Some leaders set the stage for everyone to do their best work while others consistently make it harder for their folks to do their best. According to research by Kannan Ramaswamy and William Youngdahl “your employees are more likely to view you as an obstacle to their effectiveness than as an enabler of it.”
To make it even worse, they found this is true whether your company is successful or having problems. In either case, the likelihood is that you are making things worse than they could be. What an indictment of organization leaders.
In Are You Your Employees’ Worst Enemy? they share their research which found four main issues employees have with most leaders:
- 51% of employees say their leader hinders more than helps
- 44% say their leader doesn’t communicate purpose and direction
- 77% say their leader doesn’t consider organizational capacity when rolling out new iniatiatives
- 64% say their leader doesn’t set and maintain useful policies
Worst of all it comes from the culture the leader sets. A culture where the leader fails to encourage honest, open, ongoing feedback on what’s going on. A culture where people think the leader doesn’t want to hear from them, or worse, where they fear retribution. A culture where the ideas of the leader are disconnected from the realities of the business and the capabilities of the employees.
But all is not lost. Take heed of the words of the former BP CEO John Browne who said “I wish someone had challenged me and been brave enough to say: ‘we need to ask more disagreeable questions.'”
Take a look around. Do a self evaluation. Talk to a trusted advisor who will tell you the truth…if you don’t have such a person, find one immediately. Get off the leader high horse and experience humility in all you do. After all, everything good that happens really isn’t all due to you.
But most of all, open your door and mean it. Encourage open and honest comments. Walk around and really talk to people. No, walk around and really listen to everyone.
Intense listening, the most important skill of all.
Listening is such a lost art not only by many of those in a leadership capacity but I see it in how most companies are trying to do social media. First rule of thumb – listen first.
Thanks Steve as always great insights
It is the old story of micro-management versus macro-management and leadership. My philosophy in growing and leading many businesses for product-centric companies has always been the following: hire great people, empower them and allow them to stretch, then get out of their way and help them were needed. The outcome has almost always been growth and success, both for the company and for the individual.