1 Solid Foundation for Building a Thriving Work Culture
Marcel Schwantes
Igniting humane leadership to boost retention, productivity, and profits. Deep ideas and strategies for people leaders to create business impact.
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Over the years, I have witnessed more companies racking their collective brains trying to figure out?how to best engage their employees?to perform at a high level.
Well, you can stop with the meal home deliveries and virtual games and activities. Put away the climbing walls and nap pods if you're back in the office.?Culture is king?in shaping employee engagement, and it doesn't come from external perks commonly found in tech startups. It begins with leaders that build the emotional commodity of?trust with their employees.
First step: change the business lingo
I hear a lot of ego-tripping language about how leaders "drive" performance. It's a popular word in business, an aggressive and celebrated trait of hard bottom-liners, and it works. It also ruins the health and well-being of both bosses and employees driving themselves into the ground. There is a better way.
The reality is that over the last decade, leadership cultures have changed. And "driving" no longer has a place in open, people-centric work cultures where employees are valued and have a voice.
If you think about it, we drive cattle, cars and trucks, but they have no say because we're in charge. We push them through, steer them where we want them to go, and that's the opposite of what good leadership is about.
Good leaders lead from the heart -- inspiring people into action and encouraging high performance -- not driving them like cattle to the slaughterhouse.
Unlearning what we think 'leadership' is
The reason so many managers fail is often attributed to the idea that if they share their leadership with others, they'll lose power and authority.
The rare practice of "sharing leadership" is the way good leaders go about developing a strong culture of trust. Yet it's totally counter-intuitive and a severe blind spot for most controlling, status- and attention-seeking bosses, leading to their quick demise.
For them, the inability to share leadership has roots in both fear and ego: fear of failure if they release control, and a false ego to hide their insecurity.
Let's unpack what sharing leadership looks like in practice. Leaders who do it effectively:
1. Facilitate a shared vision
Barry Posner and Jim Kouzes, co-authors of the bestselling book,?The Leadership Challenge, have surveyed tens of thousands of employees about what they look for and admire in a leader. Seventy-two percent want leaders who are forward-looking. In other words, they want vision. But even more important than a visionary leader is one who reflects the visions and aspirations of their people. These leaders provide answers to three questions:
When a vision addresses all three of these questions, tremendous energy is unleashed on a team. There is going to be a higher level of commitment because everyone on the team is clear about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how their work contributes to the bigger picture.
These leaders communicate an image of the future for their team members that draw them in and speaks to what they see and feel. But they don't drive the vision forcefully. They encourage team members to contribute their ideas and insights toward the vision.
2. Share power and release control
Unlike command-and-control leaders who exercise their power through their positional authority, power and control in psychologically-safe teams come from the whole -- generated by the enthusiasm, respect, shared values, and commitment the whole team has to a specific project, task, or strategy. And the leader sets the stage for this to happen.
Here's what these leaders do that most don't or fear doing:?They let their people take turns leading.?I worked for such a leader back in my corporate days over 15 years ago. Here are some clear-cut examples of how he shared his leadership:
By all accounts, I was very much accountable to him, he was still the boss, but I remember how much more satisfied and engaged I was than in any previous job because he shared his leadership.
3. Push authority down
Everybody is familiar with the leader-follower structure in a top-down culture. It's still the prevalent way that most companies operate. What's appealing about this is that it takes responsibility away from followers with a brain to think on their own.
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The issue here is crystal clear: Employees are released from any responsibility of the hard work of thinking, making decisions, and being accountable because they only go as far as doing the bare minimum -- following orders from the boss.
This programmed mindset of only doing what the boss tells you has a cost. People who are treated as followers end up treating others as followers when it's their turn to lead. As the cycle repeats itself, companies lose out on tapping into the human potential of their workforce.
In highly effective organizations there are leaders at every level, not just at the top. The solution is always to push authority down, so you're creating a?leader-leader, not leader-follower, culture.
The first order of priority in pushing decision-making authority down to your team members is to increase their competence. What do they need to get good at their job? What training will build up their skills and knowledge?
The result of increased competence, technical or otherwise, is the ability to delegate more control and authority down the ranks because they are now equipped to handle it. This is what good leaders recognize and do.
Hard questions to ask
Increased decision-making among team members down the ranks will naturally result in greater engagement, motivation, and initiative to take on larger tasks and tougher responsibilities. If you're a leader reading this, I assure you, practicing the rare skill of sharing leadership will result in significantly higher productivity, morale and effectiveness. By the way, we can teach you a simple strategy through our hybrid leadership course.
I end with some hard questions for leaders to reflect on:
Your turn: What other good examples of shared leadership have you seen in previous or current roles? Share in the comments and let's learn from one another.
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Upcoming Leadership Learning Events
From Boss to Leader Course?(Team-Based Leadership Training)
Imagine how awesome it would be if your employees were more engaged, made better decisions, and worked more collaboratively with teammates to produce great work. As leaders, we know that these attributes eliminate countless headaches and help scale the business, but quite shockingly we often see the exact opposite behaviors take place in our teams.
In this hybrid leadership training, together with your management team, we will:
Next Class Start Date:?February 6, 2023.?Learn more! [Seating is limited]
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About Marcel Schwantes
Marcel Schwantes?is a highly-acclaimed executive coach, international speaker,?podcast host, and?syndicated columnist?with a worldwide following. He trains emerging leaders and managers in the skills to build great work cultures where people flourish and businesses grow.
Managing Director at Scion | Co-creating transformational growth Brands that make a positive impact on the World ?? #FutureReady
2 年Thanks for Sharing. Great read!
Director of Sales @ LION | Driving Sales Growth with Strategic Leadership
2 年Well said! Taking away several points to work on implementing.
Innovative Program & Project Leader | Expert in Organizational Transformation | Business Storytelling Enthusiast
2 年Great thoughts Marcel. When employees are constantly told what to do and not given the opportunity to think for themselves or contribute their own ideas, it can lead to a lack of initiative and a lack of ownership in their work. This can create a culture of compliance rather than one of collaboration and empowerment, which can ultimately hinder a company's growth and success. It's a vicious cycle.
Director of operations
2 年Well done
Creative person, served in the army, former inventor, clean energy technology as new platform features
2 年Thank you