What Employees Really Want in a Leader

Being a business leader in the 21st century is a tall order. You’re responsible for the health and happiness of your staff but also need to run a profitable, efficient business.

Accounting for the differences among employees can be tricky, too, as some folks appreciate a hands-on approach while others need space to spread their wings and flourish.

Finding your stride as a leader may take time. However, you’ll never stray far from the goal if you aspire to be a trustworthy, communicative, empathetic, and authentic leader for your employees.

Trust

Effective leadership is all about trust and transparency. Without honest, open communication, employees will second-guess your intentions and be hesitant to believe the information you give them. However, building trust takes time. You’ll need to show employees consistent support and should be willing to put your neck on the line for them.

One way to build trust quickly is by funding inclusive team-building activities, including ones that get employees out of the office. These types of events help build employee camaraderie, improve communication, and often mean that co-workers become more invested in seeing one another succeed.

Activities like hosting local events, group hikes, company-backed team sports, and volunteer days give you and your staff a chance to connect over non-work-related activities. While playing sports or hiking together, you’ll also have a chance to show that you authentically support staff and care about who they are as people.

If possible, try to host teamwork activities once a quarter. In her book, “Reach for the Summit,” Pat Summitt, who coached the third-highest number of  NCAA basketball wins in history  describes teamwork “as a form of trust,” that occurs when you “realize that you won’t achieve your individual goals without the support of your colleagues.”

Teambuilding activities that encourage trust are a great way to get folks working together and build your leadership skills. Over time, your team will trust you more thanks to the experiences you’ve shared outside of work.

Communication

Clear, consistent communication is integral to effective leadership. Employees look to you for information and will appreciate concise, accurate messaging. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a natural-born orator or wordsmith to enjoy the benefits of clear communication.

Communication is a skill that can be learned over years of practice. Improve your communication skills by defining your goals and understanding your audience before you start speaking. Before you head into a meeting, jot down a bulleted list of details that you want to share. Keep your tone consistent and be overwhelmingly positive when providing feedback to staff.

Effective communication requires you to be an expert listener, too. Practice active listening when engaging with staff and take the time to really hear them. Never interrupt and try to paraphrase what they said when making your reply. This is particularly important during times of conflict when tensions are high. People want to feel heard and will be much more reasonable when you show that you are an empathetic listener and clear communicator.

Empathy

Empathy is a leadership trait that is often overlooked. However, empathizing with your followers is key if you want to understand their motivations and respond to the challenges they raise.

Become a more effective leader by improving your emotional intelligence and leading with empathy in the workplace. Being emotionally intelligent and self-aware is the first step towards understanding the thoughts and emotions that other people are experiencing. This is key if you want to work through conflict and improve employee buy-in. Emotional intelligence can help you recognize your own biases and assumptions, too.

It’s important to recognize that practicing empathy and improving your emotional intelligence is a life-long journey. However, investing in empathy can increase employees’ sense of belonging and enhance collaboration among team members. Businesses with empathetic leaders enjoy higher retention and a stronger brand image, too as everyone wants to work for a company where they feel respected.

Authenticity

Many leaders mistakenly believe that it’s their job to protect followers from the challenges that the business faces. However, employees can handle the truth and will appreciate authentic leadership that doesn’t sugar-coat bad news. Being authentic when engaging with staff will help them feel like part of the team and may even galvanize employees during difficult times. 

It’s important to note that being authentic does not give you free rein to say whatever is on your mind. There’s a not-so-fine line between being authentic and being rude. Staff always need to be treated with dignity and respect; particularly if you’re undergoing hardship as a business.

Balancing authenticity and kindness can instill confidence and self-belief in your employees, too. Confident staff are worth their weight in gold during an economic downturn as you’ll need creative problem-solving and high-performing employees to overcome the challenges you face. Being an authentic, emotionally intelligent leader will encourage employees to take risks and discover new ways to improve the profitability of your business.

Conclusion

Employees need strong, empathetic leadership to support their confidence and day-to-day productivity. As a leader, you can build a positive, productive work environment by empathizing with your staff and building trust amongst your team members. Model your behavior on proven leaders like Pat Summitt who show that emotional intelligence, clear communication, and authenticity are the keys to success in the leadership world. 

About the Author: Luke Smith is a writer and researcher turned blogger. Since finishing college he is trying his hand at being a freelance writer. He enjoys writing on a variety of topics but technology and business topics are his favorite. When he isn't writing you can find him traveling, hiking, or gaming.

Lean Quote: The Good Life is Built With Good Relationships

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The good life is built with good relationships."   —  Robert J. Waldinger   

I recently came upon this Ted Talk by Robert Waldinger. Robert is an American psychiatrist and Professor at Harvard Medical School. He is known for his world-famous TED talk about his findings from a 75-year-long Harvard study on adult happiness.  This Harvard study is still being conducted today, even after 75 years from inception. This is a study about life and relationships.  It is important to understand and practice good habits to achieve good relationships. I hope you enjoy Robert's Ted Talk below. 

