- Olivier S.E. Courtois
Deadly Sin 1: Lack of Presence
Updated: Mar 26
๐ฟ Paul (or Pauline) is absorbed by his business. That said, his employees consider him absent. He only 'comes down to the arena' when things are going badly or to make a hollow announcement!โ.
๐ฟ When a leader asked me last week how often he should communicate with a team spread over three continents, I had only one word: Presence. Make sure you are present, perceived as such.
๐ฟ This presence will take different forms and combine different moments: virtual sessions in plenary, squads on specific topics, What's App group, a platform, 'random' chats, more official communication when relevant.ย
๐ฟ This cocktail should respond to a skillfully elaborated recipe.ย Start by building a 'presence plan' (type of sessions, guests, content, preparation, follow-up).ย
๐ฟ Keep 'Presence' as the guiding principle.
๐ฟ To be successful, this architecture must meet two criteria:
๐ฟ Variety, in the sequence of events and in the rhythm of each of them. Be creative here.
๐ฟ Attractiveness: the goal and spirit are to create a ritual, an opportunity to build collective intelligence, not to control and review.
๐ฟ Be sure you put 'Presence with your teams' at the core of your activities and find ways to check how your presence is perceived!