Tag: Leadership

At The Heart Of Great Companies Is…

Corporate Culture
All we have is our hearts and minds.  If our hearts and minds aren’t taken care of, what kind of company are we going to be.  We need to create an environment where peoples’ hearts and minds thrive.  ~ Tee Green, CEO Greenway Health

Compassion.  The inclusion of compassion in the workplace in companies large and small is not only setting a new tone for emotionally intelligent cultures but raising the bar for employee performance and overall job satisfaction.  Companies that lead from a strong sense of compassion generate more positive emotional cultures and report overwhelming, cascading effects on employees’ attitudes and behaviors:  Increased job satisfaction, lower job stress, decreased turnover and stronger feelings of well-being and psychological safety.  These linkages permeate an organization, impacting its functioning on many levels and significantly increase the bottom line.  The highest and most noble form of leadership in any organization is only realized when compassion is the major operating paradigm.

The most powerful energy in the universe and thus in human beings and organizations is compassion.

Most leaders are conditioned to put business before benevolence – to lead with their heads, not their hearts. The popular perception of a powerful leader is someone who is tough, strong, decisive, hard-nosed, ultra-rational and results-driven. The reality though is that powerful leaders have the conviction, confidence and courage to cultivate connectivity and compassion at all levels.  Companies may be convinced that leadership holds no room for compassion and connection; however, it is becoming increasingly more relevant and imperative that organizational cultures firmly integrate compassion into emotionally healthy and positively energized workplaces.  Great leaders care about connecting with the people they lead.  Compassionate leaders have the courage to inspire people with purpose, optimism and energy because they resonate, empathize and connect.

There is a growing network of leaders, including CEO’s of such companies as Zappos, Amazon.com, Google, Southwest Airlines, Live Nation, Container Store, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Patagonia, Nordstroms and Whole Foods Market— building their companies based on a higher purpose of service to not only building wealth for stakeholders, but creating well-being for all the people businesses touch.  This Maverick Leadership is based on guiding principles and best practices that cultivate trusting, authentic, innovative and caring cultures that make working there a source of both personal growth and professional fulfillment. They endeavor to create financial, intellectual, social, cultural, emotional, spiritual, physical and ecological wealth for humanity. Evidence is mounting that emotionally intelligent businesses that create harmony among purpose, strategy, goals and shared values significantly outperform traditional businesses not only in financial terms, but as socially responsible organizations that impact people and the environment in an optimally positive manner.

The current workplace finds itself struggling on organizational, team and individual levels. The impact of financial insecurity, joblessness, short-term positions, downsizing and changing standards in technology and job skills have had significant financial, psychological, and social costs for organizations and their employees.  Recent studies and research have established the positive effects of compassion at work and shifts the focus to building and strengthening individuals’ abilities to not only empathize, but to be curious about those they lead, and what motivates them to bring their best selves to work.  While it is difficult for individuals to control the external economic environment, giving employees tools to effectively increase their organizations psychosocial well-being is becoming increasingly more integral.  People, who through their own quest for greatness can contribute to making a company truly great.

Considering the amount of time Americans work, companies must align individual character and integrity as essential elements for hiring effectively.  Understanding what motivates employees, what matters to them, and how to connect the work they do to the shared purpose that defines why companies do what they do has lasting positive effects on the ability of individuals to create value from an inner higher purpose.  Compassion is the interdependent collection of employees’ energy and are integral components that produce success in these key areas:

  • High Employee Engagement.   Recent surveys reveal that employee engagement is the second most important issue anticipated by management.  In a global survey of 600 organizations with over 500 employees, 42% having more than 10,000 employees, 71% of Senior Executives affirm that high employee engagement is very important to achieving overall organizational success; however only 24% of companies of Executives believe employees in their organization are highly engaged.  Employee engagement involves clarity of an organization’s purpose and objectives, mutual collaboration in pursuit of achievement with regular constructive feedback for development, contribution in the journey to be fully included as a valued member, trusted and empowered to make decisions and supported in developing new skills for continued innovation.  “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. This emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company. They don’t work just for a paycheck, or just for the next promotion, but work on behalf of the organization’s goals.” – Kevin Kruse.
Twenty-first leadership mandates redefining the employee perspective. Rather than treating people as hired hands, leaders must hire self-motivated, productive talent and engage them.  High-engagement companies understand that employees are the essence of products and services.  They develop, deliver, and support what customers experience every day.