If you want a satisfying life, career success and financial well-being should be subordinate to the strength of the connections you make with the people who matter most.

Life as a human here on Earth is ultimately all about relationships.

Decision Making: Six Guideline to Better Outcomes

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

It makes sense. Yet, when it comes to the decision-making process, so many of us still wind up paralyzed. We’re terrified of making the wrong move and as a result, stay frozen in our tracks in the vain hopes that the correct decision becomes increasingly apparent. You already know that isn’t a wise strategy, particularly when it comes to managing your workload and leading your team. Instead, it’s much better to figure out what skills and tips you can pick up to get better at making those decisions that previously left you stuck.

Decision making is an essential part of business in all organizations. In traditional companies this power is typically held by few managers at the top of the organizational ladder. Lean companies however strive to empower their employees to make decisions at all levels through access to data, knowledge of evaluation methods, and defined standard processes. Nevertheless, decisions are necessary in all organizations and the following these guidelines can be beneficial.

1. Timing. Neither making snap decisions nor always having to “sleep on it” is the best approach to the time factor involved in making decisions. Make your decisions based upon the circumstance and the time available. Within the realm of practicality, give yourself enough time to take the following decision-making steps.
2. Define the problem. Be careful not to confuse symptoms of the problem with the real problem.
3. Identify the options. Try to get at least four alternatives. Since you may be too close to the situation, seek others’ input.
4. Gather the facts. In order to evaluate your options, you must gather the facts about the ramifications of choosing each option. List both the pros and cons of each option.
5. Evaluate the options. Usually this will include a comparison of costs, time required to implement and the expected end result of each option.
6. Choose and put into effect. Key, and often neglected, aspects of implementing decisions are to communicate the decision to the affected parties, outline why the decision was made, why the particular option was picked, what actions are required on their part and what beneficial results are expected.

Anyone can be a good decision-maker. Making decisions is an integral part of any job, whether you are in an entry-level position or you make important choices on behalf of your company as an executive.

Not every decision will be right but if you follow these six guidelines you will find you have many more right decisions than wrong decisions. Remember, the only thing worse than a wrong decision is no decision.

Decision Making: 5 Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Being a manager can be both stimulating and challenging. Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager comes with the opportunity to influence decision-making processes, implement business strategies, and oversee organizational change initiatives.

It can also increase the likelihood that you’ll make mistakes, as you take on greater responsibility and learn how to manage not just yourself, but others. If leveraged correctly, these professional missteps can become learning opportunities.

Being aware of common pitfalls that managers encounter when facing critical business decisions is a great way to ensure you are equipped with the know-how to overcome organizational challenges and lead your team to success.

Here are several common pitfalls in decision making that should be avoided if you want to be effective.

1. Deciding alone. There are many benefits to consulting with others on a decision: gaining different perspectives, more resources to draw upon and more commitment to the decision by those consulted.
2. Every decision a major decision? Not every decision requires a lengthy decision-making process. Don’t get bogged down with minor problems. If they’re minor, make a reasonable decision and move on.
3. “The last time I was wrong was when I thought I made a mistake.” No one is always right. If you’ve made a bad decision, admit it and get started on fixing it. Remember – it’s impossible to force a bad decision into being a good one.
4. “Boy! I sure wish I hadn’t.” Just the opposite of pitfall #3. Because no one can be right all the time, don’t waste your energy regretting bad decisions. Get on to current issues.
5. Failing to use past precedent. Maybe the same problem has come up before and been effectively solved. Perhaps, if it has come up enough, there is a company policy that covers it.

Understanding how to leverage and navigate the decision-making process is essential to becoming a better manager. By learning about the common pitfalls that managers encounter when facing important business decisions, you can ensure you’re equipped with the know-how to overcome organizational challenges and lead your team to success.

Lean Quote: Providing Praise Pays Off!

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Research indicates that employees have three prime needs: Interesting work, recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on in the company."   —  Zig Ziglar

As a leader, do you consistently acknowledge the accomplishments of others? When recognition is lacking, work efforts can also be lacking. Providing praise pays off!

In a Global Gallup poll of hundreds of organizations and thousands of teams in a variety of industries, 25% of the employees strongly agreed that they had received recognition or praise for doing good work in the last week.  Does that number feel low to you?

