Best Recipes Ever

Category: Management Communication

  • Building Empathy Centric Leadership

    Empathy, one of the characteristics or we might say building blocks of emotional intelligence, is an essential skill of any leader. When lacking empathy employees feel unheard, undervalued and often frustrated about an apparent lack of understanding of the challenges in any job role or for any difficulties they might be experiencing outside of their working lives, and customers less inclined to entrusting loyalty with your enterprise.

    Having a developed sense of empathy enables you to sense what is happening and how someone is feeling without them having to actually tell you. In groups a leader is able to use the same sense to feel potential areas of struggle, conflict and "holding back" of information, opinions, thoughts and ideas to maximise on the moment and open discussion. Empathy enables responses that take into consideration non-verbal cues whilst sharing openly without contradicting your own thoughts and feelings. Fostering rapport through being empathetic and showing empathy to others are key characteristics of building effective relationships, which is the very foundation to effective leadership and perhaps even business success.

    What is empathy? Empathy is not sympathy it is the ability to experience the moment in response to a customer, colleague, employee, or family member in a manner that “connects” directly to that person, sharing briefly the emotions that the person might be feeling without taking them on yourself. It has an impact on those involved in that moment as well as a longer lasting impact through building a relationship of trust. A positive customer experience makes the difference between a customer becoming loyal or choosing to go elsewhere. In most cases there are plenty of “elsewhere” companies ready to serve customers who have had a poor or even bad experience with any particular service offering. In the current labour market, it is not just the external customer who might choose to go elsewhere, but employees, also.

    The 2020 NTT Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report stated that, “Companies who focus on a customer/employee centricity see a 92% increase in customer loyalty with an 84% uplift in revenue and a 79% margin in costs saved. 

    More recent data (March 2024 in an article by Cheyenna Eversoll Duggan “The empathy advantage: Using customer data to personalise marketing,” stated:

    • 68% of customers expect brands to demonstrate empathy, but only 37% of customers say brands generally demonstrate empathy.
    • 68% of customers will spend more money with a brand that understands them and treats them like an individual.
    • 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, but only 34% of companies generally treat customers as unique individuals.

    Empathy is the linchpin to delivering excellence in customer service both for customers and service providers. Equipping leaders through the development of emotional intelligence and the skills of showing empathy is no longer questionable in terms of importance to business performance, or even optional, but essential. 

    Empathy is an essential aspect of emotional intelligence (Daniel Goldman). Being empathetic and showing empathy has two steps, firstly picking up on others' feelings and secondly responding to those feelings and emotions while interacting with them. Not everyone tells you how they are feeling, even if you ask, but with heightened sensitivity you are able to pick up on emotions and respond if needed, with empathy. Becoming more in tune with the non-verbal and verbal cues that others' are sending increases abilities to respond empathetically. The key competencies within empathy according to Daniel Goleman (Working with Emotional Intelligence) are:

    • Sense others' feelings and perspectives 
    • Take an active interest in others' concerns
    • Sense others' development needs and support their development
    • Anticipate, recognise and meet customers' needs 
    • Read emotional undercurrents and power relationships
    • Cultivate and build opportunities through different kinds of people.

    Judith Orloff once said, “Empathy is the medicine the world needs.” This statement sums up the reason why we need this important skill to foster the growing need for businesses to encourage empathy centricity in their organisation and work culture both internally and externally. 

    AI is a major part of providing service to customers, often helping filter and channel callers in the right direction to get them the appropriate help speedily, however the ability to sense and understand feelings, concerns and perspectives of others through intuition is not yet something that AI can do, in fact it is the biggest challenge for  further development of AI. Palming off your customers to an AI assistant may not build the customer loyalty you are seeking for your business, therefore investing in employee development in this area and equipping leaders with the skill of understanding sensitive situations and responding with empathy are still for now essential to the success of any business.

     

    References

    Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman (1999)

    The Language of Emotional Intelligence, Jeanne Segal, Ph.D, Jaelline Jaffee, Ph.D

    https://services.global.ntt/en-us/insights/2020-global-cx-benchmarking-report#

     

     

  • Challenge or stress – it’s a fine line!

    The dictionary defines stress as “a pressure or tension exerted on another object; a demand on physical or mental energy; or forcibly exerted influence usually causing distress or strain.”    In short stress is any factor, positive or negative that requires a response or change.  In medical research it is widely recognized that chronic ongoing stress can lead to illness, aggravate existing disease conditions and accelerate aging.

    There is a need to be in constant interchange with our surroundings and it is this interchange that creates stress.  If looking at reality this is simply a fact of life.  There is no way to avoid stresses in life.  Every organism, including man must be able to adapt to changing environmental and social conditions in order to survive.  However, over time the continual need to adapt to change can disrupt the metabolic balance of the human organism.