Managers often mistakenly think that putting pressure on employees will increase performance. What it actually does is increase stress—and research has shown that high levels of stress carry a number of costs to employers and employees alike.  Stress brings high health care and turnover costs. In a study of employees from various organizations, health care expenditures for employees with high levels of stress were 46 percent greater than at similar organizations without high levels of stress.  Engaged Employees are more invested in the success of the company and also become more loyal and are far more likely to stay with the organization.  They significantly lower the risk of turnover for the company.  Retaining good employees is key to the success of every business.  Coupled with retention, businesses that have a highly engaged workforce have an increased ability to attract new, high performing talent.  Empowering individual leadership emphasizes employee self-motivation, self-evaluation, self-reward and self-development.  This shared leadership encourages a people-first attitude that honors individuals and inspires integrity and initiative; fosters freedom of thoughts, ideas and creativity for increased innovation and value-added decision making; promotes excellence in performance and ownership of words, actions and results; ignites passion in present performance to creation of a better future; and vision that incorporates an overall sense of positive social impact through purposeful individual action.

  • High Productivity Cultures. Companies with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%. Employees are most productive when they are recognized as high performers, have clear understanding of how job contributes to strategy, continually updated by senior leadership regarding performance strategy and concise communication of company-wide business goals.   Environments that foster ongoing conversations for consistent development and growth ensure high productivity.  Employees are recognized, engaged, developed and encouraged, know that managers care about well-being and are fully aware of expectations armed with the tools and support to perform job well.  When people are viewed as functions and objects to be used and manipulated to achieve company goals rather than as human beings with hopes, dreams, fears and aspirations you create a toxic culture of oppression and coercion that leads to anger, resentment and depression.  Universally, cultures of conscience that create fairness, honesty, respect and contribution open different channels for employees and give them the freedom to bring their best selves to work every day.  An environment of trust encourages loyalty, reinforces commitment to the company mission and goals, and inspires leadership in people that produces continued strategic risk for growth and innovation.
People are fundamental in driving the success of a business. If you treat your staff like the smart and capable adults they are – and give them choice to make informed decisions – you will cultivate an environment in which everyone can flourish.  ~ Sir Richard Branson

You can’t have deeply engaged customers without deeply engaged employees. And customers are the key to success in any business.  Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos asserts, “Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes.  Our number one priority is company culture…Strong company culture is one of the factors that separates great companies from good, bad, or mediocre ones. The research has shown that the power comes from the alignment, by having values and a point of view and beliefs and passion for whatever it is that you stand for. Just figure out what your personal values are then just make those the corporate values.”  When people are in a supportive environment that encourages creativity, that’s when the passion comes out that drives growth and innovation.

  • Increased Corporate Social Responsibility. The most powerful energy in the universe – in human beings and in organizations – is caring.  When businesses recognize the profound impact they have on the lives of employees, customers and all stakeholders, they collectively advance.  Business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity.  “Creating a strong business and building a better world are not conflicting goals – they are both essential ingredients for long-term success,” ~ William Clay Ford Jr. Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company.  Free enterprise capitalism is the most powerful system for social cooperation and human progress ever conceived.  Organizations must aspire to even more.  Compassion has impact and creates strength in the company as individuals are able to draw from within the human spirit to sympathize with others and move to action. One of the greatest outcomes of compassion is that it connects, protects, and uplifts others, creating a bond that endures across time.

Successful organizations that have sustained high levels of employee retention, increasing profit margins and global respect allow leadership to set their values, structures and procedures around the well-being of their people.  New fields of research suggest that when organizations recognize that emotions do matter for good work, the focus turns to promoting leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence to cultivate more compassionate cultures for happier workplaces.  Compassionate organizations value social responsibility and construct mutually beneficial partnerships with people and communities to be good corporate citizens.  They empower people worldwide to improve the quality of all lives and develop economies that add value to all stakeholders.  In a world that is being shaped by the relentless advance of technology what stand out are acts of compassion and connection that reminds us what it means to be human.

