Leadership requires consistency
TL;DR: Some thoughts on the importance of being consistent as a leader
I have experienced different leadership styles under different stages of the company. Among all the leaders (Director, VP, CXO) I interacted with, I found it’s easier or say more efficient to work with “consistent” leader.
Here “consistent” has couple meanings:
- They act consistently with what their say
- Their evaluation framework are consistent across projects, teams and people.
- Their core values are consistent no matter which subject get presented or who presents
Consistency can bring following things to the team:
- Trust, as people will feel stable and expect same response if it’s same subject
- Clear direction, as it’s consistent messaging from the leader.
- Predicability. Most of team stress or say anxiety comes from uncertainty, which is rooted from inconsistent messages/actions from the leader.
Well, that doesn’t mean leaders shouldn’t change product or company priorities during pivoting. Every team is united around one mission or common goal no matter which industry. People join team/company because they agree with your goal and want to be part of it. If there is vision changing, leader needs to articulate with consistent evaluation framework because priorities, projects and strategies are just approaches to help us to achieve the common goal. As long as people feels consistent way of prioritizing things or evaluating things, people will feel empowered to act accordingly.