5 Top Leadership Articles for the Week of August 8, 2016
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Each week I read a number of leadership articles from various online resources and share them across social media. Here are the five articles readers found most valuable last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think, too.
A Prescription for Empowering Employees to Succeed and Grow by Tanveer Naseer
It was the first time that I worked for a leader who didn’t want me to limit what I could contribute based on my role or title in that company. Instead, he encouraged me to invest myself in the overall purpose behind why we do what we do; of finding ways to do and make things better by looking for opportunities where I could make a difference.
It was the first time I ever felt like the work I did wasn’t simply a job because I could see that what I could offer mattered. And that sense of value and purpose behind what I did in that summer job fuelled my motivation to not only give my best to the work I did, but it also made me look forward to going to work each and every day. In fact, I remember how happy I was on Sunday nights knowing I was starting a new work week the next day…
My Comment: One of the most common questions managers ask me is how to energize their people and inspire their team to solve problems on their own. Naseer shares a fantastic personal story when a business leader did this for him – by challenging to go farther than simply catching a problem. It’s not just about giving your best, but becoming your best.
Why I Don’t Always Win Well: My Struggle With Being a Pleaser by Karin Hurt
David Dye and I are on a mission to rid the world of soul-crushing leadership behaviors. I’m confident in our vision and our approach. I know it’s what I’ve been put on this planet to do, and that I’ve partnered with the right person to make it happen.
And yet, despite my passionate desire to make an impact, I sometimes let my own fears get in the way of asking for what I need. When someone tells me our approach has turned their results around, or how our book was the first time they saw lightbulbs going off in someone they are mentoring, or when someone shares the impact our keynote speech or workshop made on their association or company, I get suddenly shy. “Err… thank you.”
When what I should be saying is “Thank you! Can you please help us spread the word so we can make bigger impact? Who else needs this message? Would you help with an introduction? Would you mind saying that in an Amazon review? We’re taking Winning Well to Asia this Spring, do you know companies over there that could benefit from Winning Well?”
My Comment: My co-author’s transparent message about her Please tendencies struck a nerve with many readers this week. We all have tendencies that don’t serve us as well as we would like. We developed those habits to survive, but they don’t always help us be effective leaders.
(So far of the many people taking our Winning Well assessment, the most frequent profile is the “Pleaser” type by a landslide. Click here to complete this FREE self-assessment and receive your free profile and recommendations.)
7 Ways Managers Can Build Trust in the Workplace by Steffen Maier
How many people trust their managers? A recent study by Edelman found that one in three employees don’t trust their employer. Another study by EY found that number to be even lower, with only 46% having trust in their organization, and 49% in their boss/team. Trust is one of the most important things you need in the workplace. Without it you won’t have the environment you need for an effective feedback culture to grow. So how can you help close the trust gap between employees and managers?
My Comment: I recently worked with an Executive who did not have the trust of his people. He wanted to be influential, was frustrated when they wouldn’t perform, but then became enraged that they expressed their distrust to someone other than him. We see this quite a bit in the Winning Well User Manager type. If you’re struggling with your people’s trust in you – the essential leadership currency – Maier’s list is an excellent place to start.
Six Boss Behaviors that Drive Your Team Members Bonkers by Art Petty
The senior leader I worked for was a brilliant engineer with dozens of patents to his credit for life saving products. If there was a Hall of Fame for people we don’t know who have saved scores of lives with their inventions, his picture would be near the entrance. He also had some interesting management habits that stretched our deep admiration and respect to the breaking point.
He preferred the open outcry form of summoning his minions to his office. Instead of using the phone or getting up himself and walking over to our workspaces, he would let go with an ear-piercing cry of, “ARRRRTTT!!!!” or “SUUUUUUZZZZZAANN!!!” guaranteed to create an adrenaline surge for everyone in the office, particularly the intended victim. More than a few cups of coffee were spilled in the surge of energy that followed this aggressive summons to the office of the great leader.
Another fascinating habit of this bona fide genius was to suppress staff member contributions to his divisional meetings with the admonishment, “Don’t talk when it’s my meeting.” This would be invariably followed by the feedback a few days later of, “You sure didn’t have much to say the other day.” The unwitting recipient of this feedback was left speechless yet again, for lack of any way to intelligently respond to the contradictory guidance.
My Comment: You can probably add some classic supervisory gaffes to Petty’s examples – these are the kind of things that drive people mad. (And in case it needs saying again…people who are living at that level of fear or irritation are NOT performing at their best.)
Petty’s list of behaviors is worth reading – most business leaders I’ve worked with (including me!) have committed one or more of these six bonkers-behaviors. Fortunately, Petty gives you some ways to overcome the behavior as well.
5 Ways the Best Leaders Attract and Retain the Best Talent by Ben Peterson at Inc.com
A car with a flat or missing tire won’t get very far. Like any machine with missing or ineffective parts, it simply won’t operate properly. And the same is true of organizations. Organizations are only as successful as their employees are, so attracting and retaining top talent is vital to success. These five things will help you get and keep your best employees.
My Comment: I’m always fascinated when I meet managers who bemoan the difficulty in finding and retaining talent – and who then turns around and consistently does everything in their power to drive away talented, motivated, productive people. Peterson’s suggestions are fundamental to cultivating an environment where people feel productive and want to stay. Many of these are things you can directly influence, whether or not you have budget authority.
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