How I Became Approachable

I worked with a leader, a director, that truly had the intent of the ‘open-door’ policy. He didn’t understand why people didn’t take him up on his offer. He was new in his role.

While working together, he began to realize that people in his department did not demonstrate trust or feel psychologically safe. He realized he needed to understand context – what was truly happening. He asked. He noticed out loud to people his observations and expressed genuine interest in the information. He actively listened to those brave enough to speak up. He praised them and expressed gratitude for their courage and honesty. He remained calm and poised even when hearing about past leaders’ behaviors. In fact, he apologized. His openness and receptiveness slowly began to develop trust. When he noticed the team in deep discussions, which he hadn’t seen before, he encouraged it.

Once this impressive leader realized what he had on his hands, he knew his behavior was paramount to creating the trusting, psychologically safe environment his department needed.

The end result? A department whose productivity rose. Within eighteen months, they were one of the highest performing departments in the company.

This leader knew he had the position power. He also knew he had to develop his personal power to make a difference. And a difference he did make.