So what are the ways to put LL #3 into effect? Here are some symbolic things to demonstrate this to your team. They’re going to believe based on what you do, not what you say.

1. Be the bearer of bad news.  If it’s bad news, I give the update. If it’s good news, my team members give the update.

2. Don’t send someone else to do the asking.  If the project needs someone to agree on a particular thorny issue, I am the one doing the ask. I don’t sent someone else to do it unless I think you can handle it.

3. Have a sense of humor when things are stressful. You can be results driven, but being grim isn’t going to make people feel better. Give people perspective.

4. Stay focused on the objective, but don’t be myopic. A lot of times projects struggle because the team (or you) has lost perspective.

5. Don’t add to the workload. Nothing is worse than introducing a whole bunch of ideas/topics/people when they’re not needed.