Good leaders anticipate the challenges and issues faced by team members and move to prevent them from becoming problems.
They provide invaluable advice when they offer a caution or warning about a potential quagmire. When given in a caring and positive way, these “guard against” messages can avert an unfolding issue or thwart an unseen roadblock.
Asking a team member or colleague to “guard against” something points to an issue that might become a problem, but is not yet significant.
Such advice often provides a warning about the consequences IF the problem or issue were to become more predominant. Thus, the team member can operate to avoid it.
“Be careful not to make decisions too quickly and without the input from the team,” or “Guard against creating a negative start to the team meeting by addressing their mistakes,” are examples of this cautionary advice.
To be effective, this mild warning must come from a desire to help, or it will be viewed as feedback about a problem that already exists.
Too much “guard against” advice can undermine the confidence of a team member and make them overly mechanical or inauthentic in their approach to issues.
For that reason, many leaders steer clear of this kind of advice, thereby robbing team members of their experience, wisdom, and foresight.
When good leaders see a potential problem that has yet to materialize, they don’t keep their premonition to themselves. In their desire to help team members sidestep a likely difficulty, they find a way to suggest a cautionary approach.
When was the last time you offered “guard against” advice to one of your team members or colleagues? Is such cautionary advice a common ingredient in your coaching, or do you keep your suspicions to yourself?
People need your perceptive counsel to avoid problems they could easily elude.
The best leaders use their experience to envision team member problems before they become a reality. They are not shy about asking people to “guard against” a potential roadblock.
That makes them wise, not alarmists.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