To build and sustain brands people love and trust, one must focus—not only on today but also on tomorrow. It’s not easy…but balancing the short and long term is key to delivering sustainable, profitable growth—growth that is good for our shareholders but also good for our consumers, our employees, our business partners, the communities where we live and work, and the planet we inhabit – Irene B. Rosenfeld, CEO Kraft

Habits of Strong Leaders

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.  ~Aristotle

Leadership is learned behavior that becomes unconscious and automatic over time.  For example, leaders can make several important decisions about an issue in the time it takes others to understand the question.   Many people wonder how leaders know how to make the best decisions, often under immense pressure.  The process of making these decisions comes from an accumulation of experiences and encounters with a multitude of difference circumstances, personality types and unforeseen failures.   More so, the decision making process is an acute understanding of being familiar with the cause and effect of behavioral and circumstantial patterns;  knowing the intelligence and interconnection points of the variables involved in these patterns allows a leader to confidently make decisions and project the probability of their desired outcomes.   The most successful leaders are instinctual decision makers.  Having done it so many times throughout their careers, they become immune to the pressure associated with decision making and extremely intuitive about the process of making the most strategic and best decisions. This is why most senior executives will tell you they depend strongly upon their “gut-feel” when making difficult decisions at a moment’s notice.

Beyond decision making, successful leadership across all areas becomes learned and instinctual over a period of time. Successful leaders have learned the mastery of anticipating business patterns, finding opportunities in pressure situations, serving the people they lead and overcoming hardships.   No wonder the best CEOs are paid so much money.   In 2011, salaries for the 200 top-paid CEOs rose 5 percent to a median $14.5 million per year, according to a study by compensation-data company Equilar for The New York Times.

If you are looking to advance your career into a leadership capacity and / or already assume leadership responsibilities – here are 15 things you must do automatically, every day, to be a successful leader in the workplace:

  1. Make Others Feel Safe to Speak-Up:  Many times leaders intimidate their colleagues with their title and power when they walk into a room.   Successful leaders deflect attention away from themselves and encourage others to voice their opinions.  They are experts at making others feel safe to speak-up and confidently share their perspectives and points of view.   They use their executive presence to create an approachable environment.
  2. Make Decisions:  Successful leaders are expert decision makers.    They either facilitate the dialogue to empower their colleagues to reach a strategic conclusion or they do it themselves.  They focus on “making things happen” at all times – decision making activities that sustain progress.   Successful leaders have mastered the art of politicking and thus don’t waste their time on issues that disrupt momentum.  They know how to make 30 decisions in 30 minutes.
  3. Communicate Expectations:  Successful leaders are great communicators, and this is especially true when it comes to “performance expectations.”   In doing so, they remind their colleagues of the organization’s core values and mission statement – ensuring that their vision is properly translated and actionable objectives are properly executed.  I had a boss that managed the team by reminding us of the expectations that she had of the group.   She made it easy for the team to stay focused and on track.  The protocol she implemented – by clearly communicating expectations – increased performance and helped to identify those on the team that could not keep up with the standards she expected from us.
  4. Challenge People to Think:  The most successful leaders understand their colleagues’ mindsets, capabilities and areas for improvement.  They use this knowledge/insight to challenge their teams to think and stretch them to reach for more.   These types of leaders excel in keeping their people on their toes, never allowing them to get comfortable and enabling them with the tools to grow.  If you are not thinking, you’re not learning new things.  If you’re not learning, you’re not growing – and over time becoming irrelevant in your work.
  5. Be Accountable to Others:  Successful leaders allow their colleagues to manage them.  This doesn’t mean they are allowing others to control them – but rather becoming accountable to assure they are being proactive to their colleagues needs.  Beyond just mentoring and sponsoring selected employees, being accountable to others is a sign that your leader is focused more on your success than just their own.
  6. Lead by Example:  Leading by example sounds easy, but few leaders are consistent with this one.   Successful leaders practice what they preach and are mindful of their actions. They know everyone is watching them and therefore are incredibly intuitive about detecting those who are observing their every move, waiting to detect a performance shortfall.
  7. Measure & Reward Performance:  Great leaders always have a strong “pulse” on business performance and those people who are the performance champions. Not only do they review the numbers and measure performance ROI, they are active in acknowledging hard work and efforts (no matter the result).    Successful leaders never take consistent performers for granted and are mindful of rewarding them.
  8. Provide Continuous Feedback:  Employees want their leaders to know that they are paying attention to them and they appreciate any insights along the way.  Successful leaders always provide feedback and they welcome reciprocal feedback by creating trustworthy relationships with their colleagues..   They understand the power of perspective and have learned the importance of feedback early on in their career as it has served them to enable workplace advancement.
  9. Properly Allocate and Deploy Talent:  Successful leaders know their talent pool and how to use it.  They are experts at activating the capabilities of their colleagues and knowing when to deploy their unique skill sets given the circumstances at hand. Ask Questions, Seek Counsel:  Successful leaders ask questions and seek counsel all the time.  From the outside, they appear to know-it-all – yet on the inside, they have a deep thirst for knowledge and constantly are on the look-out to learn new things because of their commitment to making themselves better through the wisdom of others.
  10. Problem Solve; Avoid Procrastination:  Successful leaders tackle issues head-on and know how to discover the heart of the matter at hand.    They don’t procrastinate and thus become incredibly proficient at problem solving; they learn from and don’t avoid uncomfortable circumstances (they welcome them).  Getting ahead in life is about doing the things that most people don’t like doing.
  11. Exude Positive Energy & Attitude:  Successful leaders create a positive and inspiring workplace culture.  They know how to set the tone and bring an attitude that motivates their colleagues to take action.   As such, they are likeable, respected and strong willed.  They don’t allow failures to disrupt momentum.
  12. Be a Great Teacher:  Many employees in the workplace will tell you that their leaders have stopped being teachers.   Successful leaders never stop teaching because they are so self-motivated to learn themselves.  They use teaching to keep their colleagues well-informed and knowledgeable through statistics, trends, and other newsworthy items.  Successful leaders take the time to mentor their colleagues and make the investment to sponsor those who have proven they are able and eager to advance.
  13. Invest in Relationships:  Successful leaders don’t focus on protecting their domain – instead they expand it by investing in mutually beneficial relationships. Successful leaders associate themselves with “lifters and other leaders” – the types of people that can broaden their sphere of influence.  Not only for their own advancement, but that of others.  Leaders share the harvest of their success to help build momentum for those around them.
  14. Genuinely Enjoy Responsibilities:  Successful leaders love being leaders – not for the sake of power but for the meaningful and purposeful impact they can create.   When you have reached a senior level of leadership – it’s about your ability to serve others and this can’t be accomplished unless you genuinely enjoy what you do.

