Why Strong People-Leadership Is Vital Now More Than Ever

   

 

 

 

 

Recent surveys and forecasts have underscored a concerning trend in the business world: a significant leadership deficit. A Zippia survey revealed that a staggering 77% of businesses report a lack of leadership, with only 33% of employees feeling engaged.

Alarmingly, less than half of these companies (49%) are investing in cross-skilling and upskilling their leaders. Furthermore, a mere 31% are engaging in leadership development programs to identify potential leaders within their ranks.

The 2023 Global Leadership Forecast further accentuates this issue, with only 11% of organizations confident in their leadership bench strength. The root of this crisis lies in many organizations’ failure to provide leadership development and transition training for their employees.

This trend is particularly unfortunate as organizations grapple with significant workforce changes, high turnover rates, marketplace disruptions and declining engagement levels. With numerous changes impacting organizations simultaneously, the demand for effective leadership is at an all-time high.

Indeed, effective leadership is the pivotal element that determines whether an organization will flourish in the face of adversity or fade into the shadows of irrelevance.

Consider the case of Microsoft under the leadership of Satya Nadella. When Nadella took the helm in 2014, Microsoft was struggling to maintain its relevance. However, Nadella saw potential and initiated a cultural shift within the company.

He introduced a new mission statement and promoted a growth mindset, encouraging employees to learn and take risks. This led to a wave of innovation at Microsoft, resulting in the development of successful products and a significant increase in the company’s stock price.

Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft regained its position as a leading tech company. This story underscores the transformative power of effective leadership and makes a great case for leadership development.

Here are four reasons why leadership development is crucial now and should be treated as a top priority if we are to achieve future success:

1. The Key to Future Success

Leadership development is not just about creating leaders; it’s about shaping the future of organizations. It equips leaders with the skills necessary to motivate teams, unlock potential, and navigate change.

In an era marked by technological advancements and shifting market dynamics, the ability to adapt and innovate has become crucial. Leaders who have undergone comprehensive development programs are better equipped to steer their organizations toward success in this volatile environment.

2. Motivating Teams and Unlocking Potential

A well-developed leader can inspire their team to achieve their best work. They foster a culture of collaboration and innovation, where every team member feels valued and motivated. Moreover, they can identify and nurture the potential in their team members, guiding them towards personal and professional growth.

This not only enhances the performance of the individual but also contributes to the overall success of the organization.

Check out a related post: How good are your motivation skills? (5 min)

3. Navigating Change

Change is a constant in the business world. Market trends shift, new technologies emerge, and consumer preferences evolve. Leaders play a pivotal role in guiding their organizations through these changes.

With the right development, leaders can become adept at anticipating market shifts and making strategic decisions that keep their organizations ahead of the curve.

Check out a related post: Six Tips for Leading During Uncertainty  (5 min)

4. Improving Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention

Leadership development also significantly impacts recruitment, engagement, and retention. It signals to prospective employees that the organization values growth and development, making it an attractive place to work.

For existing employees, the opportunity to develop their leadership skills can lead to higher engagement levels. It provides them with a clear pathway for career progression, which in turn, increases retention rates.

Check out a related post: 8 Great Ways Leaders Can Immediately Boost Employee Retention (5 min read)

In today’s dynamic business climate, leadership development is not just significant, it’s paramount. It forms the foundation for future success, hinging on leaders’ abilities to inspire teams, unlock hidden potential, and navigate the VUCA (Volatile. Uncertain. Complex. Ambiguous.) business landscape. This is why it is vital for companies to invest in robust leadership development that includes training, coaching, mastermind groups and other learning activities.

To your greater success and well-being,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees or a SMART Development consultant please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, energy storage and facilities management, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.
 

 

 

Resolving Team Personality Conflicts by Fostering Pyschological Safety

  

 

Dear Coach Mclees~

In my experience, it is easier to work on teams with people who are alike.  When people are really different, it seems like there is much more friction on the team. I am now a manager of a team that has a lot of different types of people, and I don’t know how I can create a cohesive, well-running team with this group. It seems like it might be easier to change out some of the team members, but that doesn’t seem right or fair. How can I get everyone to work well together?