    Common stressors for people today include most aspects of life – family, financial, emotional and environmental, nutritional factors, as well as personal and work-related stresses and relationships.    According to research nearly half a million people in the UK have work-related stress that is making them ill, leading to the need to take sick leave.  It is estimated that 12 million working days are lost each year in the UK due to stress-related illness and in some cases even injury. (HSE.gov.co.uk)

    Stress in the work place can be a result of different factors, in general there is a mismatch between the requirements of the job, the employee’s capabilities, the resources available and the needs of the worker.

    The concept of job stress is often confused with challenge.  Clearly these concepts are not the same.  Challenge, if at the appropriate level, energizes us psychologically and physically.  It motivates us to learn new skills and master our jobs. When a challenge is met, we feel relaxed and satisfied, proud and perhaps even excited about what we have achieved Thus, challenge is an important ingredient for healthy and productive work. The importance of challenge in our work lives keeps us learning, growing and developing.

    A challenge becomes stressful when there is either rejection that the goal cannot be achieved because it looks and feels overwhelming or when job demands cannot be met, due to employee capability and or lack of necessary resources.  Very quickly the situation can change from focused and motivated to achieve, to exhaustion from trying and the sense of ability to accomplish has  turned into feelings of stress.

    We know that what is stressful for one person is not necessarily stressful for another because of individual characteristics, including coping mechanisms, previous experience, level of maturity and possibly personality. The questions therefore are how can we as managers and leaders:

    • challenge team members, use this challenge to motivate, but not stress them to a point of no return?
    • identify when the line between challenge and stress has been crossed?

    Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory helps to answer these questions.  His theory is ensuring that there is a sound relationship for the employee between effort and performance.  These feelings of motivation and satisfaction are further increased if the individual and or team can see the relationship between good performance or outcomes and reward, especially if it is a reward that is valued.  Feedback cannot be underestimated when challenging team members, as well as working with Vroom’s model.  Both gaining feedback and giving feedback, help us as managers and leaders to understand whether the challenge is about to become stress.

  • Are Your Company Values Laminated or Lived?

    Recently I attended the Health and Wellbeing @Work Expo at the NEC in Birmingham. Among the many good speakers was Dr Gian Power OBE who asked the question: “Are your company values laminated or lived?”

    This question resonated strongly. Sadly, I can reel off a list of companies who proudly display their values for all to see—beautifully designed posters in reception, polished statements on their website—yet forget to roll them down through the organisation to those who deliver to your customers, every day. Even more importantly, they fail to use them to shape how colleagues support one another and the message your company consistently gives out, causing a disconnect in the minds and actions of employees and customers.

    Why do We have Values?

    At their best, organisational values are not marketing slogans; they are decision-making tools. They guide how leaders lead, how managers manage, and how teams collaborate. They define how things are done when policies or procedures don’t provide the full answer.

    For leadership teams, values are designed to act as a strategic compass. They help determine priorities, shape behaviours during periods of change, and create consistency across departments, locations and leadership styles.

    For managers, they offer a framework for everyday choices—how to deal with a difficult situation, how to balance performance and wellbeing, how to respond when pressures increase.

    For employees, they provide clarity and psychological safety. When not clear and genuinely practised, people understand what is expected of them and how they will be treated. They are the bedrock.

    Without this alignment, values remain decorative or as Gian Power said “laminated” and left on a shelf somewhere, never to see the light of day. With it, they become operational, providing consistency for everyone to work with and by and to build connection with customers creating an understanding of what can be expected and delivered.

    Who do Values Serve?

    Values should serve three critical audiences simultaneously.

    1.    Your people.

    Employees want to know what kind of organisation they work for. Values signal what behaviours are encouraged, what is rewarded, and what is unacceptable. When people see leaders modelling values consistently, trust grows.

    2.    Your customers.

    Customers experience your values through every interaction with your organisation. Whether it is responsiveness, integrity, innovation or care, values influence how your people show up when representing your brand.

    3.    Your leadership team.

    For directors and senior leaders, values act as a shared reference point. They align leadership behaviour, help maintain consistency across functions, and support culture during periods of growth, restructuring or uncertainty.

    When values serve all three audiences, they become a cultural operating system, not just a communications exercise.

    What Benefit do Values Bring to your Company, Individuals and Teams?

    When values move from laminated statements to lived behaviours, the impact can be significant.

    For the organisation, values strengthen culture and brand credibility. They help attract and retain talent, particularly in a labour market where people increasingly choose employers whose values align with their own. They also support clearer decision-making during challenging moments—when commercial pressure might otherwise override long-term principles.

    For leaders and managers, values provide a practical leadership framework. They help guide performance conversations, shape recognition and reward, and provide a consistent lens for managing difficult situations.

    For teams, shared values create cohesion. They reduce ambiguity about expectations, support respectful collaboration, and strengthen accountability. When teams understand not just what they are expected to deliver but how they are expected to behave, performance and wellbeing does not compete, but reinforces one another other.

    The Real Question for Leaders

    Many organisations already have well-written values. The challenge is rarely the wording—it is the translation into behaviour. Ask yourself:

    •    Do leaders visibly model the values in everyday decisions?

