The 4Ps of Engaging Leadership

“Your title makes you a manager, your people decide if you are a leader.” – Merline Saintil , one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Leadership, 2022

There are hundreds of leadership frameworks and models. The HR Trend Institute has an interesting post on their website titled ?Nearly 100 Leadership Models which gives a good sampling of existing frameworks with a smattering of commentary, some of which will make you smile.

If you look at the common traits of all these frameworks as it pertains to the interaction of a leader with his or her team, there are four common skill themes:

1.????? Ability to provide PURPOSE?

2.????? Ability to demonstrate PROFICIENCY

3.????? Ability to model PRINCIPLES

4.????? Ability to nurture POTENTIAL?

I call this simpler framework the 4Ps of Engaging Leadership.

The foundational practice of leadership, whether as a team lead or a CEO, lies in the ability of the leader to engage the team. If the team isn’t following, the outcome is predictable. The framing of the problem statement is important in terms of conceptualizing this framework. The question is not “how can my team be better?” The question is “how can I improve to make my team better?” It seems like these are basic competencies for a leader to have, but recent survey data exposes some cracks in the foundations.? Here are some statistics:

·????? 21% of employees strongly trust their leadership (Gallup), down from a high of 24% in 2019. As highs go, this makes me a little sad.

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·????? 36% of U.S. employees are engaged in their work (Gallup) and around 14-15% are actively disengaged.?

There is clearly an engagement problem that needs to be addressed, and it gets worse as you move up the organizational hierarchy. To be clear, there are many leaders who follow the 4Ps extremely well, but if Gallup’s surveys are to be believed, they are not in the majority.

Purpose

“In all times, but especially in uncertain times, a great leader must define reality. You can’t try to see the world the way you want it to be, you have to see the world the way it really is.” – David Novak

I love this quote because it acknowledges that the team is smart. When it comes to understanding the business of an organization, employee literacy has come a long way. The purpose you provide must not only be aspirational, but it must also acknowledge the reality of your current situation. Ask yourself the following questions:

1.????? As a leader, does the purpose you share resonate authentically with you?

2.????? Does the purpose you share align with the larger purpose and mission of the organization?

3.????? If you meet the above two criteria, will it be tangible and resonate with the team, and acknowledge reality?

4.????? Does your communication cadence meet the needs of the team?

A good technique, if you are not in the C-suite, is to nest purposes – our purpose is X, so that the organization can achieve Y (the big purpose). If you are a manager of managers, you can workshop this with your team.?

Your biggest purpose should be a constant, barring seismic shifts in the market or industry landscape. However, there will be many times a leader will be called on to explain the “why” of more transient events as well. Why are we moving to a new system? Why are we changing the organization? Why are we having layoffs? It is as important to go through steps 1-4 above for these types of transformational events as it is for the organization’s core purpose.?

Proficiency

“No human being will work hard at anything unless they believe they are working for competence” – William Glasser

Proficiency or competence is reflected in many ways. A big part of a leader’s responsibility is to direct the activities of their unit, and the team’s belief in your competence to provide that direction is fundamental.

A solid understanding of the organization’s market segment, strategic vision, product and service portfolio, and financial performance will be expected of you with varying degrees of depth depending on your leadership level. It’s essential that you’re able to communicate the evolution and progress of these elements to give ongoing context to the team.?

The ability to make fast decisions, or clearly identify next steps, will be another expected proficiency. Processing the best imperfect information at hand, putting it in the organizational context, and explaining the rationale for that decision are crucial aspects of this skill.?

Most importantly, you must be committed to building and improving your competencies. Demonstrating continuous learning signals to your team members both your commitment to your role, and the value you place on continuous improvement. The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness found that influential leaders spend an average of 2.5 to 3 hours a week on learning and developing. The best spend far more.

Principles

“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own example” – John Wooden??

Modeling principles is about behaving in a way that is consistent with the organization’s stated values. Leaders that succeed in organizations typically have core values that align closely with those of the organization. A core value, by definition, is non-negotiable.?

This skill has a big impact on team engagement. Nothing breaks trust faster than a leader who espouses a value but behaves differently. Understanding how your behaviors reflect your principles requires a strong sense of self-awareness. Here is some data, based on research by Dr. Tasha Eurich and published in The Harvard Business Review , that might raise some questions:

• Only 10-15% of people have achieved the status of self-awareness. Self-awareness as described by Eurich is fully knowing who you are - your passions, values, goals, personality, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as understanding how others perceive you.

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• Leaders tend to be less self-aware than the average population (<10%).

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• Everybody overestimates their self-awareness.

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Basically, there is a high probability (>85%) that how you perceive your behaviors and their alignment to your principles is not how others perceive them. The most important thing you can do to understand how your behaviors are perceived and build on this core skill is to be open to feedback. Leave your ego at the door. Invite feedback from allies amongst your team, your peers, and your manager. Use tools like 360 assessments to identify your behavioral blind spots, and work to improve behaviors one at a time. If you have the means, get a coach.

Potential

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” - ?Jack Welch

Nurturing potential as a leader is about having a coaching mindset. It’s caring about people’s aspirations and helping them achieve goals that are valuable to both the team member and the organization. Try asking each of your team members these powerful open-ended questions:

1. What is your vision for yourself in one, two or three years?
2. What are the talent/skill gaps you need to close to get there?
3. Which gaps can you work on that will benefit both your current role and your aspirations?
4. How will you hold yourself accountable?

The answers to these questions can form a strong basis for developing team members and fostering a strong sense of engagement. Many won’t have the answers. Part of the fun is the discovery and encouragement. Here are other recommended best practices:

1. Make weekly or biweekly informal meetings with each of your team members a priority.
2. Be part of their accountability loop for personal development.
3. Read books on effective coaching techniques to get ideas. Here are some reviews of recommended reading - The Coaching Habit, Co-Active Coaching??
4. Enable the high potential employees for growth and succession - through training and exposure.

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Beyond 4Ps

The 4Ps framework identifies the basic competencies that a leader must master to maximize the chance of having an engaged team. You will not always be able to control the broader context, but you can control what you do and the skills that you build. It doesn’t stop there. John Maxwell talks about The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership . That’s seventeen more things ??. Even if you master the 4Ps, there is always more you can do.?