Leadership (Page 4)

In: Emotional Intelligence, Leadership

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and use your own empathy and emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate efficiently and empathise with others to over come challenges and defuse conflict. Conversations always start out with small talk, and so often we revert back to a basic question something like “Hi, how are you?”. The social convention is that we often start a conversation asking this generic question and potentially don’t even wait for the answer. Researchers at Harvard Business School analyzed hundreds of conversations to determine what kinds of questions led to better reactions. The findings established that people who ask deeper more interested questions were better liked by those they were having conversations with. It also noted that individuals using this technique were rated as having a higher interpersonal construct of listening validation and care. Authentic conversations are grounded in asking a question that you care about listeningContinue Reading

In: Crisis Management, Leadership

With the dual pressures of the pandemic and the economic crisis, many executives are challenged dealing with the constant increase in new challenges that appear every day. Many leaders claim that with all this going on they have no time for strategy and planning, often using the excuse that this is a ‘Black Swan event’. The concept of a Black Swan event (a term coined by Wall Street trade Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2001 book ‘Fooled by Randomness‘) is an event that is unpredictable, has severe and widespread consequences, and after the event people will rationalise as being predictable (hindsight bias). Previous events that have been broadly defined as Black Swan include: The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis The “Dotcom” Crash  9/11 Attacks The 2008 Global Financial Crisis Brexit Author Michele Wucker describes the current situation not as a Black Swan but rather as “Grey Rhino”. The Rhino phenomenon isContinue Reading

In: Culture, Leadership

The Avocado Leader is a new term coined to reflect a change in management behaviours during the pandemic. The Avocado Leader has a soft and empathetic exterior with a hard business core. Academics from Macquarie Business School together with management consultancy We Are Unity conducted research interviewing senior and mid level executives from ASX200 firms about how management has changed during the pandemic and the impact of COVID19 restrictions. Key findings show the crisis has been a catalyst for transformation in the way that people work, increasing focus on mental health, introduction of flexible and smarter ways of working and the acceleration of digital disruption to future proof the business. The survey found that during the COVID 63% of leaders identified a boost to productivity 57% saw improved collaboration 55% saw improved efficiency 87% believed their organisation was agile in response to the pandemic 74% attributed improved performance to theContinue Reading

In: Leadership

This article looks at the different type of power that management use in leadership positions, positional power and personal power. “The most effective leaders appear to exhibit a degree of versatility and flexibility that enables them to adapt their behavior to the changing and contradictory demands made on them Ralph Stogdill (The Leadership Handbook) It is not enough for a leader to just have different styles of behaviour, to be effective they must be able to adapt their style to different situations and the needs of stakeholders and employees. Beyond the style of behaviour every leader needs to be able to assess how that specific style of behaviour impacts others, knowing exactly how they are using the power in the relationship in that circumstance and at that point in time. “While leadership is about the process of influencing people, power can be described as a leader’s influence potential.” The effective delegationContinue Reading

In: Leadership, Strategy

Leadership is a profoundly personal face to face relationship, trust is established when leaders treat each other as valued. Strategic Effectiveness requires leaders build highly resilient highly effective teams that can weather the impacts of the current global pressures. High performing teams require authentic leadership, which involves honouring the moral obligation to care genuinely for others in the teams welfare. “Leaders who are trustworthy create interpersonal relationships based upon open communication, demonstrate personal competence, exhibit by their actions a commitment to others’ welfare, and model unflagging integrity” Schoorman, F. D., Mayer, R. C. & Davis, J. D. (2007). “An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust: Past, Present, and Future.” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 344-354. Effective leadership involves establishing relationships that unite individuals and engage them as owners and partners. Relationships with team members need to be based on authenticity and empathy. Many organisations still have leaders thatContinue Reading

In: Agile, FWOW, Leadership, Motivation

Over recent years the term ‘Servant Leadership’ became mainstream in business schools and leadership education. Synonymous with Agile Teams the servant leader empowers and enables the teams, effectively reversing the traditional role of staff making the manager successful. This article from McKinsey Quarterly explores the link between employee satisfaction and how managers are improving the quality of workplace relationships and in particular driving cultural change through servant leadership which includes engaging everyone within the organisation with “compassion and genuine curiosity”. Substantial research has documented that a good workplace is established when managers are able to provide workers with a work environment that is meaningful (clarity, context of the work; as well as autonomy, tools and guidance to do the work) and offers psychological safety (the absence of interpersonal fear as a driver of employee behaviour). “a good manager instills a sense of trust and confidence, with a clear set ofContinue Reading

In: Agile, Leadership

More and more organisations are moving to adopt Agile Transformation not just in standard project methodologies but transforming all resource management. The goal is to better align organisation strategic priorities with scarce resource utilisation ensuring that company is always working on what is highest priority. This article was adapted from an original article published by Forbes in 2018. 1. Today’s Organisation In a recent study by McKinsey 90% of executives identified agility and collaboration as critical to the organisations success. McKinsey also went on explain that in their findings organisations that adopt agile processes do financially better than those that don’t. Agile management seeks to renew itself, adapt, change quickly and succeed in rapidly changing, ambiguous, turbulent environment. As well as the ability to quickly reconfigure strategy, structure, processes, people and technology toward value creation and value protecting opportunities. If you need more proof that agile management works this isContinue Reading

In: Leadership

Mental health issues and stress can show up in issues sleeping, increases in eating or drinking alcohol/substance abuse, it is even known to worsen chronic conditions. So mental health is always serious business but the pandemic now has everyone working from home, and further the recession has caused a greater concern about job security. As a leader staying on top of these issues can significantly impact how your business performs. So employers and leaders need to recognise the increased responsibility of protecting their teams mental health as well as their own. Here are four ways to start that process. Start by openly discussing mental health Most empathetic leaders recognise that they have a key responsibility in helping employees achieve a healthier mental state. By continuing the dialogue to reduce any stigma associated with recognising symptoms and where possible providing opportunities for support such as access to professional counselling. Reduce digitalContinue Reading

5 skills

In: Culture, Effective Communication, Leadership

A recent US survey has identified the most important skills for managers as: communication, ability to train, time management, building culture and managing performance. In 2019 the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released a study  The High Cost of a Toxic Workplace Culture which identified 1 in 4 American workers dreaded going to work and that US companies had lost $223 billion due to culture caused turn-over. In 2020 they updated the study with further research finding that 84% of US workers blame bad managers for creating unnecessary stress. This article unpacks the more recent study and finds that there are five skills that employees wish their managers have. Effective Communication The mostly highly regarded skill is effective communications (41% of those surveyed stated their manager could improve in this area). It is important to remember that effective communication is not just about talking it is also about listeningContinue Reading

In: Leadership

There are different types of leadership. Not everyone is or should be a great people leader but that should not define your career. There are many types of remarkable leader that don’t require team management. Change Leaders Change Leaders drive transformation, they lead strategy, drive optimisation, eliminate inefficiencies and remove roadblocks. example: Consultants and Coaches People Leaders People leaders take time to understand individuals, to explore motivations and know their individual skills and competencies. They work to develop team members careers and to place individuals in the roles that best suit their capability and the needs of the greater team. example: Managers, Chapter Leads Results Leaders Results leaders are motivated by BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) they will do what ever it takes to achieve the outcome. They are ambitious, tenacious, thrive on the competition and above all results focused. example: Project Managers Service Leaders Service leaders are driven byContinue Reading