Think about your current leadership role or any times in the past where despite your best efforts and intentions, you were not getting the level of motivation and engagement from your team members or your employees. The symptoms include taking on too much work, having to take responsibility for almost every decision, and poor quality of output from a team that otherwise has the skills to perform. One of the reasons for this may just be that your team does not feel needed. A recent survey of employees that we conducted suggests that there is a correlation between the feeling of being needed by one’s leaders, and the level of engagement and productivity of an employee.
Everyone has an “ego” need, the need to feel appreciated and needed as part of an organization or system - the desire to make a contribution, and receive recognition for this contribution. According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy, this need is part of the evolution of an individual’s motivation, but of course varies by degree from one person to another, and perhaps in different situations. Our research shows that a particularly vulnerable group, are new employees or new joiners to a team that are eagerly expecting feedback on their performance on the new team.
On the other side of the vulnerability it is common to find people in leadership positions or positions of authority ascribe their entire success to their own efforts. Entrepreneur CEOs, pioneering business people, inventors and outstanding athletes may think of their effort as singular in achieving and sustaining their current status and future achievements. Some leaders therefore fail to acknowledge or perhaps encourage the input of others to their success, and therefore have to struggle with disengaged, underperforming staff and a truck load of work. In reality, all of our achievements come from God, and as He has proven through time, He uses the people around us to influence us to actually achieve our goals.
Some Generational Theorists also suggest that the “Y Generation” which constitutes the growing population of the workforce today are “recognition freaks”, and the absence of adequate recognition takes the wind out of their sails.
No matter how powerful, successful or intelligent you are, you need the help of others to succeed. No matter how small the help we receive, we must acknowledge that other people play a key role in our success. To get more from the people around you, you need to show them how much you appreciate and need what they do. Everyone likes to feel needed. A feeling of being needed is often more treasured or valued than monetary compensations or rewards. It is at the heart of intrinsic motivation. Leaders who are not confident and comfortable in their abilities pretend that they can do anything and everything, with or without the input of others. Leaders who are mature and authentic recognize the support and help that others provide to them.
Leaders have to be deliberate about conveying how much they need others and can achieve this by:
• Thanking and appreciating the people around us for the work that they do;
• Not making statements that suggest that with or without others you can succeed;
• Challenge them with stretch assignments, and show them that you have confidence in their ability to perform these tasks;
• Allow yourself to be vulnerable and allow those around you to take responsibility and rise to the occasion;
• Seek their input when making important decisions, and reflect their opinions in the decisions you take, and when you do, let them know.
Earlier in my career, our CEO would usually engage the newest and youngest members of the team to make contributions and proffer solutions at meetings. As a young team member, it made me feel wanted, in fact - needed, almost as if without me that decision couldn’t be taken. It encouraged me and many others to sincerely challenge ourselves to think of newer and better ways, and send our opinions to the top management team whenever we could.
Leaders can learn from this example, and the potential impact that needing others can have on employee engagement and productivity, and start to work on any of the tips above in the days and weeks ahead.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Communicating is Beyond Words
Many of us may have had the opportunity of watching one of these TV shows where contestants compete in a singing competition – “Pop Idols, Naija Sings, and Project Fame.” A few times clusters of participants are given a challenge to sing the same song, expectedly done with very different results. The same goes for trainers/teachers facilitating a workshop/class – same content, different appeal; or even business leaders reading out a speech or broadcasters reading the same news on the television. Although in all these situations, the communication is based on the same content (words), it is clear to see who is really communicating with impact, and it is beyond the words.
Effective and impactful communication therefore goes beyond your words. While the words you use are very important your audience has to sieve through the delivery of those words first, and this involves other components that you have to pay attention to. Albert Merhabian, a renowned American psychologist’s research further confirms this. According to him, an audience’s total “liking” of a message (their positive response to it) is made up of 7% verbal (words), 38% vocal (tone) and 55% facial (body language). It means therefore that beyond your words, you should be very concerned about your tonality and body language as you communicate.
Communication therefore has physical and emotional components that have to be contextualized to make it impactful. If your words are not carried within the right physical delivery and emotional context – they become merely words, sometimes empty and only with a 7% chance of being liked by your audience, no matter how much “big grammar” you use.
Going back to the example of singers, trainers, and broadcasters, you can therefore see clearly what gives the very best of these the winning edge. On a personal note, I remember my best and worst speaking events, and the difference is always about how I am able to connect with my audience emotionally, and display a physical presence and connection with them. Surely, saying the right words, and getting your diction right are important, but in the game of public speaking either as a performing musician, politician, public speaker, trainer or broadcaster, everyone expects you to have the right words and diction as a minimum pre-requisite. If you are still struggling with getting the words right, it is almost impossible for example to make it past the audition in a singing competition. In fact Merhabian’s research is gaining stronger ground these days as nobody even knows the lyrics of popular music any longer; it is much more about the beat (tone) and the performance (body language) of the artiste.