The article: From Praise to Profits: The Business Case for Recognition at Work provides many statistics worth reading, but I want to highlight the Five Key Pillars they shared that are required for a successful recognition program:

1.    Fulfilling: It feels appropriate to the accomplishment

2.    Authentic: It feels genuine rather than a formality.

3.    Personalized: It’s the way someone wants to be recognized.

4.    Equitable: It’s about achievement, not favoritism.

5.    Embedded: It’s part of the values and practices throughout the organization.

How is your recognition process? Are the 5 Pillars helpful? Sharing praise will foster a work culture that is positive, motivating, and energized, and will ultimately increase your results.

Sense of Urgency: Good or Bad?

When the topic of sense of urgency comes up, most leaders would agree it’s a discriminator which can mean the difference between thriving or surviving. It shows drive and purpose in an individual or business. It’s usually contagious, so the display of urgency will influence others to demonstrate drive as well. As a leader, I’ve learned that having a sense of urgency is important, but not always the only thing to consider. Let’s take a deeper dive into this behavior.

The challenge for many leaders of continuous improvement is two fold. First, you must inspire the desire or enthusiasm necessary to change. Second, you must harness this energy in the right direction. To make this change real and combat complacency, the death of many an organization, leaders seek to create a sense of urgency. John P. Kotter, a Harvard Business School Professor and author of A Sense of Urgency, was recently interviewed by Inc.com about leading during a recession.

Here is how Kotter explains the difference in an interview with Inc.com.

• Bad Urgency. "There are lots of signs of false urgency. Frenetic activity. Everyone is exhausted, working 14-hour days. One red flag is how difficult it is to schedule a meeting. With true urgency, people leave lots of white space on their calendars, because they recognize that the important stuff -- the stuff they need to deal with immediately -- is going to happen. If you're overbooked, you can't manage pressing problems or even recognize they're pressing until too late."
• Good Urgency. "The leader should be telling them to do just the opposite. He should say, 'I want everyone to look at your calendars. What's on there that doesn't clearly move us forward? Get rid of it!' True urgency is the most important precursor of real change."

Urgency is important because meaningful organizational change cannot occur without the cooperation of the affected stakeholders. This is why creating a sense of urgency for a needed change is the first step leaders must take to gain the cooperation of management and employees.

There are several steps leaders can take to create a sense of urgency and gain the commitment of managers, employees, and other stakeholders.

They include the following:

·        Showing the seriousness of leadership commitment to the coming change by eliminating obvious waste;

·        Sharing  bad news with the organization;

·        Requiring managers and employees to talk directly regularly with unhappy suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders to understand their concerns;

·        Sharing data throughout the organization that supports the claim that change is necessary; and

·        Ensuring organizational decisions and management actions are in agreement with change communications (walk the talk).

 

Leaders create a sense of urgency by both selling the value of a future state to organizational stakeholders and making the status quo a dangerous place for the stakeholders to remain.  In effect, senior leaders create a compelling narrative that tells stakeholders why it is not in their best interest for the organization to stay in its current state.

This is often done through frank discussions about the current market and competitive realities, sharing relevant financial and customer data, and discussing opportunities and crises facing the organization.  Communication is critical and the communications about the urgent need for change must be honest.  A manufactured sense of urgency will soon be seen for what it is and this will doom a change effort to mediocrity.

Lean Tips Edition #203 (#3256 - #3270)

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #3256 – Make a Plan for the Change

When bringing up a problem to someone, they’re much more likely to be receptive to you if you also bring a solution. Change works similarly. If you want to institute change in your organization, you need to come up with at least a partial plan for enacting that change. It doesn’t have to be set in stone, as the company executives are going to have a say, but if you at least have a framework ready to go, it’ll make implementing the change much easier.

Lean Tip #3257 – Change What You Can Change: Yourself

There is an old saying that too many cooks spoil the soup. Similarly, too many leaders during change can make everything confusing and fragmented. If you are not in a position to formally influence the change, instead of trying to create a leadership role, take the opportunity to change your own attitude, behaviors, and beliefs. You can do this by setting realistic goals for yourself and then eliciting feedback on them from peers, managers, and perhaps even customers. Remember that organizational change and personal change have strong similarities: You must clearly identify what you want to change, what the change looks like, and the specific steps and milestones for meeting them.

Lean Tip #3258 – Become an Early Adopter And Ally for Change 

Adapting early to change and being an ally for it is one of the simplest and most visible ways of leading change when you are not running the show. This entails wanting change to happen and working toward that goal as soon as you have a logical explanation for a particular alteration or modification.

The nice thing about being an ally and early adopter is that you aren’t seen as someone who is just giving facetime to the change; you are actually doing it and helping to spread enthusiasm among your team members.

Lean Tip #3259 – Help Other Employees Cope With Change

Even if you’re excited about change, not everyone will be. Some team members might find the going to be extremely tough; they might also feel confused, angry, or taken advantage of. You can help make the transition easier for them. First, be on the lookout for signals that someone needs help coping, like absenteeism, depressed or despondent behavior, or attacks on team members. You might want to intervene one-on-one or help steer a bickering session into a change session. You can also help others cope through active listening. Try to act as a sounding board, and make it your goal to help the other person reduce emotionality and increase rational discussion.

