Many of us have attended meetings where the leader lays out expectations and, at the close, asks, “Is everyone good?” People typically look around to see how everyone wants to answer, and nod in response to the leader’s question. But is everything really OK? The leader may feel like they have two choices. They can believe the team members or not. The problem is that neither response is automatically right.
Sometimes things are just as the team says: Everything is great. But other times they aren’t, and team members may be hiding how they feel. The challenge isn’t finding the right answer in that moment. It is recognizing that one interaction rarely tells the whole story. I took me years to come to this realization because, like most leaders, I wanted quick answers. However, good leadership is not about finding the quick answer; it’s about developing a deeper understanding over time.
Building trust takes time
Many of us can remember our first leadership assignment. There was excitement in being a new leader and a desire to do a good job. Like every new leader, we wanted to quickly understand the people working for us and the environment. Most new leaders want to know who they can trust, which team members are struggling, and who is engaged or frustrated. These questions are natural, but most people don’t reveal themselves that quickly. This includes both leaders and team members. In reality, team members are learning new leaders at the same time that leaders are learning their team.
Trust develops in both directions, and it may take weeks, months, or even years to build. Unfortunately, leaders and team members can set unrealistic expectations for how quickly that understanding should develop. One conversation with someone only provides information, and it does not produce understanding.
Leadership is pattern recognition
Experienced leaders are less concerned with single moments. They are more interested in identifying patterns. One response indicating everything is fine, one disagreement, one mistake, or one emotion-filled reaction does not tell the leader very much. But patterns do. Patterns can tell the story behind employee actions that, when viewed singularly, seem unimportant.
What do these patterns look like? As leaders observe employees, they may notice that one may consistently minimize problems. Phrases like “It’s not a big deal” or “I’m used to this” may sound like the words of an experienced and talented employee, but they could be warning signs of a brewing storm.
Closely aligned with the first pattern indicator is another pattern: an employee who is always carrying extra work without complaining. This can be the employee who always gets the difficult jobs at crunch time or the one who feels overwhelmed but is too timid to say anything about the situation. Overtime, this can add up to a burned-out employee.
These observations emerge not in one interaction but only through repeated ones. Patterns are often subtle and occur over time.
Leadership requires developing balance
As a leader, the trick is to avoid extreme reactions. Extremes are pitfalls for many new leaders. With the first extreme, the leader takes everything that a team member says at face value. If someone says “I’m fine” or “everything is wonderful,” the conversation ends there. The leader may smile, say “fantastic,” and walk back to their office with a sense of pride, thinking they are really killing this leadership thing. This approach can leave leaders blind to emerging issues.
The other extreme occurs when the leader questions everything. Every reassurance and every silence is met with suspicion, as the leader believes there is some hidden problem that must be uncovered. In this case, the leader may ask multiple questions, trying to convince the team member to reveal the issue. This second extreme can create anxiety and communicate distrust in the team.
Neither approach serves the leader or the team well. Like most things in life, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Instead of going to either extreme, the leader should be patient and curious. Listen to and observe team members as they go about their daily work. Treat them with care and respect while building a relationship. As they become accustomed to the leader and trust begins to form, they will naturally open up, allowing the leader to notice patterns in their behavior.
The hundreds of daily interactions add up
The employee who says “I’m fine” may be telling the truth, or they may not. A wise leader understands that they don’t have all the information in a single interaction. That’s okay. Leadership is not about forcing certainty where none exists. Instead, it is earning greater clarity through consistent and sustained interactions over time. When this happens, trust grows and relationships deepen. Gradually, team members will come to you with issues, concerns, thoughts, and experiences. Leaders will then be able to recognize what is the same, what has changed, and what conversations or issues deserve a closer look.
Effective leadership is not achieved in one conversation, meeting, or decision. It is earned through hundreds of daily interactions that slowly build trust, understanding, and credibility. Leadership is relational, and it is a long game.