“You know you’re a good leader when people follow you if only out of curiosity. The spark of trust is the difference!” -Colin Powell
These words sent me on a whole new discovery path of what it truly means to be a great leader. We’ve all seen graphics detailing the differences between a “boss” & “leader”. There are indeed many distinct qualities separating these roles with the primary being responsibility. The more of it you have in any given enterprise can define the overarching role you provide. What many have discovered is that you can be an amazing “boss” but ineffective as a leader. Leadership is the choice to positively influence those around you regardless of position, title, standing, rank or responsibility level. The journey to discover your individual leadership style takes intense focus, self-awareness & humility.
This graphic depicts a “boss” as more negative than the “leader”. In my way of thinking, this isn’t necessarily true. Our effectiveness exists on a sliding scale. After all, we’re human & our abilities in either role remain a challenge on a day to day basis. The measure should reside in our commitment to getting 1% better every day, improve the value we bring to the enterprise & inspire those we work with. People trust the most consistent behaviors we display…get caught doing amazing things for others!
In the pursuit to learn more about leadership & management, reaching out to “experts” in the field led me to connect with Don Shapiro of First Concepts Consulting. We had a great conversation about our mutual favorite topic…leadership! Here’s his site where you can find out more about his offerings, thought leadership, etc…
During our conversation, he had two important insights…
*Over the last 20 years (or so), there has been an almost exponential increase in the focus on leadership. Ok, maybe exponential goes a bit too far, perhaps a 10,000% increase is more accurate. Regardless of the number, our collective perception tells us it that’s it been a lot!
*Over that some time period we haven’t gotten significantly better at employee engagement & retention. The Gallup organization has been surveying employee engagement for many years now, here’s a link for reference…
2017 Gallup Engagement Survey Results
At best these are complex topics & if these points are true, why are they important? It’s interesting to note that U.S. companies spend more than $15 billion annually on leadership development programs, according to a 2014 Bersin by Deloitte study. What? Wow! This debate could be as lively as 2 football coaches having a chalkboard war over the best offense/defense!
Here’s a post about employee retention & how it differs from turnover.
On-boarding new employees can take primary job focus away from veteran employees to help train others. Shouldn’t this be the case? The folks at NextJump have created an environment where once you’ve been hired you can’t be fired…you’ll be coached! Such a great concept that fits with Jim Collins book “Good to Great” of first getting the right people on the bus then figuring out where they should sit. This has led to employees feeling safe to bring their whole selves to work while encouraging team collaboration. Fear destroys human initiative, thus we should strive to support a “feel safe” environment over one that encourages “be safe” activities.
They also developed an app to provide consistent real-time feedback for employees. This supports their coaching culture & commitment to it. It’s available for free here…
This app is a wonderful tool with great analytics but (you knew it was coming) nothing should replace face to face interaction. Less complicated relationships follow because eyeball to eyeball is better…period. The folks at Menlo Innovations call this technique “high-speed voice technology” & supports their goal of seeking joy through their hard work together.
As already stated, leadership is about influence. Don emphatically states: “True leaders seek joiners, not followers.” When the environment encourages employees to lead using their individual “super-powers” everyone’s growth journey can begin. Figuring out your leadership influence talent(s) can be the key to unlocking the team’s potential. In our conversation, Don shared his realization of “voluntary influence” which details how great leaders influence people to voluntarily join with them, not follow them. The age of gaining “followers” as the measure of effective leadership/management is coming to a quick end with knowledge work dominating the job market.
Does the structure of the company really matter? The short answer is that most of the time it does but the environment matters more! If every measurable that has to do with company success hinges on leadership then how it’s structured matters less. By in large, people don’t leave company structures they leave because of a poor manager/boss/leader. When employees feel as though they work “for” someone engagement/retention can suffer. Likewise, when leaders have the courage to care about others who work “with” them the numbers trend in a more positive direction.
So why has the increase in leadership development not yielded more positive results? There are just as many reasons as there are companies. The actionable aspects of any leadership development/training program are the most difficult. Training prepares us for “known” aspects of life. Education prepares us for the “unknown”! Great consultants, like teachers, will provide both & help with goal accountability. When we connect the best parts of our diverse human capital & create an environment where people feel safe, the extension of their collective talents can be realized. Amazon, Whole Foods, Chick-fil-a & others don’t hire better people, they get the environment right to support their desired culture. These efforts attract & retain great people who can, in turn, become great leaders themselves. This also has a very positive impact on employee engagement as they realize there isn’t work & life there’s just life. Being part of something bigger than ourselves to make the world better engages passions toward team success. Isn’t this the place we’d all like to work?
Call to Action!
If you’d like to find out more about the kind of environment you’re creating as a leader who cares, please check out what the folks at RiddleBox are offering & contact me to get started with one of the easiest, most actionable platforms available!
All the best,
Karl
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