Leadership teams are so busy these days that they do not focus on the “soft” things that eventually lead to low engagement from their teams. Simon Sinek’s latest book, Leaders Eat Last, which I highlight in a recent blog post – talks about how leaders who create a Circle of Safety have a more engaged team and typically lead their industry mainly due to this one distinct competitive advantage – a highly engaged workforce. He shows how too many managers, in the name of efficiency and productivity, stifle the enthusiasm of their teams – many times inadvertently.
Everyone wants to feel that they are working to a higher purpose, have some level of autonomy in their jobs, feel safe to speak up and are recognized when they do well. This has become less and less common in this fast-paced information age. However, time and time again, I have read and experienced that sometimes we have to slow down to speed up but that often seems counterintuitive to many folks. This includes making sure that the leadership team takes the time to codify and edify core ideologies among other ways to have engaged employes.
This approach stems from the very top of any organization. If you do not have a healthy and aligned leadership team, it permeates the entire organization. Those that get this right have engaged workers and are some of the best companies to work for.
Here is a great post for CIO.com that goes into more detail.
Be exceptional!
(catalystgrowthadvisors.com; bill@catalystgrowthadvisors.com)
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