    •    Are they embedded in recruitment, onboarding and performance discussions?

    •    Do managers feel confident using them to guide conversations and decision-making?

    •    Are values recognised and rewarded in practice, not just in principle?

    If the answer to any of these questions is uncertain, then values may still be closer to laminated than lived.

    For HR and L&D leaders in particular, this presents an opportunity. Culture does not change through posters or presentations; it changes through consistent leadership behaviour, aligned systems training programmes and daily conversations. Ultimately, employees rarely remember the values written on a wall. They remember the values demonstrated in the moments that mattered.

    Bringing Values to Life 

    Let’s consider the values of a well-known British company, no names – Safety and Security, Excellence, Caring and Open-Mindedness, supported by commitments to sustainability and diversity.

    Safety and Security

    Safety and security is demonstrated when employees actively protect the wellbeing of colleagues, customers and the organisation. Examples of day-to-day behaviours include:

    •    Following safety procedures consistently, even when under pressure or working to tight deadlines.

    •    Speaking up when something doesn’t feel safe, whether it’s a faulty piece of equipment, a potential risk to a colleague, or a process that could cause harm.

    •    Protecting sensitive information, ensuring customer data, company systems and confidential discussions are handled appropriately.

    When employees feel confident to prioritise safety and raise concerns early, organisations reduce risk and strengthen trust across teams.

    Excellence

    Excellence is not only about outstanding results; it is about the consistent pursuit of high standards and continuous improvement. Employees demonstrate excellence when they:

    •    Take pride in the quality of their work, checking accuracy and completeness before handing work over to others.

    •    Look for ways to improve processes, suggesting more efficient ways of working or better ways to serve customers.

    •    Prepare thoroughly for meetings, projects or customer interactions, ensuring they bring worth rather than simply attending.

    •    Learn from feedback, seeing mistakes or challenges as opportunities to improve rather than something to avoid.

    Excellence becomes part of the culture when people feel responsible not just for completing tasks, but for continually raising the standard of how work is done.

    Caring 

    A caring culture is visible in how employees treat colleagues, customers and partners. In practice this might look like:

    •    Supporting colleagues during busy periods, offering help rather than focusing only on individual workloads.

    •    Listening with empathy, particularly when someone is facing personal challenges or workplace pressures.

    •    Recognising the contributions of others, celebrating achievements and acknowledging effort across teams.

    •    Considering the impact of decisions on people, not just processes or results.

    When caring becomes embedded in everyday behaviour, organisations create environments where people feel respected, empowered and more willing to contribute their best work.

    Open-Mindedness

    Open-minded organisations encourage curiosity, new ideas and different perspectives. Employees demonstrate this value by:

    •    Welcoming new ideas from colleagues, regardless of seniority or department.

    •    Being willing to adapt, especially when processes change or new technologies are introduced.

    •    Listening to different viewpoints, even when they challenge existing assumptions.

    •    Learning from other teams, backgrounds or experiences to improve how work is approached.

    Open-mindedness helps organisations remain agile and innovative, particularly in rapidly changing markets.

    For leaders, HR and L&D professionals, the key question is not simply “Do we have values?” but “Can our people recognise what those values look like in action?”

    When employees understand how values translate into daily behaviours — in conversations, decisions and teamwork — they stop being statements on a wall and become the way the organisation works everyday building trust not only in the workforce, but also in customer loyalty. 

    Interested in a conversation with Green Key  Contact rachel@greenkeypersonaldevelopment.com or book a call https://calendly.com/greenkey/pd-consultation-meeting?month=2026-03

    #leadershipdevelopment, #leadershipmindset #empoweredemployees #customercommunication 

  • Are your employees not performing because they are suffering from poor or lack of sleep?

    According to the National Sleep Foundation “more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month – with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more”.

    A goods nights sleep and the preparation for sleep is as important as preparing for a meeting, warming up before running a half marathon or delivering a major strategy to improve company performance.  “As many as 30 percent or more of U.S. adults are not getting enough sleep,” says Dr. Twery.   PhD, Director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research.  Chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders are estimated to cost the American nation as much as $16 billion in healthcare expenses and $50 billion in lost productivity.

    The consequences can be severe. Drowsy driving, for example, is responsible for an estimated 1,500 fatalities and 40,000 nonfatal injuries each year. “It’s actually quite serious,” says Daniel Chapman, PhD., MSc, at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Drowsy driving was implicated in about 16 percent of fatal crashes and about 13 percent of crashes resulting in hospitalization.”  Dr. Chapman says sleep is as important to health as eating right and getting enough physical activity.  Furthermore, research is beginning to attribute the lack of sleep, as with poor diet and lack of physical activity, with weight gain and diabetes.

    For adults, the way you feel while you’re awake depends in part on what happens while sleeping. During sleep, the body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain physical health. On-going sleep deficiency can raise the risk for some chronic health problems, but it can also affect how well we think, react, work, learn, and interact with others. Therefore, it is realistic to think that poor sleep is going to lead to trouble making decisions, solving problems and controlling emotions, as well as an increase in mistakes which results in re-work and therefore lowered productivity.

