Tag: grandstanding

Fear vs. Understanding

When I say the word grandstanding, what comes to most people’s minds is a football player dancing on the way to a touchdown, some drunk at the bar, or a driver on the highway blasting music going 90 MPH.

Grandstanding. When I come across the word, I think of a few things:

• A football player dancing into the end zone
• A drunk at the bar trying his best to talk politics
• Driver blasting music going 90 MPH

Let’s get clear on grandstanding:

• Grandstanding – You are speaking to beat fear. It comes from a place of, “If I say one more thing, then I’ll look like I belong.”

Grandstanding happens a lot in those situations, but there is a place where grandstanding happens more than all those combined.

Meetings.

Yes, those meetings at work are home to the most grandstanding I’ve seen. It doesn’t matter what type of work either, this isn’t something that just appears in “Corporate America.” I’ve seen it in startups, nonprofits, and civic organizations just as often.

This reaction isn’t a surprise. Meetings, in their best sense, are an action that propels a deliverable. There is the weight of expectation with deliverables and expectations, therefore bring fear.

Fear propels grandstanding.

It’s a selfish act.

It’s the opposite of communication:

• Communication – You are speaking for clarity. It comes from a place of, “If I make sure they understand, I can make them more efficient.”

Communicating releases the fear that causes grandstanding and it becomes a “feedback loop” (meaning, it happens again and again).

Note that your focus isn’t on how you feel, it’s on how the others around you comprehend. That is leadership.

The best part?

As a result, the mission that the meeting is propelling becomes more significant.

Win-win.