Within days of stepping into my first role as a middle-manager I got the dreaded “do you have a minute to chat” messages from a team member I had just inherited. Not knowing what was coming I was excited this team member was reaching out to me on a Friday before my role change was even official.

“I’ve decided to take an external role.”

Well, this didn’t get the start I had hoped. Quickly I had to figure out how I was going to let the team I had hardly known know that one of their team members was leaving. My naive confidence was quickly replaced with a quick dose of humbleness.

Fast forward 7 days

“Do you have a minute to chat?”

Given my new experience with this question I immediately anticipated what I had feared hearing again.

“I’ve decided to take an external role”

2 weeks and 2 team members leaving the team. Losing 1 team member rocks the boat but doesn’t capsize – losing 2 starts making everyones feet wet. Two weeks prior I was eager to start building the culture of the team I wanted now I had to quickly change to ensuring I keep the team together and ensure them I had a plan.

My weeks started to fill with meetings with HR for off boarding, putting together job postings all while ensuring my team I had a plan – which I didn’t. Confidence turned into stress and panic. Thought this time time one thought continued to run through my head.

Be consistent. Be boring.

What my team needed from me most is to be consistent and follow though with what I said I would. They also needed me to be boring. Our team had been through a lot very quickly and they didn’t need someone with a lot of excitement to upend everything else they felt as safe. I needed to be consistently boring.

Consistently boring doesn’t mean inaction – it means continual small steps of constant progress to meet large goals.

Consistently Boring are my thoughts on leadership and personal growth that can be applied anywhere. Taken from my own personal lessons and lessons from other leaders – I’ll explore the little things that add up to compounding results.