I’m happy to share that my article entitled “Closing the Leadership Gap” has been featured in The Smart Manager’s November/December issue. Learn how combining intuition and analytics is the best way to diagnose and correct employee engagement challenges.
| Appearance: | Closing the Leadership Gap Featured in The Smart Manager |
|---|---|
| Outlet: | The Smart Manager |
| Location: | India |
| Format: | Magazine |
The Office Cast, Photo Courtesy of NBC
Historically, leaders have relied on their internal networks and intuition to assess employee engagement and strategic alignment. Tom Peters and Robert Waterman called it “management by wandering around” or “MBWA” in their classic book In Search of Excellence.
Just as intuition once tricked us into believing that the world was flat and the sun rotated around the earth, it is a flaw of human nature that most leaders are mistaken in their assessment of the engagement and alignment of people they lead. They don’t recognize employee engagement and alignment problems until they feel the pain from underperformance or face reality in the form of poor results from an employee engagement survey.
Enthusiasm and energy will be on full display this Saturday as the #6 TCU Horned Frogs football team host the #7 Kansas State Wildcats at 6:30 pm EDT on Fox. During halftime, TCU will celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Frogs for the Cure” which began in 2005 when TCU athletics partnered with Susan G. Komen Greater Fort Worth to sponsor the first ever pink-out halftime presentation at a university football game.
By Michael Lee Stallard and Colton Perry. As seen on SmartBlog on Leadership and Fox Business.
A 49-year-old father of two hits his alarm clock at 6:30 a.m., starts a pot of coffee and prepares for his daily commute. For the past three years, Bill Lewis has worked for a large company based in the heart of New York City; even though his home in Texas is nearly 2,000 miles from the office, Bill’s daily commute only takes him a few steps. Along with a rapidly growing percent of America’s workforce, Bill Lewis is a telecommuter, a remote employee. He completes his daily assignments from his front porch, sends e-mails from a coffee shop down the street, and holds conference calls in his living room.
In the past 10 years, this type of work environment has become one of the fastest growing trends in the corporate world. According to the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, it is estimated that telecommuting rose 79% between 2005 and 2012, and with the constant evolution of communication technology, this trend shows no signs of stopping. More and more companies are turning to remote employment as a means to lower costs and lock in skilled workers. It seems like a winning recipe, except for one large downside; technology can never fully replace the intangible benefits of human connection.
I once attended a meeting where it seemed that everyone was focused on the people or relationships in a business and believed that doing so would bring success.
Don’t believe it.
Great leaders focus on achieving BOTH task excellence and relationship excellence. This dual focus produces sustainable superior performance.
RadioShack is on the ropes. What can be done to save it?
Over my career I’ve seen this scenario several times. Xerox comes to mind. In 2000, when Anne Mulcahy became Xerox’s CEO, the company was nearly bankrupt. Her leadership helped save it. In 2012, I spoke with Ms. Mulcahy in a series of interviews about how she led Xerox’s turnaround. She described three behaviors that were similar to how A.G. Lafley led the turnaround of Procter and Gamble, how Howard Schultz and Howard Behar led the turnaround of Starbucks and, more recently, how Alan Mulally led the turnaround of Ford.
Our firm’s research over the past decade found these three behaviors in leaders who achieved long-term superior performance. The behaviors brought about an extraordinary degree of connection, community and unity so that people pull together rather than retreat to protect self-interest. Stated another way, these leadership behaviors create a team that pulls together and protects the culture from spiraling down into a dog-eat-dog environment.
Create a blog or intranet site where colleagues can post positive examples of people who live out the core values of your organization. This provides employee recognition, encourages everyone to bring the values to life, and spreads positive examples and practices. For example, see the “Nuts About Southwest” blog at www.blogsouthwest.com.
This is the fiftieth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.
When your team accomplishes a major goal, celebrate as a group with a party, meal, or outing. Ask people for suggestions about how to celebrate. If you can afford it, invite them to bring a significant other to join in the celebration. If your team includes remote employees, include them by scheduling the celebration the next time they visit the office or providing them with a gift card to a nice restaurant in their area.
This is the forty-first post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.
As seen on Fox Business and SmartBlog on Leadership.
What separates the best leaders from the rest when it comes to employee engagement?
Our research shows the best leaders communicate an inspiring vision and live it, value people and give them a voice. Here are seven of the 100+ best practices that leaders can use to engage people.
