comments on the organization and make your own appropriate choices.

Don’t forget to read the first four posts in this series, which originally ran in SmartBlog on Leadership. (For more business leadership news from SmartBrief, sign up for SmartBrief on Leadership.)

• Why your New Year’s leadership resolution is already failing
• Want to grow as a leader? Let go of being the “go-to person”
• Why you need to slow down to succeed
• How to keep your team on track with the goal

Want more information? Take the free leadership self-assessment, which takes about five minutes and gives you a picture of how you stack up on three key components of leadership presence: personal, team and organizational.