Chapter 61.
Cultivate the Power of
Reassurance

In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.

—Margaret Wheatly, Management Consultant

One of the most valuable additions to a person’s life that a leader can provide is reassurance.

You won’t hear about it in any management seminars, and that’s a shame, because there’s nothing more motivating than a healthy dose of reassurance.

How many leadership books focus on it? None. How important is it as a management tool? It’s the most important tool.

How many times during the day do you ask yourself, “How reassuring was I in that conversation?” How many times before a conversation do you ask yourself, “Now, how can I be really reassuring to this person, so that they leave reassured that everything’s going to be all right, and that they’ve got the skills to do this job?”

If you integrate reassurance into your personal system and managerial approach, things will change on your team. The state of mind of your people will be altered for the better.

People look to their leaders for reassurance. Period. Truth is, they don’t get that reassurance most of the time. They get the opposite. They get the impression that the team is racing and behind the gun. Their manager’s demeanor and language cries out, “We’ve got to go, go, go. I’m late, I’m sorry I’m late for my meeting with you.” “I’m on the phone and it’s rush, rush, and we’re behind the eight ball, and it’s crazy around here.”

The problem with that message is that it’s not reassuring. When you do the chaos act and convey a crisis mentality, it undermines productivity. The last thing you wanted.

The concept that counters all of that and cures it forever is the concept of reassurance. Once you’got the concept, make it a practice. Watch the results.