    Sleep hygiene is one of the essential pillars to good health and personal performance whether you want to excel at sport, at your job or in some other way.   Sleep helps the brain function correctly.  During sleep the brain is preparing for the next day, by creating pathways to improve learning and remembering. Good sleep also helps us in making decisions, to be focused and creative.  When waking in the morning, the mind and body should be ready to face the day, feeling refreshed, energized and alert with no signs of brain fog, heaviness or confusion.

    On a physical level, sleep is responsible for repair of body cells as well as effective functioning of the immune system.   The immune system defends the body against foreign and harmful microbes and relies on sleep to stay healthy. On-going sleep deficiency may lead to the inability to fight common infections and therefore each time the flu or a cold goes round the work place it affects the same people who have weakened immune function and therefore unable to fight off common infections thus leading to absenteeism in the workplace, due to sickness.

    Perhaps this impacts those that drive heavy machinery and work in high-risk areas.  By nodding off” they could compromise their own safety and the safety of others, not only causing human injury, but also damage to machinery, and the building itself.

    How does the leadership in your organisation coach, educate and counsel those that may be suffering from poor sleep quality or lack of sleep?  What systems are in place to enable workers to follow a healthy lifestyle encouraging great sleep?

  • Are Your Leadership Abilities Transforming Fast Enough?

    On Tuesday I had the honour of attending WinTrade (Women in Trade) in London that was hosted by MasterCard.  The main theme was “How to embed diversity in the world of tech?”, and it was attended by entrepreneurial businesswomen from all over the world.  One of the speakers asked the question:  “What is our purpose as humans?”  This led me to thinking about leadership and the role of leaders in today’s world, whether political, business, sports or otherwise.

    As a part of the day, completely off the cuff I was asked to give a five-minute inspirational speech.  Apart from suffering from internal panic, I decided to focus on my name and say a few words about Sir Ernest Shackleton, the great Antarctic explorer.

     

    WATCH MY LEADERSHIP VIDEO HERE

     

     

    Great leadership in actionGREAT LEADERSHIP IN ACTION

    Being a great leader is crucial, but are your leadership abilities transforming as fast as the times? Learn more about what it takes to be a great leader today.

    The Shackleton motto was “By endurance we conquer”.  He made two Antarctic expeditions that demonstrated this motto, although neither reached the South Pole. Never-the-less, Shackleton made history when his ship Endurance was trapped in ice, eventually crushed. As the Antarctic ice melted, the vessel sank to the bottom of the sea.

    It was through his leadership, in a situation that appeared completely hopeless, that Shackleton managed to keep the spirits of the whole team up whilst he created a strategy to get everyone to safety in three rickety lifeboats.

    The route included an open boat journey to Elephant Island, where they found little life on this piece of land that was constantly ravaged by the sea.  All the men, except five stayed hurdled under the lifeboats for months whilst Shackleton and five men sailed 800 miles to reach the island of South Georgia.

    However, on arrival, which in itself was a miracle, they found that habitation was on the other side of the island and therefore had to trek over a frozen, unchartered mountainous interior to reach the whaling station.   Shackleton did not stop to rest at the whaling station. Instead he returned with the help of the whalers to rescue the rest of the men, all of whom survived their ordeal.

    Being a great leader is crucial, but are your leadership abilities transforming as fast as the times? Learn more about what it takes to be a great leader today.

    The meaning of leadershipTHE MEANING OF LEADERSHIP

    Leadership in 1916 for Shackleton and his team was all about camaraderie, loyalty, responsibility, determination and in this expedition, optimism.  He managed to convince his men that getting out alive was possible and that this was what everyone had to focus on and work for.

    At that time in 1916 there was no technology as we know it today. No state-of-the-art sensors and radio or other communication equipment to contact fellow human beings. No navigation equipment as we know it today and no comforts of special fabrics that insulate you from the cold.

    Leadership vs technologyLEADERSHIP VS TECHNOLOGY

    Being a great leader is crucial, but are your leadership abilities transforming as fast as the times? Learn more about what it takes to be a great leader today.

    Technology has progressed enormously since 1916. Looking at the current year, 2019, we have information at lightning speed. We have all kinds of communication capabilities, including Inmarsat satellite phones if choosing to travel to such destinations as Antarctica. Our lives are full of Artificial Intelligence to assist in improving systems, processes, data transfer, data protection, deliveries, security and so on. But where is the leadership that Shackleton showed in the expedition in 2016?  Leadership is not about technology; it is about the human element.

    In today’s world it seems to me that we are searching for leaders that can carry us into a new era.  An era where current long-standing, economic systems and processes need to be challenged.  Rather than tweaking crumbling systems and processes, our leaders need to have the courage to lead transformation not only of systems and processes, but also of our approach to situations and people who might be different from ourselves.  In other words, this is very important to steering the course and to our “survival”.

