Understanding The Invisible Labor Of Leaders

I’m always on the lookout for articles about leadership. Here are a few snippets:

Ask any leader what their top priorities are, and they will rattle off projects and initiatives and complex business problems that defy simple solutions. Leaders are expected to execute on vision, refine strategy and manage teams. Their plates are piled high with the important and very visible work of leadership. But underneath all, there is less obvious and often invisible work that leaders must tackle every day to achieve their business outcomes. Nobody thinks to put these competencies in a job description, but they are critical to leadership success in today’s world. Let’s look at three kinds of invisible work and discuss why this work is so necessary.

Managing Anxiety

Today’s workers are coming to work anxious and stressed, and this emotional undercurrent impacts everybody else in the system. Telling your employees that their benefits plan includes mental health services does not erase your responsibility for managing anxiety that can become contagious and widespread. Indeed, studies have shown that managers have an outsize impact on employee mental health, and with empathy and the right communication tools, they can regulate the emotional environment of their teams or office. A worker that is overwhelmed with anxiety who feels unseen and unsupported will be less productive, less creative and less focused on the task at hand. Managing anxiety involves listening to identify sources of anxiety, regulating oneself instead of reacting, and fostering a psychologically safe workplace that doesn’t exacerbate the anxiety your people are already experiencing.

Promoting Awareness

The technology that enables us to tackle our daily work also presents us with constant distractions and excess information. The avalanche of emails and executive memos and company newsletters can bury the critical information your people need to execute on the organisation’s mission. Many employees operate with limited awareness of institutional goals and challenges and get lost in the silos of their individual tasks. Leaders need to cut through the noise and mental clutter with clear and direct communication to foster awareness and alignment. Without critical data and perspectives from leaders, workers will operate like the proverbial blind men grasping the elephant. Lack of awareness often leads to miscommunication, conflict and poor decision making.

Addressing Apathy

Leaders are concerned about the work ethic of Gen Z employees, managers lament the rise of quiet quitting, and consultants are consulted to strategise about how to increase worker productivity. But addressing worker apathy must start with an understanding of self-determination theory and the basic human needs that drive our motivation. When our psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness are unsupported or thwarted at work, our motivation suffers. Leaders must address apathy by recognising and supporting these important human needs. Micromanagement, insufficient resources, poor onboarding, inadequate training and lack of connectedness at work are all reasons why people feel unmotivated and apathetic. Mass layoffs and corporate dysfunction are also driving people to reconsider and renegotiate their relationship with their employers. Leaders cannot achieve their organisational objectives with a disillusioned and apathetic workforce that has lost its sense of purpose.

Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspectives. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected] ; or call me on 0467 749 378.

Thanks,

Robert