Ice Cold Leader

CHAPTER 17Make Them Your Own—How to Define and Practice Guidelines for Behavior

GUIDELINES FOR BEHAVIOR ARE ESSENTIAL TO ANY GREAT leader, team, organization, or family. They establish what you will hold people accountable for. They move teams past the grind of industry best practices to a predictable behavioral environment that people love and will thrive in, regardless of profession or circumstance.

The work for establishing your Guidelines for Behavior comes from Elements One and Two of the leadership process: Emotional Awareness and Recognition and Cultural Awareness and Recognition. We cannot establish good behavioral guidelines if we are not first aware of what is actually happening to us and around us. Being aware of our emotions and the actions they drive, without judgment and for better or worse, will allow us to identify areas for improvement. It will allow us to establish what we will hold ourselves and the people we lead accountable for.

If you are struggling to define your behaviors, do your research. If you are reading this book, you have probably read others like it that perhaps outline some leadership traits and behaviors that you like or are drawn toward. Try them out within the Guidelines for Behavior.

Remember, there are no absolutes. Guidelines for Behavior will be specific to you, the leader. They will reflect the needs of the organization and your personal behavioral compass.

Guidelines for Behavior are essential to the leadership process. However, choosing ...