    GENERATION Z

    Transformation of abilities, skills and knowledge is also needed to bring us all into the world of Generation Z, where the current level of A.I is threatening jobs as we know them and consequently lifestyles and the very security of work.

    This is the generation that is asking uncomfortable questions, coming in through their own doors and challenging the status quo. The needed change has already been identified, and some might say it is already here – it is whether we choose to review and change our leadership characteristics and style and get on board, as technology cannot do it on its own! 

     

    References:

    Shackleton’s Way, Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell

    Shackleton The Heart of the Antartci and South, Wordsworth Classic of World Literature

     

    Rachel ShackletonRachel Shackleton is an entrepreneur who owns and manages Green Key Personal Development and Green Key Health. Working with local and multinational organisations, she is a public speaker and trainer in the spheres of leadership, communication and customer excellence. She ensures sustainable productivity and profitability through healthy self-management and leadership practices, ensuring a focused and successful workforce.

  • Authentic Leadership – how important is It?

    “The authentic self is the soul made visible.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach.

    Yesterday I attended the Engage Customer Summit at the Brewery in London. Another very good day laid on by Engage Media. It was my attendance at a round table to discuss “Cultivating Loyalty and Engagement through Authentic Leadership” hosted by Jamie McKenzie, CMO at Sodexo, that initiated the thinking behind this blog. The discussion was stimulating and active with those attending sharing ideas around the questions:

    •  Are you an authentic leader?
    • What examples are there of authentic leaders?
    • Is your approach the right approach for the environment in which you are in?

    Of course, from these questions the conversation broadened and deepened around a topic that I believe to be incredibly important and something close to my heart.

    Harvard Business School Online defines authentic leadership “as a leadership style exhibited by individuals who have high standards of integrity, take responsibility for their actions, and make decisions based on principle rather than short-term success. They use their inner compasses to guide their daily actions, which enables them to earn the trust of their employees, peers, and shareholders—creating approachable work environments and boosting team performance.” https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-improve-team-performance.

    From an employee perspective, research detailed in Harvard Business Review shows “that a majority of employees believe authenticity in the workplace leads to benefits such as:

    • Better relationships with colleagues
    • Higher levels of trust
    • Greater productivity
    • A more positive working environment

    For any leader who is aiming to make a lasting impact on the companies in which they work, investing time and effort into becoming an authentic leader can be extremely valuable, not only for them as individuals, but also those that they lead, the organisation as a whole and finally the shareholders.

    Points that came out of the discussion yesterday is that an authentic leader demonstrates:

    • Openness to share and to recognise the contribution of others, demonstrating how much they are valued
    • Trusting of others and build trust in all relationships
    • Consistent in their behaviour
    • Connect on the “shop floor” and walk their talk
    • Supportive of others, spotlighting strengths that individuals can build on rather than weakness that need strengthening
    • Possess a high level of emotional intelligence

    On the other hand, Harvard highlights the characteristics of an authentic leader as:

    • Committed to bettering themselves
    • Cultivate self-awareness
    • Disciplined
    • Are mission-driven
    • Inspire faith and build relationships of trust

    From these definitions and the discussion yesterday, I think we can define an authentic leader, as someone who comes from a place of inner strength, in other words they stand in their own power, and because of this are not afraid to show vulnerability, to reveal their weaknesses and to allow and enable someone else to fill the gap, recognising that you don’t need to be good at everything as true teamwork allows for individual potential to shine through at these moments and to rally round the mission, purpose and goals, while enjoying the benefits of working as a team.

    Authenticity is respecting and valuing others for what they contribute and letting them know that their contribution is appreciated through support and genuine recognition. If things go wrong, being fair and open to learn from mistakes and use these situations as growth opportunities. The result – highly motivated individuals who give their best, enjoy what they do, feel fulfilled and perform to the best of their ability having a direct impact on levels of productivity, trusting and open relationships that share a common foundation of support, openness and positivity.

    Sir Ernest Shackleton was the example that I gave of an authentic leader. I’m sure there are more recent authentic leaders but are not in the media as they humbly go about their business. Sir Ernest Shackleton had a people-centred approach to leadership. His personal values, learned from his upbringing helped him develop a progressive style of leadership. He turned bad experiences into valuable lessons, was respectful of business competition. He broke down any traditional hierarchies, was always fair in how he dealt with his staff and established a clear order and routine so that everyone knew where they stood.

    Shackleton led by example, he never expected from his team members what he would not do himself and was always willing to help get the work done. He met regularly for one-to-one conversations to build a bond with each member of the crew. He accepted the individuality of each person and their weaknesses and was always keen to help them achieve their full potential.

    In a crisis he took the lead and worked to keep spirits high. He inspired optimism, even though sometimes he might have doubted himself and he kept “his enemies close.”  He encouraged teams to help and support each other. He was always visible and aware of possible difficulties and danger.  Above all he took responsibility for getting the whole job done, kept the big picture in sight and was always there to help others.

    Shackleton’s leadership legacy needs no further explanation.