Lean Tip #3260 – Encourage Communication Among Your Peers

Remember, the sum of the parts is always greater than individual contribution levels added together. On a regular basis, ask yourself how you can help build a better organization by diffusing confusion, expediting the flow of information, or reaching out to others. Communication between peers and up through management helps make your job easier in a number of ways. It uncovers what is valuable to the business and what is not, it minimizes the amount of time required to achieve goals, and it maximizes productivity.

Lean Tip #3261 – Choose Change Champions.

It’s important that the change is supported by people throughout all levels of the organization, and not just by those at the top. Even though the directive for any change typically comes from leadership, people are much more likely to buy in to a new initiative if others they work with are, too. For this reason, having champions at all levels who are engaged in the change process is key. Hold focus group meetings to get feedback on what may be difficult about the change and take this feedback seriously.

Lean Tip #3262 – Anticipate Pitfalls.

With any change, there is going to be an adjustment period. There will also likely be negative aspects. It’s important to think through these potential pitfalls ahead of time and come up with ideas to combat them. Skipping this step could leave you unprepared once the initiative is already underway. There is no way to predict everything that could go wrong, but putting real thought into this ahead of time will save a lot of pain later. 

Lean Tip #3263 – Enable Good Communication within the Organization 

A good communication system is very important especially when the organization is facing change. Lack or poor communication with the employees can result to negative impact while positive will ensure that everyone understands what the company is going through hence more likely to embrace it.

From a clear stand point, managers need to have detailed information about the change so that they can access how it is going to affect the organization. Don’t sit back and wait for miracle to happen but talk to your boss and all your co-workers and get them to understand what is happening. When doing this, be warned because the news can be distorting and yield mixed rumors that are not good at the workplace.

Lean Tip #3264 – Follow Through on Plans — But be Flexible

Without commitment and determination, your team won’t get far in shifting to the “new normal” you are asking them to embrace. But you still need to remain flexible. Be ready to alter your strategies, if necessary, to get past bumps in the road.

Change is a process. And, to manage change effectively, you need to be prepared to take detours at times so that, ultimately, your team can stay on course and reach the intended destination.

Lean Tip #3265 – Engagement is Everything

Don’t underestimate the power of engagement here. Change requires engagement to succeed. Highlighting employee strengths and where these can be put to effective use within the change itself will move focus away from resistance towards more positive actions.

Identify any informal leaders within the business and ensure they are a champion for change. You could create an internal campaign to identify those who are quick to adapt to the change and show leadership qualities in their positive adoption.

Lean Tip #3266 – Encourage Collaboration

Create work practices to encourage employees to work together and openly discuss ways to improve. For example:

·        allow job swaps that foster new perspectives from different employees

·        hold process improvement brainstorming sessions with employees from different parts of the business

·        introduce a new ideas or 'what if?' section to your regular meetings

If you can, provide a dedicated area that will promote employee interaction. Ideally, an open space where they can sit and chat in a relaxing environment. Informal discussions often lead to improved employee relationships and trust, which encourages teamwork and leads to innovation.

Lean Tip #3267 – Give Employees Time and Space to Innovate

Be open and approachable to new ideas, and set aside spaces for employees to create and share ideas.

Many large companies often allocate time for their employees to break from routine roles to inspire new thoughts. This could be an employee retreat, allocated time each day or a day out of the office.

You can also support innovation by setting up:

·        meetings to share ideas

·        suggestion boxes

·        a suggestion area on the staff intranet

·        dedicated times or rooms 

Lean Tip #3268 – Accept Failure and Make it the Norm

It’s an unavoidable fact that innovation carries the risk of failure. For every example of world-changing innovation, there’s a whole trash heap of failed ideas.

Rather than running from this fact, companies need to come to peace with it. Acknowledge the possibility of failure, dedramatize it and encourage risky initiatives to help employees approach innovation in a more open and inventive way.

Lean Tip #3269 – Be Positive About Every Suggestion 

Treat every idea with the same amount of respect. Record or write every idea your team suggests, but try to limit how much time you spend on each idea. This can help encourage your team to continue thinking of new ideas and using previous suggestions as inspiration.

Lean Tip #3270 – Recognize and Reward Successful Innovations

To get the best out of your people when it comes to innovation, you need a way to recognize and reward successful new ideas - especially when they have the potential to save the company money or boost revenue.

This can be as simple as providing public recognition, for example, giving out awards at all-hands meetings. Though, if you also feel like offering flashy rewards, we’re sure your staff won’t mind!