Signed,
Dilemma of Differences

Dear Dilemma~  

It can be hard to interact with and meaningfully connect with someone who is different from us. The more we differ, the further apart we are, the harder it is to build a bridge. Why? Because most of our relationship skills are grounded in finding commonalities. When those commonalities are subtle or scarce, we struggle to connect.

So, if difference is hard and commonality is easy, why choose hard over easy? There are several good reasons, but here are two:

Values: We choose diversity because we believe in human dignity and equality. You hint at this yourself when you mention that it doesn’t seem right to let someone go or transfer them simply because they are different. You are right. It isn’t right.

Results: We choose difference because there is good research that shows that when a team brings different perspectives, experiences, and approaches together with respect and care, we get better results than we would from a homogeneous team.

Of course, there is a major qualification on that last statement that is also at the heart of your question – how the diverse team comes together is crucial to tapping into the power of our differences. 

Amy Edmonson and a legion of other scholars have convincingly shown that the key ingredient for a team coming together well is psychological safety—not liking, not socializing, not commonality (although all those factors can help create psychological safety).

As Dr. Edmonson defines it, psychological safety is “the belief that work environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” It is “the experience of being able to speak up with relative ideas, questions, or concerns. It is present when colleagues trust and respect each other and feel able—even obligated—to be candid.” Our work over the last 30 years has shown us that teams with high psychological safety get better ideas on the table, creating a smarter group and better solutions.

One of the interesting characteristics of psychological safety is that it is inherently a team dynamic. It doesn’t exist in any meaningful way at the individual or organizational level. It lives and breathes (and dies) at the team level.

So, if you want your team to work together well and you accept that psychological safety is the key, how do you build it? Here are three things to do to get started.

1.   Measure.  Dr. Don Berwick, CEO of IHI, says that “a measure is the shadow of your heart.” If we sincerely care about something and want to change it, we will measure it. So, start by assessing where your team is in terms of their level of psychological safety and then decide on what would be a reasonable level of improvement. Surveys are an effective way to assess how psychologically safe people.

Continue to measure through regular pulse surveys. This is not a one-and-done. You need to evaluate whether what you are doing is increasing psychological safety (in which case, keep doing it!) or not (in which case, you need to try something else).

    Questions you can use to measure psychological safety:

• If you make a mistake on this team, it is often held against you.
• Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.
• People on this team sometimes reject others for being different.
• It is safe to take a risk on this team.
• It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.
• No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.
• Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.  

      Note: Use a Likert scale.

2.   Choose a Generous View. At the very heart of psychological safety is the belief that I won’t be judged negatively for being me. Unsurprisingly, it is the negative judgments we make about one another that, more than almost anything else, destroy psychological safety.

To create psychological safety, we need to consciously and consistently choose a more generous view of others. This isn’t an exercise in imagination or a rationalization of bad behavior. I am not advising we simply pretend that everyone and everything is great. Rather, I am suggesting that if we can suspend judgement and replace it with curiosity, we will be better able to hold space for the universal contradiction that good people do bad (or even just annoying) things.

3.  Maintain Good Intention. Dr. Edmonson asserts that psychological safety is neither created nor destroyed by the content of our conversations. It is entirely dependent upon the perception of intent in the conversation.

If you want to create safety in a conversation, a relationship, or a team, start by cultivating good intent and then sharing it. Sharing your good intention out loud can have a powerful positive impact on those around you. It lets them know what your motives and intentions are. It also helps you stay accountable to and connected with that good intent even when issues pop up that might otherwise irritate or frustrate you.

Your team may never become “besties.” But that shouldn’t be your goal. Solid friendships don’t always equal high performance; people may love being on a low performing team with high comradery. Building a high-performing team that learns together, achieves results, and respects one another is a much more worthy goal and one that is within reach of all teams.

 Click here to read a related post:  5 Super Team Building Strategies from NFL Football (5 min read)

To your greater ability to build real teamwork,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

3 Strategies Leaders Can Deploy When They're Overworked and Understaffed

 

When managers are overloaded as many are now, the usual leadership advice is to delegate more. But what if you’ve delegated everything you can and you still have too much work? If your team is drowning too, delegating more work simply means shifting the overload. This is not a sustainable option.