    George Kohlrieser sums it up well: “If your starting point is that people are a cost to be minimised, your organisation might survive but it won’t thrive. If, on the other hand, you fundamentally believe that human beings are valuable and a source of goodness, a true asset not in financial terms but in their very essence, you will make your decisions with an entirely different perspective. In your attitude, in your state and in your authenticity, you will be operating as a *secure base. From that position, even difficult decisions will be understood and received with a higher degree of acceptance and appreciation. You will achieve results in a way that also elevates the contribution and value of the human beings inside your organisation.”   

    *”Secure base is a person, place, goal or object that provides a sense of protection, safety, and care and offers a source of inspiration and energy for daring exploration risking taking and seeking challenge.”

     

    References:

    George Kohlreiser, Care to Dare, 2012

    Shackleton’s Way, Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell

    https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/authentic-leadership

  • 5 Steps to Drive Employee Engagement

    We might ask the question who is responsible for engagement of employees and their development? On the one hand that responsibility can be given to line managers and on the other to employees themselves. Or you might take the other tack of putting the responsibility firmly on the shoulders of Human Resources or Learning and Development specialists. Perhaps the answer lies with all parties taking their fair share of creating, ensuring and committing to engaging for the purpose of driving development and ultimately performance of the individual, team and organisation?

    Personal development, unlike a Michelin star, goes with the individual wherever he or she goes, it does not stay with the organisation that was instrumental in instigating that development. Therefore, you might ask: “What is the point of developing employees if they are going to leave anyway?” Believe it or not I still hear this question far too often! If every organisation and individual is actively engaged in personal development which at the time benefits the organisation in which they are working, then when they leave, the replacement if from outside the organisation will also have a certain level of professionalism, knowledge and skills in their sphere of expertise. Consequently, circulating individuals who are inspired to learn and to engage in their own personal development will not only give to and benefit their new employer, but also keep that employer on their toes to provide further opportunities for development and growth. But as we all know, growth and development do not come without engagement.

    Breaking this down – engagement in the workplace means the absence of presenteeism. It means employees who embrace their role and their responsibilities within that role and are motivated and committed emotionally by what they are doing as well as the opportunities and challenges that present within the role, as well as opportunities to take on other roles whether in the short or long term. As Kevin Kruse, Founder+CEO of www.LEADx.org, wrote in Forbes Daily “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.”

    “This emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company. They don’t work just for a salary, or just for the next promotion, but work on behalf of the organization’s goals.” Invariably this means that an engaged employee will go that extra mile if needed, they will step in willingly during difficult times, work overtime without being asked and generally hold the interest of the company at the forefront of what they do in their role.

    According to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace Report, 2021, “only 21% of employees are engaged at work. Even outside of work, only a third of the people making up our organizations feel like they are thriving.  This low engagement isn’t an overhyped narrative — Gallup estimates that low engagement costs the global economy nearly 8 trillion USD.”

    McKinsey surveyed over 13,000 workers across the globe for their Great Attrition, Great Attraction 2.0 report, with 45% of respondents having quit or planning to quit over the past year. The top five reasons for quitting show clearly that the inability to retain talent is a direct result of high job demand that is “supported” by inadequate, uncaring and poor leadership that is compounded by inadequate compensation and lack of opportunities for development:

    • Lack of career development and advancement: 41%
    • Inadequate total compensation: 36%
    • Uncaring and uninspiring leaders: 34%
    • Lack of meaningful work: 31%
    • Unsustainable expectations: 29%

    Perhaps there is a hesitancy amongst HR professionals and top leadership to hire in this current climate with the expectation that the UK and perhaps the world, is facing a recession. Surely then if this is true, retention through active engagement has to be the answer? What are some of the ways that employee retention and engagement can be improved? In no order of importance as they are all interconnected, but together make a huge difference to how employees feel and how emotionally engaged they are within their role and the organisation as a whole:

    1. Engage managers and develop leaders

    If managers are not satisfied with what they are doing, it is unlikely that they will inspire others. Start with manager engagement and develop their commitment through knowing their needs, providing support and offering development to support their personal goals as well as the goals of the organisation.  Effective leaders require autonomy. If your organisation expects leadership to follow a set of rules without questioning, without application of personal knowledge and skill, combined with extreme pressure to deliver, perhaps it is not leadership that you are requiring?

     2. Show interest by following up regularly with employees

    There is a big difference between a bot or robot and a human. Humans require recognition for who they are and what they contribute. All managers and leaders should know their team members and be able to relate to them on a personal basis as well as job-related basis. This shows they have a personal interest in the welfare of their team members and show that they are valued. Employees who do not get the necessary recognition to feel valued for their contribution will most certainly look elsewhere.

     3. Give positive feedback and recognise improvement

    It is so easy to see and find someone doing something wrong – in fact is it human nature to notice what is not right as opposed to what is right. Find employees and team members doing things right, recognise their improvements, however small, to encourage more of the same behaviour. Employees who feel valued will undoubtedly become engaged.