To make the emotional connection, your words have to have meaning to the audience, and this even applies in written communication. Using stories and real-life experiences or true to life examples that your audience can latch on to will help make that connection. Don’t write in too much of the abstract, bring home the story with examples that are well known to the audience, and be audience-centric. Using your personal situations and examples also helps the audience to see that your content is not too “theoretical” but that indeed you have real life personal experience – good or bad of the issues. Also, learn to vary and control the tone of your voice and capture the emotions of the underlying words appropriately as you speak. Some speakers go through emotionally charged content with the same consistent flat tone, unable to ride the highs and lows of the content as they deliver. A great remedy for this is to practice inflexion with singing, especially nursery rhymes and children’s songs that have a lot of undulating high and low notes. I think that the time spent watching and singing along on Sesame Street and the Sound of Music with my girls has helped in this regard, and is something I still do.
Connecting physically means that your body language has to be respectful, engaging and confident. Managing the thin line between arrogance and confidence is particularly important. Also, in a bid to be respectful, speakers need to manage the delicate balance between sympathy and empathy. While we empathize with our audience, we must respectfully remain in charge and not over-sympathize and yield to all their needs. You see some teachers, trainers and facilitators get so sympathetic, that they are completely worn out by their audience and this affects their physical delivery and connection. To physically connect, we also need to stay focused on the audience, make eye contact, and use an appropriate amount of gesticulation and movement to convey the words that we speak.
Making a connection with your audience - individual or a group is beyond your words. Getting the words right is important, but quite frankly almost taken for granted. The real impact is felt in the emotional and physical connection. Make sure you make the right physical and emotional connection in your next speaking event (even a one-on-one with your boss, subordinate or client), and communicate with impact!
Effective and impactful communication therefore goes beyond your words. While the words you use are very important your audience has to sieve through the delivery of those words first, and this involves other components that you have to pay attention to. Albert Merhabian, a renowned American psychologist’s research further confirms this. According to him, an audience’s total “liking” of a message (their positive response to it) is made up of 7% verbal (words), 38% vocal (tone) and 55% facial (body language). It means therefore that beyond your words, you should be very concerned about your tonality and body language as you communicate.
Communication therefore has physical and emotional components that have to be contextualized to make it impactful. If your words are not carried within the right physical delivery and emotional context – they become merely words, sometimes empty and only with a 7% chance of being liked by your audience, no matter how much “big grammar” you use.
Going back to the example of singers, trainers, and broadcasters, you can therefore see clearly what gives the very best of these the winning edge. On a personal note, I remember my best and worst speaking events, and the difference is always about how I am able to connect with my audience emotionally, and display a physical presence and connection with them. Surely, saying the right words, and getting your diction right are important, but in the game of public speaking either as a performing musician, politician, public speaker, trainer or broadcaster, everyone expects you to have the right words and diction as a minimum pre-requisite. If you are still struggling with getting the words right, it is almost impossible for example to make it past the audition in a singing competition. In fact Merhabian’s research is gaining stronger ground these days as nobody even knows the lyrics of popular music any longer; it is much more about the beat (tone) and the performance (body language) of the artiste.
To make the emotional connection, your words have to have meaning to the audience, and this even applies in written communication. Using stories and real-life experiences or true to life examples that your audience can latch on to will help make that connection. Don’t write in too much of the abstract, bring home the story with examples that are well known to the audience, and be audience-centric. Using your personal situations and examples also helps the audience to see that your content is not too “theoretical” but that indeed you have real life personal experience – good or bad of the issues. Also, learn to vary and control the tone of your voice and capture the emotions of the underlying words appropriately as you speak. Some speakers go through emotionally charged content with the same consistent flat tone, unable to ride the highs and lows of the content as they deliver. A great remedy for this is to practice inflexion with singing, especially nursery rhymes and children’s songs that have a lot of undulating high and low notes. I think that the time spent watching and singing along on Sesame Street and the Sound of Music with my girls has helped in this regard, and is something I still do.
Connecting physically means that your body language has to be respectful, engaging and confident. Managing the thin line between arrogance and confidence is particularly important. Also, in a bid to be respectful, speakers need to manage the delicate balance between sympathy and empathy. While we empathize with our audience, we must respectfully remain in charge and not over-sympathize and yield to all their needs. You see some teachers, trainers and facilitators get so sympathetic, that they are completely worn out by their audience and this affects their physical delivery and connection. To physically connect, we also need to stay focused on the audience, make eye contact, and use an appropriate amount of gesticulation and movement to convey the words that we speak.
Making a connection with your audience - individual or a group is beyond your words. Getting the words right is important, but quite frankly almost taken for granted. The real impact is felt in the emotional and physical connection. Make sure you make the right physical and emotional connection in your next speaking event (even a one-on-one with your boss, subordinate or client), and communicate with impact!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Leadership is a Process, by Gbitse Barrow
Do you have a boss, supervisor, manager or CEO who doesn’t meet your expectations as a leader? Are you concerned that your new boss or manager doesn’t have the right attitude, knowledge, skills and behaviour to lead, or are you worried that despite many years in a position of leadership, your boss continues to fall short of everyone’s expectations? These are real life scenarios that play out each day in our workplaces, businesses and communities. Even on a larger scale in society, how satisfied are we of our civil and political leaders and their abilities to lead us effectively and towards success?