In the end, successful leaders are able to sustain their success because these 14 things ultimately allow them to increase the value of their organization’s brand – while at the same time minimize the operating risk profile.   They serve as the enablers of talent, culture and results.

One of the most often overlooked aspects of leadership is the need for pursuit. Great leaders are never satisfied with traditional practice, static thinking, conventional wisdom, or common performance. In fact, the best leaders are simply uncomfortable with anything that embraces the status quo. Leadership is pursuit – pursuit of excellence, of elegance, of truth, of what’s next, of what if, of change, of value, of results, of relationships, of service, of knowledge, and of something bigger than yourself. In the text that follows I’ll examine the value of being a pursuer…

Here’s the thing – pursuit leads to attainment. What you pursue will determine the paths you travel, the people you associate with, the character you develop, and ultimately, what you do or don’t achieve. Having a mindset focused on pursuit is so critical to leadership that lacking this one quality can sentence you to mediocrity or even obsolescence. The manner, method, and motivation behind any pursuit is what sets truly great leaders apart from the masses. If you want to become a great leader, become a great pursuer.

A failure to embrace pursuit is to cede opportunity to others. A leader’s failure to pursue clarity leaves them amidst the fog. Their failure to pursue creativity relegates them to the routine and mundane. Their failure to pursue talent sentences them to a world of isolation.  Their failure to pursue change approves apathy. Their failure to pursue wisdom and discernment subjects them to distraction and folly. Their failure to pursue character leaves a question mark on their integrity. Let me put this as simply as I can – you cannot attain what you do not pursue.

Smart leaders understand it’s not just enough to pursue, but pursuit must be intentional, focused, consistent, aggressive, and unyielding. You must pursue the right things, for the right reasons, and at the right times. Perhaps most of all, the best forms of pursuit enlist others in the chase. Pursuit in its purest form is highly collaborative, very inclusive and easily transferable. Pursuit operates at greatest strength when it leverages velocity and scale.

Pursue discovery, seek dissenting opinions, develop your ability unlearn by embracing how much you don’t know, and find the kind of vision that truly does see around corners. Don’t use your pursuits to shift paradigms, pursue breaking them. Knowing what not to pursue is just as important as knowing what to pursue.

It’s important to keep in mind that nothing tells the world more about a leader than what or who they pursue – that which you pursue is that which you value. If you message to your organization you value talent, but don’t treat people well and don’t spend time developing the talent around you, then I would suggest you value rhetoric more than talent. Put simply, you can wax eloquent all you like, but your actions will ultimately reveal what you truly value.

Lastly, the best leaders pursue being better leaders. They know to fail in this pursuit is nothing short of a guarantee they’ll be replaced by those who don’t. All leaders would be well served to go back to school on what I refer to as the art and science of pursuitology.