Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Leaders Have Feelings Too

It had been an exciting 8 weeks! A new leadership-management training/development initiative had been launched -- the format of which was something new, never tried before. Everyone agreed it was a risk. 

After years of attempting to effectively "train" managers and leaders using traditional approaches (the results of which left everyone wanting), it was time to embrace fresh thinking and a new approach. It was time to jump off the insanity train. (You know, doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.)

As I sat across from the President and Human Resource Director of this very busy, multimillion dollar manufacturing concern for our final debrief, I was aware that the experiment was a success, how much and to want degree I had yet to learn.

Of course what I wanted to see and hear most was how the success of the leadership and management changes in that short 8 weeks had impacted their daily, weekly and monthly numbers and the ultimate impact to their bottom line. But the discussion that unfolded went surprisingly a different direction.

The President began, "We can talk about the numbers, JoAnn, but there is a story to tell here." He then went on to share story after story about the direct and substantial impact to specific people, how they behaved differently, their change in attitude. One manager in particular few people liked but was now being nominated by multiple people for an award.

I eased back in my chair continuing to listen, more intently now, to the duet of stories sung by them both. I assumed when we arranged this debrief meeting that numbers were going to be the driving theme -- increased profits, better percentages of productivity, product and money saved.  Yet, that was not at all the most compelling elements of our discussion. It was the impact to their employees -- the human impact.

I was schooled that day on the deeper impact of the work I do. You'd think I'd know this since my company is named The Human Sphere were we champion the human side of business enterprise, carrying the belief that when employees are winning the company wins too!  Yet, in working with many decision-makers, numbers drive the decisions and measurement of our engagement success.

On this day, the human side of our successful work shone through for the employees and the leaders. And this was my most significant "ah-ha" reminder.  As they enthusiastically shared more results, I gained deeper clarity that the work was as much for the human needs of the leaders as it was for their employees. 

When we talk about doing work "for an organization"...what we're really addressing is meeting the operational needs as well as the human needs -- all the humans of the organization, leaders included. Though some leaders may not wish to acknowledge this, human needs and operational needs are inseparable partners to the success of any company.

Here's what human needs of the leaders I heard...

I feel relieved - so glad this experiment worked

I want to meet the needs of my employees, but didn't exactly know how
I am so happy that they are happy and productive
I needed to be open to something different and so glad I was
I feel successful as a leader because I brought help that worked
I feel good about what has occurred
I was tired of feeling frustrated
The state of our staff really matters to me
I was bothered by what was not working
I don't like to see my employees suffer and struggle
I'm so glad they feel better equipped to manage certain challenges
It's a great feeling the plant culture is significantly improved
It's wonderful to see certain employees empowered and effective
I'm so proud of the progress
I am confident in our continued success
I appreciate the help -- we needed it

... this is just a start.

Thanks to this client, I've been reminded that leaders, decision-makers are very human, with intrinsic needs they may not wish to display. Some see certain leaders as "heartless." For those I see (for whatever the reason) a heart perhaps wounded, less activated, engaged or connected to those they lead.  
There's little accolades for leaders who admit, "I'm afraid, I'm overwhelmed, I don't have a clue what do do, I'm at a loss, I need help." Rather, those emotional states are usually unconsciously masked by counterproductive behaviors, confusing leadership and diminished or handicapped performance.
Here's meaningful advice for any leader -- give yourself permission to acknowledge you have needs and if you do, your staff probably does as well. Meeting their needs is meeting my needs...and that's ok.

** (By the way, this is one of the reasons we created our new 60 day executive-leadership development intensive The 3 Disciplines: Boost Your Effectiveness is 60 days. Based on the book The Effective Executive, by Peter Drucker, it helps leaders create the disciplines of clarity, focus and effective execution using simple principles of human behavior science. You can learn more about it here.

All the above can be summarized with one final observation. It was clear that these 2 leaders felt good and happy about the success of the our efforts because they genuinely cared about their employees -- not just what they could produce for the company, but their state as human beings.

In leadership, management consulting and HR, we work a lot with a variety of leadership competencies lists. I've yet to see listed "genuinely care about those you lead". Now I have seen empathy, an element of emotional intelligence, but simply put -- caring for the people you lead will payoff in unimaginable ways. 

Think about it...what does caring do, what role does it play in certain contexts? One thing for sure, it drives and influences decisions. You can tell if, how much or what someone cares about by the decisions they make.

          
Now all leaders care about something... from profits to getting things done to being the best in a category. Be clear, what is most cared about is what will be the priority and drive how one leads.

With regards to caring about employees, many leaders claim they care, but their decisions don't reflect it. What leaders most care about is where they will put their time, attention, passion and financial resourcesHere's a great example -- Marriott's employee health and wellness initiative:
It's clear that acknowledging and meeting the needs of the human side of business enterprise carries huge benefits for all parties -- both internal and external customers. 

As leaders, perhaps it's time to more readily admit we have needs and feelings too. I think connecting with our own humanity bolsters our leadership effectiveness overall and ultimately the success of our companies. Because... the bottomline of business - everything about it centers on "human issues" - behaviors and relationships.

Continuing the Discussion - Essential Resources for You 
If you want to improve your individual people management skills and team management in general, then... you'll want to grow your awareness of how human behavior impacts your business - read my latest 2 executive briefings.  

You can email me and I'll be happy to send a complimentary pdf version of them (whichever you request) or you can pick them up on Amazon (book or Kindle). (They are both incredibly helpful people management books!)
1.  Show Me the Money: Solving the Mystery of ROI to Unlock Profits and Increase Company Value
2. The Human Quotient: The Most Potent Force for Your Business Success


Exciting News: We are migrating to a 90% virtual company so that we can be available to help more people. As of Nov. 1 - we officially launch Manage Global. Our #1 focus will be to help leaders and their HR partners implement effective management practices through our Effective Executive Smart Management Blueprint, which includes our unique lens of human behavior science.  It's an exceptional tool to manage managers for results!..which is one of the top challenges of companies, no matter the size. Our goal is to help them do so in a unique, reliable, sustainable way. Not one dollar is wasted with our blueprint! Learn more here.


A Comment About our Executive Coaching Services
** Total side note: The 60 day development cycle for our executive development offering is a great way to take advantage of executive coaching services and learn how to use an executive coach without a full blown commitment and huge layout of money. There is quite a variety of them with an equal variety of expertise. Our finely-targeted approach to executive coaching is performance related specifically addressing execution and effectiveness (getting clearly defined, targeted results within a specified period of time). That way we stay centered on our expertise of connecting human behavior science to business outcomes through executive leadership. Executive Development Opportunity

1 comment:

  1. JoAnn, this is one of the most moving stories I've heard in a long time about the workplace. Your leadership with this company is telling us that many leaders care deeply about their people--they just don't know how to manage, communicate and connect in ways that shows how much they care. Congratulations on such a huge success, as shown by the numbers and by the hearts.

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