Welcome to Power Play, the mini-episode series within The People Powered Business Podcast where we focus on the mental game of being a boss.
Join us each week as we share leadership tips, insights and advice to help you level up your leadership game and unleash the full potential of your team.
These quick and powerful episodes are designed to give you the tools you need to become a more confident and effective leader, so you can create the successful business you deserve.
Today I want to share a little secret with you: You Encourage What You Tolerate….
Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry is the one I believe to be responsible for the quote ‘you get what you demand, and you encourage what you tolerate’ whether these are his words originally, or he borrowed them from something he heard I’m not sure – but either way it’s the second line that packs the biggest punch.
Take a moment to let it sit with you “you encourage what you tolerate.”
Whatever you are putting up with, whatever you are tolerating, you are not only just putting up with it, you are literally encouraging it to continue. You are inviting no change, you are requiring no action, you are simply, silently, and subtly saying ‘please keep going with that’.
Now cast your mind to your team, are you putting up with anything that you’re not particularly happy with? Are you tolerating something that actually really annoys you, that you don’t at all like, or that just gets under your skin?
Maybe it’s a performance issue, but quite often it’s more behaviourally based. Something that perhaps is out of line with your values, or just isn’t how you want things done in your business.
Perhaps until now you have ignored it, hoping things would change. Expecting that they’d realise what was happening, figure it out for themselves, or miraculously change.
Guess what – that almost never happens!
As long as you continue to tolerate it – whatever it is – you are encouraging it to continue.
So what next? I hope this Power Play gives you the permission to take the right action, have the conversation, communicate clearly and stop tolerating things that aren’t aligned with your expectations.