     4. Listen to your employees

    Listening is the greatest gift one individual can give another. Managers, peers and colleagues who are unable to truly listen to others are missing out on the opportunity to show interest, connect emotionally, respond to thoughts, ideas and suggestions and demonstrate that they value their input whether implemented or not. Listening empathetically helps build emotional connection which in turn builds trust and confidence in one another.

     5. Plan for career development and advancement

    As seen in the McKinsey survey 41% of employees lacked engagement and left their organisations in search of a position elsewhere because of lack of career development and opportunity. 31% because of lack of meaningful work. Not everyone wants to become General Director, CEO or Group HR Director.  It is human nature to want to improve ourselves and if an organisation, department or team is unable to provide adequate opportunity to learn new skills and gain new knowledge, experience different roles, grow the level of responsibility and increase autonomy, then seriously the leadership of that organisation needs to look in the mirror and question themselves honestly and openly as to why employees are lacking engagement and worse still looking elsewhere for new positions.

    The responsibility for employee engagement falls squarely on the shoulders of leadership within each organisation to develop a culture that truly cares for their workforce, wants and aims to have each employee grow hand in hand with the organisation.  But, more importantly ultimately wants their employees to drive the success of the organisation.

    References:

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what-and-why/?sh=148639287f37

    https://advise.gallup.com/employee-engagement?campaignid=18945816141&adgroupid=143633586437&adid=635680356857&gclid=CjwKCAjwiOCgBhAgEiwAjv5whMr9eXpYipo3ReeMZSr36ar2DHLyVLxPP25QkECaGmhj8d-0DILhGBoC_iUQAvD_BwE

    https://www.lumapps.com/resources/white-papers/attract-engage-retain-the-employee-experience-advantage/

  • Anyone got a plan b?

    The General Election results have for the second time in recent history demonstrated the importance of having a Plan B.  What I am referring to is the Brexit vote – for most people there was little thought to the fact that Britain would vote “out” seen through comments such as “If I had known we would be out, I would have voted to stay in!”  The Conservative government at the time, also did not consider the fact that the British people would vote “out” and therefore create a Plan B, or contingency to kick in if the unspeakable happened.  Thus, the hasty resignation of David Cameron immediately afterwards and the chaos that ensued to find another Prime Minister.  Not to mention the “no man’s land” that we all seemed to feel with no leader at the helm and the potential impact that had on business both nationally and internationally.

    Again in the recent election results, there was no thought to the fact that the Conservatives would not win.  How can any leader be so confident, or we might say egotistical?  In this blog I am not advocating any particular party preference or view.   It is strange however that on both occasions, not too far apart from each other, it is the Conservative leadership who have fallen into the same trap of not expecting the unexpected.

    Where was Plan B?  In other words why, in both cases was there no apparent discussion on the possibility of the vote going in the opposite direction to firstly the planned goal and secondly the desires of the leadership party?   Effective leadership is certainly about driving towards a specific goal by inspiring and motivating those that are responsible for making it happen, but we should never be so overly confident as to not ask the question “What if…..” and have a plan B for that eventuality.

    Most leaders are motivated to avoid failing, because firstly we plan to succeed, but secondly we need to manage the emotions of disappointment and self shame which often turns to self anger and self-beratement when we realize that we did not achieve that goal, and therefore are imperfect, and consequently everyone else suffers in the same manner.  OK, we had no Plan B.  Now what?

    Failure is an opportunity.  In a crisis many leaders want to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders – “I got us into this mess, I will get us out”  (Theresa May) when actually the way forward is to work with your team with humility and collaboration to find a new way forward and to learn from the experience.  Failure helps to re-visit and re-define priorities.  This might mean giving up the original goal or re-defining the goal and then moving forward.

    Columbus was looking for India, Alexander Graham Bell was trying to invent a hearing aid, and Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame was planning to sell his chicken recipe to restaurants.  Often what we are planning to happen leads us to something very different.

    Plan B is not only for large scale situations, such as running a country, but for smaller situations where the impact of if it goes wrong carries high risk on business operations – the server crashes, your main supplier goes bankrupt, your tanker transporting goods damages it’s hull etc.  Whilst it might not be the most sexy task, it does help provide calmness in the ensuing chaos, focus, and ultimately a framework and goals to continue to exercise effective leadership.

    Sir Ernest Shackleton, The Great Antartic Explorer and his men survived the wreck of their ship “Endurance” coming home in good health and good spirits all because of Shackleton’s leadership.  He later wrote “The disaster had been looming ahead for many months, and I had studied my plans for all contingencies a hundred times.  The task ahead was likely to be long and strenuous, and an ordered mind and clear program were essential if we were to come through without loss of life.”  (Shackleton’s Way, Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell)

    Perhaps its time for us all to take a leaf out of Shackleton’s book and ensure when the risk is high to our operations that we have a Plan B?

  • Are Leaders Born or Made?

    “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one that does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”  Ronald Reagan

    The question of whether leaders are born or can be made through learning and development is a question that is very often asked. This blog will explore the relationship between being a natural born leader, which certainly many people are, as well as learning the skills of an effective leader.