I’ve seen this situation many times working with leaders and teams. Fortunately, there are three key strategies you can use to reassess and reconfigure the work you do to free up your limited time and capacity.

1.   Redefine “good enough.” Not every task requires an A+ effort. Set clear expectations around what “fit-for-purpose” quality looks like—for yourself and your team. That means intentionally assessing what level of effort makes sense for a given piece of work. Do you discuss what is “good enough” for specific assignments with your team members? Or what corners should be cut? 

     If you and your team are too busy, it’s essential to take time to figure out how to work differently. 

     Ask yourself and discuss with your team:

Where could you do B-quality work, cut corners, or streamline processes to save yourself time and energy? For example, can you shorten weekly updates? Can you send bullet points instead of narratives? Do you really need a full project plan if the situation is simple?

What agreements could you make with your boss to simplify or reduce deliverables and processes? For example, could you tell your boss that it would be helpful if you could send simpler or fewer communications? Will a rough draft suffice instead of a perfect document to get the information across? Can a decision-making process be streamlined?  

Clarify where you can simplify or cut corners without sacrificing impact.

How can AI support you and your team in reducing time required for “good enough” work? Ask your team what apps they are starting to experiment with and encourage them to do more. For example, meeting summary apps have gotten really good. First draft writing apps are also helpful. 

When managers and teams step back to assess if there are tasks on which they can lower the bar strategically, the answer is almost always yes, and encouraging “good enough” work energizes the team.

2.   Eliminate low-value work. Hidden, habitual tasks often waste the most time. Ask your team: “What would we stop doing if we lost a workday each week?” Go beyond surface-level cuts. Reassess reports, approvals, and processes—many are more about tradition than value. And remember that if a change doesn’t work, you can always reverse it.

We all know it’s important to eliminate low-value tasks, however, in coaching leaders I've sees that many low-value tasks have become unconscious habits, hidden in plain sight. Even teams that have worked on streamlining stop too soon and miss opportunities. There are many more hours to be saved if you look deeper.

In my experience, it consistently takes two rounds of “looking” to get people to identify all of the tasks they could offload or reduce.

Here is a simple offloading process you can use with your team:

• Ask your team, in advance of an offloading session, to think of all the tasks that could be eliminated. In the actual session they will often first come up with things that other people can stop doing. That’s fine. It gets them warmed up.
• Then ask them to go deeper and think about what work they themselves could stop doing if they had one day less per week to work? This is when I've typically seen breakthroughs.
• Of course, you need to make sure that eliminating work does not negatively impact customers, colleagues, or finance.

3.  Strategically reduce your availability. Always being accessible increases your team’s dependence on you. Step out of projects where your presence isn’t critical. Shift to check-ins or on-request advising, reduce meeting time, and explore asynchronous updates. Freeing up your time empowers others to step up and lead.

Many leaders think they should always be available. But too much availability creates more interactions and makes team members more dependent on you than necessary or ideal. With a bit more space, your team members will experience more room to act and this frees up time for you too.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• What projects or initiatives are you too involved in now? What could you step out of completely?

• How could you scale back your involvement and still provide colleagues with what they need?

• Are more asynchronous updates possible?

• Can you attend only the relevant parts of meetings? Or only key decision-making meetings?

• Could you try 15-minute catch-ups with direct reports or colleagues instead of longer meetings?

Be creative in removing yourself where you can (and helping your team do the same), and tell colleagues why, so they understand your motivation.

When you are overloaded and delegating more to your team isn’t an option, there are still ways to free up capacity. Now is the time to reassess and be intentional about what you do and how you do it. Working in a fit-for-purpose way that matches appropriate effort with true need, removing habitual low-value work, and being strategically unavailable will enable you and your team to free up vital time and energy for what matters.

PS. Many managers don't delegate properly. Click here to learn what you can do to develop the capacity of your team with delegation.

To your greater success and well-being,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, energy storage, facility services & maintenance, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.