Manila, 14 October 2020 — Using your courage to connect.

Last week we explored Three Connect Gaps that can stop you from making a good connection with people: the Mind Gap, the Heart Gap, and the Language Gap. You would expect leaders, who are keen on influencing change by making good connections, to avoid these gaps. But there is a paradox. 

Paradox

The more knowledgeable, purpose-driven, and enthusiastic you are as a leader, the higher the risk of falling into these three connect gaps. Why is that? Because the more passionate you become as a leader, the more likely you are to become filled up with your own ideas in your mind and good intentions in your heart. 

And nowadays that is most likely to happen when you are preparing for an online meeting or presentation. More than ever before, your days are filled up with online meetings. And you found out that it’s more challenging to make good connections online, where you miss out on the clues your mind registers when can meet over a cup of coffee.

So how do you make good connections in today’s world of online meetings while many are even dealing with ‘Zoom fatigue’? How to share your message, build bridges, form coalitions of the willing, and move to influence positive change together? It’s still the leader’s task to get that done.

Influencing Online

The search is on for ways to make online meetings more enjoyable. For example, Zoom has already created a feature to hide your own video from yourself. For sure, you will get better at combining technology with psychology, as the whole world strives to do so.

In the meantime, however, leaders will keep asking themselves the question of how to connect better with people and influence change, now in online meetings, and in teams working virtually. That’s where the Three Connect Gaps take on extra significance. How can you consistently show up with curiosity and care alongside your courage to get the business done in these challenging times of continuous online meetings?

In my experience, I saw that each of the Three Connect Gaps points to a need for skills and intelligences that help you develop further. And the urgency is on to do that now. 

Curiosity, Care, and Courage

It’s time to find new ways to cultivate and show your curiosity, care, and courage in online meetings. Practice your skills to ask questions that matter, actively listen, share feedback with others, and speak in their language rather than your own default style.

Developing these leadership skills for use in today’s online meetings requires courage on your part because your plate is already full of things that require your attention, with stress on many fronts. It takes your courage to invest in your abilities to connect better when and where it matters. 

If you’re looking for peers and a safe space to practice this, then you can find us in the #Grow3Leaders community. No one suggests it’s easy, and the community is not set up for lurkers or the faint of heart. Bring three workplace colleagues with you to take on the challenge of influencing a positive change together in 6 to 8 weeks. That’s what we do.