Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive

"Too many companies bet on having a cut-throat, high-pressure, take-no-prisoners culture to drive their financial success."

Harvard Business Review

Research into organisational psychology has shown that productivity can be increased dramatically and also increase, and improve leadership development led by pioneering researchers such as Daniel Goleman and Adam Grant .

Stress and anxiety will always precede the success of any organisational culture, and that is where the work of Goleman leads brands to understand more about emotional intelligence in the workplace.

The reality is employees and the world over are more stressed than ever when you look at the case study of The Great Resignation not to mention the global suicide rates that are climbing. Effectively stress is breathing out of the workplace and into the global society. Put simply, workers are more stressed than ever. YouGov research shows half of workers in Britain (52%) say they feel “very” or “fairly” stressed at work.

In addition, Toxic Leadership has also a negative impact on the global workforce. The extent of the damage to employees' well-being from toxic leadership will always increase stress in organisational culture. Moreover, the reverse of defusing such weakness in organisational development should entail a long investment in good leadership practices.

What is Good Leadership Practice in 2024?

Any solid behavioural leadership trait that promotes love empathy, and kindness is the quick answer. Leaders do need to self-evaluate that building trust in employees does lead to improved organisational cultures.

Top Leadership Development Voice Mathew Lehnig writes in Forbes The Top 5 Leadership Trends That Will Drive Success In 2024:

1 - Adaptive Leadership

2 - Emphasis on Emotional Intelligence

3 - Purpose-Driven Leadership

4- Remote Leadership Skills

5 - Technology and Data Literacy

Adaptive leadership is not new at least in Special Forces like the US Navy Seals and the British Army `s SAS - each operator has an exceptional level of emotional intelligence that can adapt in real-time to suit operational effectiveness, and for us Business Leaders that means improvements in organisational performance.

The British Army has focused more recently on upgrading some of its core training around more EI methods that will lead to more efficient soldiers and systems of fighting on the ground.

The flaw in adopting more focus in organisational leadership lies in the workforce's sheer ability to work and recognise their emotions. Not an easy task when for instance the NHS are one of the biggest employers of the world and has hundreds of thousands of leadership constraints trying to improve already one of the world's most in-demand global health systems.

Reflective Practice has been known to reduce blam culture would be useful for organisations such as the NHS, and also promote wider benefits in increasing and improving organisational culture for any firm that chooses to invest in this type of training methodology.

The work of Mathew Lehnig and his organisation EXCELR8 is a clear example of how military training, particularly around emotional intelligence can improve company culture and paint a different picture of what military leadership is not - that much it is not a form of Toxic leadership.

How Does Disengagement Affect Company Culture?

How good we feel when we leave for work matters right? If we are excited to go then we may perform better and even be nice to our colleagues. That said more folks associate engagement itself with the opposite of disengagement to Psychological safety - a well-researched term that creates the importance of having a job that is stable with good pay and working conditions. Whilst Harvard Business Review defines it much differently the idea it promotes a form of good organisational culture does exist.

What is the best type of Leadership Style for Improvements to Organisational Culture?

High-performance work Cultures do exist as steered by research from the 英国莱斯特大学 where they have created the term HPWP (High-performance work practice) stemming from the practice of Human Resource Management.

Nonetheless, it is still somewhat difficult to pinpoint the exact leadership style that can increase and manage organisational culture the best.

What is known more profoundly is the power that transformational leadership will provide employees with enough motivational drive to follow a good leader's pursuit to put employees first.

Why don't all organisations adopt more Transformational Leadership to create better work cultures?

The work of Daniel Goleman and his famous artilce titled: What Makes A Leader? provides an alternative viewpoint as it encourages the emotional construct of leaders rather than what motivates teams themselves often seen as a high commodity in the transformational leadership approach.

"When asked to define the ideal leader, many would emphasize traits such as intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision—the qualities traditionally associated with leadership. Such skills and smarts are necessary but insufficient qualities for the leader. Often left off the list are softer, more personal qualities—but they are also essential. Although a certain degree of analytical and technical skill is a minimum requirement for success, studies indicate that emotional intelligence may be the key attribute that distinguishes outstanding performers from those who are merely adequate." Daniel Goleman (2004)

As such it becomes a lifetime of learning more about how different leadership styles work best in organisational culture building. The Pathway to Success in Terms of Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive on the shoulders of our own as independent drivers of leadership development. What has been drafted here is the strong evidence to suggest emotions drive good leadership and build greater performances in shifting employees to a sustainable and winnable company culture.

Stress and anxiety are always going to produce any leadership style and performance gain in organisational culture. This artilce has not looked at the different measurements of organisational culture like work reviews and namely sales data. However, emotional leadership practice to understand others more and oneself provides a strong gateway to improvements for competitive advantages.

It is also true that after COVID-19 or lockdown, at least firms have started to change the narrative of how positive work culture should be with notions of well-being policy for instance. This is positive news for the wider spectrum of organisational culture and performance, and as such firms should continue to invest in wellbeing programmes also for employee happiness.

One of the best remedies to prove that Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive is to practice Empathy in Action and adopt more Empathy as a skill training covered exceptionally by Tracy Brower, PhD in her famous Forbes artilce titled: Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To Research . Also championed by Stephen Fahey in his work on Emotional intelligence.

Deciphering the optimal framework to enhance your firm's outlook is a process that requires time. Organizational culture and performance significantly improve when investments in Emotional Intelligence (EI) begin to mitigate the effects of toxic leadership. However, the most critical aspect to consider is how staff and employees relate to one another, embracing a human-led management approach.

The cornerstone of improving workplace dynamics lies in fostering kindness among employees. Nonetheless, the presence of stress and anxiety can undermine these efforts to cultivate a positive work culture. Implementing reflective practice, for example, can realign leadership styles towards transformational leadership, facilitating a more profound and impactful change.

Thank you for engaging with today's detailed analysis, written and produced by Stephen Fahey. Stay tuned for more insightful articles on Empathy and Emotional Intelligence. Subscribe here for updates.