If you are dealing with a leader similar to the ones described above, or you suspect that you may be indeed that positional leader who is falling short of the expectation, one of the most important lessons you must learn about leadership is that it is a process, and not an event. Leaders grow each day, and leadership is in itself a journey. The mere fact that you have won an election, started a new business, married a wife,gotten a promotion, or arrived at a position of leadership doesn’t make you a leader. Authentic leadership is about a life-long commitment to learning and transformational change, which is required for you to create the positive influence and success required of you as a leader.
Some of the challenges we have with ourselves as leaders, as well as with our positional leaders is because we haven’t recognized and understood that Leadership is a process and a journey. Through this journey of leadership leaders need to grow and become more aware of themselves by reflecting, asking questions, and getting feedback from the people they lead. The new learnings from this process will enable them adopt different styles and approaches and engage their followers more effectively. A lot of leaders jettison this process, and believe that having arrived at their positions they would all of a sudden achieve a “god-status”, and that all the powers and successes that “leaders” have will suddenly become theirs.
A great example of what I am describing can best be seen when a new leader is promoted from within the team. How can you be so myopic to believe that from the first day you will gain everyone’s respect or buy-in; how can you fit into the shoes of the previous leader so quickly; how can you heal all the wounds of the past and move forward? Honestly, these things take time, which if you do not apply yourself to as a systematic process, may indeed take forever, or actually never happen. A lot of new leaders who were great team members and performers fail to recognize this and fail woefully in their first leadership assignments. I have seen people fall into this trap, and struggle to retrace their steps quickly enough and learn the competencies required to be leaders. Some of them escape, wobble and fumble along to higher positions of leadership, but carry with them forever, the scars of their leadership events, rather than the learnings and changes required of a leadership journey.
Look around today, and think about those examples of positional leaders who are not effective leaders, there is perhaps a lesson or two that can be learned from their first leadership events or positions. As you look at newly appointed or elected leaders who seem not to have what it takes – do endeavour to give them a chance and support them through their journeys. If they are committed to life-long learning and transformational learning like all great leaders should be, then their journey to leadership, although challenging will be blessed with success in the long-run.
As we look around us, we must also look at ourselves, and ask the pertinent questions – How have I dealt with my past and current leadership positions? Is leadership just an event, or am I in a committed systematic process of growing each day as a leader? Whatever your answers may be, just remember that you can re-trace your steps and create a real leadership journey as you continue to grow as leader. Focus on continuous learning, feedback and a willingness to change, and be committed, deliberate and systematic about it!
If you are dealing with a leader similar to the ones described above, or you suspect that you may be indeed that positional leader who is falling short of the expectation, one of the most important lessons you must learn about leadership is that it is a process, and not an event. Leaders grow each day, and leadership is in itself a journey. The mere fact that you have won an election, started a new business, married a wife,gotten a promotion, or arrived at a position of leadership doesn’t make you a leader. Authentic leadership is about a life-long commitment to learning and transformational change, which is required for you to create the positive influence and success required of you as a leader.
Some of the challenges we have with ourselves as leaders, as well as with our positional leaders is because we haven’t recognized and understood that Leadership is a process and a journey. Through this journey of leadership leaders need to grow and become more aware of themselves by reflecting, asking questions, and getting feedback from the people they lead. The new learnings from this process will enable them adopt different styles and approaches and engage their followers more effectively. A lot of leaders jettison this process, and believe that having arrived at their positions they would all of a sudden achieve a “god-status”, and that all the powers and successes that “leaders” have will suddenly become theirs.
A great example of what I am describing can best be seen when a new leader is promoted from within the team. How can you be so myopic to believe that from the first day you will gain everyone’s respect or buy-in; how can you fit into the shoes of the previous leader so quickly; how can you heal all the wounds of the past and move forward? Honestly, these things take time, which if you do not apply yourself to as a systematic process, may indeed take forever, or actually never happen. A lot of new leaders who were great team members and performers fail to recognize this and fail woefully in their first leadership assignments. I have seen people fall into this trap, and struggle to retrace their steps quickly enough and learn the competencies required to be leaders. Some of them escape, wobble and fumble along to higher positions of leadership, but carry with them forever, the scars of their leadership events, rather than the learnings and changes required of a leadership journey.
Look around today, and think about those examples of positional leaders who are not effective leaders, there is perhaps a lesson or two that can be learned from their first leadership events or positions. As you look at newly appointed or elected leaders who seem not to have what it takes – do endeavour to give them a chance and support them through their journeys. If they are committed to life-long learning and transformational learning like all great leaders should be, then their journey to leadership, although challenging will be blessed with success in the long-run.
As we look around us, we must also look at ourselves, and ask the pertinent questions – How have I dealt with my past and current leadership positions? Is leadership just an event, or am I in a committed systematic process of growing each day as a leader? Whatever your answers may be, just remember that you can re-trace your steps and create a real leadership journey as you continue to grow as leader. Focus on continuous learning, feedback and a willingness to change, and be committed, deliberate and systematic about it!
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