Leaders Are People Too

Leading teams on a shared mission that plays to everyone’s strengths and values their individual contribution gives me enormous joy.

Nothing gives me more of a thrill than seeing people meet their potential and shine.

I hold myself to a high standard of integrity and emotional intelligence and try to lead with humanity and humility.?

I spend time getting to know the people I work with as people, not just for the job they do.

I care about them.?

Finding the knotty problems, the interruptions in flow, the things that are holding us back from being as successful as we can be, is one of my strengths.

All of these things make me a really good leader.

But

I will never be a perfect leader because I am human. And as much as I will continue to work on being the best person I can be, I will always have insecurities, flaws and trigger points.?

I’m a really good leader, but the truth is that I have made decisions that have come at a human cost.??

Because leadership involves making difficult decisions that you believe are right for the business, which is ultimately what you are charged to do.

I know there are plenty of people who have loved and grown from the experience of working with me, but that there will be others who are definitely not fans. Some people disagree with the decisions I’ve made or the way I’ve implemented them.?

And some people have been directly affected by those decisions and understandably bruised by their experience.?

On the other hand, I’ve also been told I’m too consultative, too kind, too protective of the teams I lead, too energetic, too ambitious, too much. I’ve even been called an empire builder, whatever that means.

I think I have finally learned the life lesson that I’m not for everyone, in and out of the workplace. I just have to like myself, be able to look myself in the mirror and be accountable to my own guiding principles of integrity, fairness and humanity.

Over 30 years working in book publishing, I’ve often reflected on the tension between art and commerce. The workplace carries a similar tension straddling human behaviour with an archaic post industrial model that is based on process and productivity. But the problem with that is that we are people, not widgets.

It is woefully imperfect and the structures that have been overlaid over time to protect individuals and businesses ironically can make it even harder to have real, human interactions and conversations.?

Especially the most difficult ones.

Leaders and HR teams are often trying to have these conversations with one hand tied behind their back. Walking a tightrope balancing the needs of the business bundled in process and legalese, the rest of their team, and the expectations of people they report to whilst trying to remain human.?

I’ve spoken recently about my own experience of being retrenched which happened as a result of? a tough decision that had to be made for a business that was battling cash challenges. Although I totally understood the decision, it was still a difficult experience to go through for me and the other people affected.?

I know from first hand experience that it also wasn’t easy for the person who had to make that tough decision and let us all know.?

Because leaders are also people.

Difficult decisions have an impact on them too.

When I’ve been walking in those other shoes in the past, I’ve always tried not to make it about me, because it’s not. When having “that” discussion, I’ve tried to ignore my dry mouth, racing heart, the tick that hits the corner of my mouth when I feel uncomfortable. Instead I try to focus on being as fair, clear and kind as the situation and those structures allow.

But in the same way I couldn’t fully understand what it felt like to be a parent in the workforce until I had kids, I couldn’t really know what it felt like to lose my job until it happened to me.?

In the process we were two humans suddenly stuck in a very inhumane situation.

Leadership will always involve tough decisions, lonely moments, a weight of responsibility and sometimes a heavy heart.?

That’s because leaders are people too.?

And we’ve all got some work to do to reshape the modern workplace paradigm to make it a better, more human place for everyone.