Above the line is where it's at!

Carolyn Taylor wrote about the concept of above and below the line thinking, in her 2005 book titled, "Walking the Talk". The concept can be applied in an individual sense or in a team environment. It is deceptively simple at first glance as it just makes perfect sense, like we have always known this on some level. However, the complexity comes in to play when we realise what it takes to obtain and maintain an above-the-line way of being.

The behaviours that contribute to and demonstrate an above the line approach for leaders include:

• Genuine openness to receiving feedback and listening to other points of view.

• Taking responsibility and owning actions and mistakes.

• Positive and solution-based thinking, creating a belief that there is always a way, it just has to be found.

• Showing care for, and interest in people.

• Being prepared to participate and share.

• "Mucking in" when that's what the situation calls for.

• Letting team members "fly" where and when appropriate. Always being the back stop though!

The types of behaviours that drag a leader below the line include:

• Defensiveness and denial.

• Being right at all costs, even worse when you and everyone else actually know you're wrong.

• Criticising and blaming others; a thousand times worse if its behind their backs!

• Moodiness (being like a box of chocolates means people never know what they're gonna get, not in a good way).

• Impersonating a clam and not sharing anything of yourself with others, this is a surefire way to keep trust levels low.

• Inconsistent decision making and constantly changing the goal posts, this is fertiliser to a team climate of uncertainty and doubt.

• Not acknowledging the work of team members, and, heaven forbid, taking credit for the work of others.

Let's take a step back and peel a few layers off the onion. A leader is a person who was once a baby, became a child and grew into an adult. That person was born with certain preferences in how they related to the world around them and, in turn, the world around them related back to them, helped shape their ideas and opinions, built their knowledge, put deposits into their emotional bank account and withdrew a few too! On any given day that person, that leader, can feel good, even great, or they can feel not so great, even wretched. This will, in large part, determine what state they are in - if they will be operating above or below the line.

What state are you in?

Are you physically fit? Are your relationships healthy, do you feel connected to community? Do you have a sense of purpose that gives you direction in life? Are you emotionally stable, equipped to weather the highs and lows?

These questions are at the core of being above the line more often and for longer periods of time. They are essentially asking, "Are you fit to be a leader?" They do not have simple answers, they require honest self-reflection, likely a willingness to change aspects of a life already well-lived and a preparedness to seek and accept help to do so.

Valle est posse (to be willing is to be able).