10 Months 10 Skills
Leaders preparing for the future do not measure success only through their individual performance. They also care about the impact their organisations have on employees, customers and society.
Instead of focusing on their own personal success, they concentrate on the success of their teams and organisations. They do not believe that they must provide the answer to every question. They also involve employees in decision-making. Rather than acting on assumptions, they measure, assess, experiment and improve their approaches based on the results.
They adopt an attitude that is open to learning instead of following fixed patterns of thought. By using coaching and mentoring skills, they support their team members in taking responsibility and developing themselves.
This approach may have positive effects on employee engagement, collaboration and organisational culture. However, keeping employees within an organisation is no longer only the responsibility of human resources. Managers’ behaviour plays an important role in whether employees feel safe, valued and included.
Employees want to be seen not simply as resources to be managed, but as people who contribute to the organisation’s decisions and results.
Managers who want to improve organisational culture must first examine their own behaviour. While expecting open communication, responsibility and collaboration from employees, they should also ask how consistently they demonstrate these behaviours themselves.
I use the word “detox” here as a metaphor. The aim is to recognise the habits in our management approach that no longer work and replace them with more effective behaviours.
I suggest focusing on one management skill each month for ten months. Simply reading about or understanding a skill is not enough. You need to practise it in daily working life, observe the results and receive regular feedback.
You can change the order below according to your own needs. What matters is focusing consciously and consistently on your chosen skill each month.
Month 1: Recognise Your Assumptions
During the first month, observe the assumptions you make about people, events and results. Assumptions often influence our decisions and behaviour without us noticing them.
You can ask yourself:
In which situations do I make assumptions?
What information is this assumption based on?
How does my assumption affect my decisions and relationships?
What question could I ask to check my assumption?
What causes me to reach a conclusion before gathering more information?
Month 2: Ask More Powerful Questions
During the second month, focus on how you ask questions. A good question can do more than collect information. It can also help another person think and see different options.
You can consider:
How can I ask a more open and powerful question?
Do my questions help the other person think, or do they lead them towards a particular answer?
Is my question genuinely related to what I have heard?
How could I change my question to receive a fuller answer?
Month 3: Make Sure Every Voice Is Heard
During the third month, consider how freely the people around you can express their views. Notice those who remain quiet as well as those who regularly speak in meetings.
You can ask yourself:
Is there anyone on the team whose voice is not heard enough?
What conditions prevent people from expressing their opinions?
How can I make it easier for people to share different views?
How can I show people that I have heard what they said?
Can I make my own voice heard at the right time and in an appropriate way?
Month 4: Show That You Are Listening
During the fourth month, focus not only on hearing but also on understanding and showing the other person that you understand them. Understanding someone and making them feel understood are not the same thing.
These questions may help:
How fully can I give my attention to the other person while listening?
Am I listening to prepare my answer or to understand?
How do I show the other person that I am listening?
Can I recognise the emotions and needs behind their words?
Which habits prevent me from listening more effectively?
Month 5: Explore Misunderstandings
During the fifth month, focus on misunderstandings in communication. Instead of seeing a misunderstanding only as the other person’s mistake, explore how your message was understood.
You can ask yourself:
In which situations am I most often misunderstood?
Why is there a difference between what I said and what the other person understood?
What could I express more clearly?
Could I also be misinterpreting what other people say?
What could I ask to check my understanding?
Month 6: Examine Your Reactions
During the sixth month, observe your strong or familiar reactions. Pay particular attention to moments when you react differently to certain people or situations.
You can reflect on these questions:
Why do I react differently to this person?
What triggers my reaction?
What purpose does this reaction serve?
What need, concern or expectation lies behind my reaction?
How can I respond more consciously instead of reacting automatically?
Month 7: Recognise Your Contribution to Stress
During the seventh month, examine stressful situations and your own role within them. The aim is not to remove stress completely, but to notice which of your behaviours increase or reduce it.
You can ask yourself:
Which situations cause me the most stress?
Does my behaviour contribute to creating a stressful environment?
What can I do to reduce tension?
How does my communication change under pressure?
What do I need to remain calmer and more effective?
Month 8: Make Contributions Visible
During the eighth month, focus on recognising the contributions made by your team members. Consider not only the final result but also the effort and process involved in achieving it.
You can explore:
Whose contribution am I failing to notice?
What effort and process lie behind the result?
Do I recognise contributions promptly and specifically?
What kind of environment can I create to encourage people to contribute more?
How can success become more visible and shared within the team?
Month 9: Show Courage and Encourage Others
During the ninth month, work on having difficult but necessary conversations, expressing your views, accepting the possibility of making mistakes and helping others speak openly.
You can ask yourself:
In which area do I need to be more courageous?
What is holding me back?
How open and courageous can other people be when they are with me?
What can I do to help people share different views safely?
What support or preparation do I need to become more courageous?
Month 10: Change Your Perspective
During the tenth month, notice the position from which you assess events. Try to view a situation not only from your own perspective, but also from the perspectives of the other person and the whole team.
These questions may guide you:
From which position am I viewing this situation?
Am I focusing only on my own needs and expectations?
What might look different from the other person’s perspective?
What changes when I view the situation from the perspectives of “me”, “you” and “us”?
How might a different perspective affect my decision?
Follow the Same Practice Cycle Each Month
Instead of only thinking about your chosen skill, observe and practise it in your daily working life:
At the beginning of the month, define the behaviour you want to develop.
Identify situations in which you can practise this behaviour.
Keep brief notes about your experiences throughout the month.
Ask people you trust for specific feedback.
At the end of the month, assess what has changed and what you want to continue doing.
At the end of ten months, you will not be a perfect manager. However, you may develop a stronger awareness of your behaviour, relationships and the working environment you create.
Change does not begin by learning ten skills at once. It begins by carefully observing, practising and improving one behaviour each month.
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