It doesn’t matter how well or beautifully you speak if your words are going to break against the inner… defense a person. And if your task involves leading other people, then you need to ensure, first and foremost, that you are listened to and heard.
Any presentations of the new leader to the team are completely pointless. They are just a formality. No matter what the new boss says to their subordinates during such a presentation, they won’t be heard. And if anything is heard at all, it will only be what confirms the already existing biased opinion.
Do you want to be heard? Tune in to the other person’s frequency. Listen to them first. Engage in conversation. About what? About how they are doing, about the good or bad things happening in their life, about how they see the future, about the sources of their problems, about what they would like to change. Get from the person the source of their thoughts, where they draw their conclusions and assessments of events.
Only when you are “on the same wavelength” with someone can you share, show, or prove something to them. The main task of a leader is to be able to change the mindset and perspective of their subordinates. If they cannot do this, then the only method of management left to them is terror. This is an ineffective method, resulting in a company that retains either those who are comfortable in such conditions (masochists) or those who simply have nowhere else to go.
In order for a leader to be able to influence people in this way, they must first and foremost be able to listen to them. In the most sincere and attentive manner. It shouldn’t be a formal conversation. It should be genuine listening to the person.
In my life, there have been several situations where I was introduced to a new team and initially met with resistance. This often happened because I was stepping into the role of a recently fired boss or coming in with a “new team.” But that’s not the main point. The essence is that I spent the first few weeks of my job not getting up to speed with the work, but rather listening to people. I didn’t call each person in one by one; instead, I went to each of them and… listened. I would say, “My role right now is to be quiet and listen.” This approach helped me and my team become “tuned in” to each other, and what I said or wrote was understood, for the most part, in the way I intended. When it came time for me to leave the team, no one felt happy about it. Of course, this “tuning” needs to be repeated periodically; otherwise, as radio operators say, “the signal will drift.”
If you are a leader and you are facing issues with your team (frequently firing someone, low discipline, poor results, being disrespected, being feared and disliked, your words not being heard, your motivators not working), think about whether you have listened to your people, and if so, when was the last time. Just listened.