Being a leader in today’s organisations is a real challenge. Genuinely caring for your employees and customers is one of the most supportive actions you can take.
Real and enduring business success is built on the principles of trust, responsibility and the highest standards. Living up to these expectations can be challenging, but it is more likely to be achieved if you have your employees engaged and willing to help you grow the business.
Every organisation needs Engaged Leaders, even if you are just starting out as a sole trader you need the same underpinning qualities, attitude and values as someone leading an international global organisation.
We can all develop new skills, gain new knowledge, discover how we learn, but it is having passion, energy, self-awareness, compassion and a genuine interest in the development and well-being of others that creates engaged leadership.
Some organisations are still organised in an hierarchical way, with structured career paths, pay grades and a focus on managers, supervisors and only seeing leadership as being important at the very top of the organisation.
Other more enlightened organisations see the development of leadership as relevant throughout the organisation, with more of an emphasis of developing well-rounded colleagues who are all capable of displaying leadership qualities when a situation requires it; but who also work well together as a team and recognise the importance of personal development.
We also recognise that our working lives are rapidly changing, none of us could have predicted the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, how almost overnight hybrid working would be rapidly implemented and accepted as a new way of working. Condensed hours, A.I. and digital transformation are changing both the skills and knowledge required and new roles and career paths are being created.
The role of the leader is critical at all levels in an organisation, people who are given, or who assume leadership set the tone for how groups and individuals interact with each other and how the organisation is perceived externally.
In today’s hybrid organisations leaders have an important role in maintaining inclusivity, motivating and energising their teams to ensure that people understand and feel confident about the organisation’s direction and fully supported to enjoy their day to day working environment. With many organisations trying to implement digital transformation, it is also vitally important that people (employees and customers) remain a constant consideration.
Sadly in today’s world we see many examples of loud, aggressive and bullish behaviour and much less publicity given to the committed, caring and genuinely kind leadership. But these leaders do exist and we should celebrate them and learn from their example.
Often these leaders are quietly working away in smaller organisations having become disillusioned with corporate life they leave to seek a gentler way of working. Not that they work any less, in fact they often work longer hours, the difference is they see value in what they are doing, are more passionate about their standards and more committed to their customers.
Given that we need these same standards in our corporate businesses how do we achieve it?
It’s not easy, it really does start from the top and needs tremendous support. In my experience with leaders, I have seen very committed leaders with all the qualities that an organisation needs leave simply because they either didn’t have the right team around them or didn’t have enough support to enable them to change the organisation. It also vitally important to recognise that change takes time and the larger the organisation the longer it can take. It is also important to have committed leaders at all levels. Often the newest, youngest recruits can intuitively have the natural behaviours that you need.
Another critically important aspect of this is recruitment and any organisation looking to change behaviours and recruit employees with the right behaviours must pay attention to their recruitment process particularly at the moment. We hear endless examples of talented and committed young people applying to literally hundreds of organisations and not receiving acknowledgement, equally we know of organisations who despair of finding the right people they need to change their organisation. This is too large a topic to deal with in this feature, but we have addressed it in our other features specifically looking at opportunities for young people.
Importantly it is something not just related to young people but to recruitment at all levels in an organisation where the leadership team needs to express very clearly to a recruitment organisation,or to its internal recruitment team the qualities that they are looking for. Importantly this also relates to any messages given in an organisation’s website and social media about recruitment.
Therefore in developing leaders organisations need to consider the following three key target groups:
First: Employees – if you recognise this situation, it’s important that you find like-minded people who share your values, who make your working life more fulfilled. Research the companies you would like to work for, seek mentors, volunteer, build your network.
If you are self-employed, take the opportunity to collaborate with others, network locally,
Second: Management: If you have any level of responsibility, use it with care, particularly if you are in middle management. With flatter structures it can be easier for organisations to share information and work towards a common goal, but the longer the lines of communication, or control the harder it is to create positive team working.
Third: Leadership: Increasingly leaders are recognising that they are ultimately responsible for the actions of their organisations. The traditional layers of heirarchy are being stripped away.
It is no longer acceptable to say ‘I didn’t know this was happening in my business’
Many people advocate a flatter structure, however some organisations believe that this means simply taking away levels of management. However if the leadership team is isolated from the rest of the employees a real barrier can very quickly grow in internal communications and employee engagement.
There is a well-known saying ‘Read the room’. Unfortunately many leaders, and people in positions of authority are seemingly ‘room blind’ which is vital when engaging with people, or managing reputations.
One of the saddest things in today’s society is the anger, frustration and general suffering experienced by so many. Yet even in the darkest situations we have examples of wonderful volunteers, charity workers, young people taking on personal challenges to raise money and others caring for loved ones.
If we could take these heartfelt actions and inject them into potentially damaging working environments and try and build more caring organisations, daily life could be so much better for so many people.
It takes a very special leader to both steer the business and show genuine interest in their employees. Sadly some leaders simply continue with an oblivious lack of interest in how people are feeling, or the level of engagement, taking the view that everyone is replaceable.
People development is vital in organisations, particularly in hybrid working. Recognising the value of coaching, 1-1 sessions, short but meaningful team meetings and really effective and honest communications can help, but developing people-centric leaders is absolutely essential. People need someone who is genuinely interested in them and fair and honest employment practices.
As smaller more entrepreneurial businesses grow, caring for your colleagues becomes even more critical. Incorporating systems and procedures will be vital to ensure that you can still maintain the values and beliefs of a small business. Recruiting and onboarding the right people to help grow your business will be equally important.
Recognise the power of community, whatever your employment status find opportunities to show compassion, to give back to your local community, to care about the bigger issues facing all of us.
We are living through increasingly troubled times, and for employees this can affect their mental health, sense of security, and general well-being.
If we look holistically at employees we need to recognise both individual and collective pressures.
Having in place as much support as possible is vital, but also striving to create a working environment where genuine compassionate and inclusive team working within corporate and social responsibility accountability is paramount.
Finally some thoughts for anyone leading, or preparing to lead an organisation.
Will you be the leader that takes the time to talk to your newest recruits, who remembers their names, who continues this dialogue as they progress through their careers?
Will you be the leader who listens to your customers, suppliers and cares about the supply chain of your products?
Will you be the leader who takes ownership of problems and seeks to find a solution?
Will you be a leader who recognises and rewards performance, who encourages progression and opens up channels of communication?
Will you be the leader who cares passionately about corporate reputation and social responsibility who champions and encourages innovation throughout the organisation?
Will you be the leader who cares passionately about the success of the business and communicates that passion to inspire others so that everyone can benefit?
This is part of our Gentle Guide to Success an alternative approach to personal and organisational development.
Based on our research and years of working with organisations helping them develop their people we have gathered together ideas and suggestions about ways of becoming an Engaged Leader. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us.