    Working on the premise that leadership is influencing others to want to do their job while management, also very important is getting the job done through others, the differentiating factor we could argue is how we influence those who work with us to want to do their job, to love doing their job, and to do it well on a consistent basis.

    What makes an individual want to do and love their job? Initial motivation to get out of bed in the morning has to be the responsibility of the individual, as does the positivity and excitement to turn up for work. The question then is what makes the experience between someone who turns up for work because they need the money and someone who wants to be there, enjoy the daily challenges as well as the regular tasks and duties that are a part of all roles. The answer lies in looking at the importance of colleagues who we associate with and enjoy working with as well as the person that we report to and who guides us while bringing out the best in each person. That manager and leader builds motivation and commitment in each unique individual to inspire them to want to as well as to love, coming to work. The person that builds a positive, fun climate in order to deliver peak performance.

    Characteristics and skills of an effective leader include, but may not be limited to:

    Honesty and integrity saying what you will do and doing it, being true to and keeping to your word, being consistent with those you lead and not treating one person more favourably than the other. As well as being consistent in all your actions and behaviours. Operating with high levels of personal integrity.

    Openness – being open to share feedback, both positive and constructive negative feedback while also showing vulnerabilities and encouraging and allowing others to also be open to share, to provide their feedback to you as well as other team members.

    Positivity – irrelevant of what is happening to find the upsides without being unrealistic. Remaining upbeat despite challenges and difficulties, not pulling yourself and others down.

    Ability to listen – perhaps the most critical of all the characteristics and skills of a leader. Taking time to hear others, being fully present and not necessarily finding a solution for that person’s plight, but simply listening and showing that you care. Listening is also important when it comes to listening to oneself. Knowing how you feel and acknowledging that. Addressing issues without taking them out on those you lead. Giving out the message that you are here, present and available while being able to show self-compassion and compassion for others.

    Humility – not being afraid to show your humble side. Just because you have been given the role and the job description, does not mean that you have to have all the answers. It is fine to say, “I don’t know what to do in this situation, does anyone else have any ideas?”

    Desire to see others grow and develop – Wanting to keep everything within your control only serves to stifle growth and development of both yourself and others. Trusting colleagues to deliver gives freedom to make decisions, freedom to experiment and try without fear of reprisal if it all goes wrong. Using these opportunities for assisting learning and development builds trust.

    Learning mentality – Leaders who do not have a learning mentality for themselves as well as others, will soon reach their ceiling of growth and be left behind.

    Trust – trusting yourself and trusting others creates an atmosphere of positivity, wanting to learn, confidence to take on something new and address challenges, ultimately leading to positive and constructive feedback and delegation of authority to create autonomy within the workforce. It takes time to earn trust which is an accumulation of all the little things that you do and say.

    Purpose and vision – Has a clear vision and knows their own purpose, why he or she is in the position of a leader, while also being clear about the purpose and direction of the organisation or department and is able to share that purpose and vision with others in order to build commitment.

    Self-care – Each one of us has a responsibility to ourselves firstly to ensure we are full of wellness and vitality through respect for mind, body and soul. Vitality is not just about regularly going to a gym, jogging, swimming or playing tennis it is much broader than that. Focusing only on the physical aspects of ourselves, failing to address the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects that are often the foundation to wellness and who we are, what we are experiencing and how we show up and contribute to this the world means we are addressing 25% of what contributes to wellness, vitality and general wellbing.

    Looking around the world at our “global” leaders, those nominated to lead a country, I struggle to find many of these skills and characteristics. Is it a surprise that governments are in disarray? I won’t take your time or energy to pick those apart that regularly feature in our media, sadly for the wrong reasons, I’ll leave you to do that using the above points. What went wrong in our systems? At this time, I cannot find a reasonable answer. Is it a reflection of our education system, upbringing, life experiences or culture? Probably a bit of each.

    Returning to the main question of can you learn to be an effective leader?  Do you learn integrity, honesty, how to trust and how to listen, are these characteristics and skills acquired somehow, or are you simply born with them? Integrity and honesty come from one’s upbringing while the ability to listen effectively and provide feedback are skills that can be learned if a person is interested while being given the experience of a wonderful role model in one or several job roles, through a family member or other role model who is closely followed.

    Developing your managers to become effective leaders is never too late. Giving them the skills to perform well, nurture individuals and teams to build commitment, encourage growth and development of others, while developing themselves is critical not only to the individual, but to the business as a whole. Without an effective leadership team, your ship is sailing without a rudder. It is like setting sail with all the bells and whistles, latest technology, fantastic systems, luxurious interior design, as did the Titanic when she set sail on April 10, 1912. Investing in development of your leadership team, irrelevant of seniority, makes sound, financial sense.

    If you want to optimise your leadership skills or develop the leadership skills of a manager then please drop me an email to rachel@greenkeypersonaldevelopment.com or book a zoom call.