It’s good to keep people on their toes and to be a little bit unpredictable isn’t it? Well no, not really.
If you are thinking about keeping a sharp mind and surprising people with your creative thinking and approaches to problem solving or not being easily predictable with an approach that is always cynical or always overly negative, then yes it’s good to be creative and positive rather than predictably dull or negative.
However, direct reports, colleagues and bosses alike all want to work with people who are emotionally stable and won’t react differently on a different day or after lunch.
Because, leadership isn’t what you say, so much as how you behave.
People will look to you and the way you behavefor a clear indication of what the company’s vision, mission and values really are. What’s written down counts for nothing if the two don’t match. And if you are unpredictable, then there is no clear leadership which quickly erodes the motivation and performance of your team in turn.*
Unpredictable aggression is particularly career limiting and calls for an immediate rethink. What is driving this anger?
This is not to say that we can’t express emotion from time to time. Letting your frustrations show is part of being vulnerable which makes you approachable and a real person that people may want to follow. But some emotional range is not the same as being seen as moody. If you think this might be how you are perceived, then this is worth addressing sooner rather than later.
Click this link if you want to explore how to be less moody
Click this link to see how tiredness impacts on your decision making
* See The Mood of the Leader matters, Dec 2001 issue of Harvard Business Review.