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Tag: Leadership

  • Ignoring Bad Leadership is Damaging your Business

    We have all had at least one experience of poor or bad leadership. I could add “unfortunately” at the end of that sentence? In most cases it is a learning lesson for the employee to avoid such leaders and their behaviour in the future. In other words, it teaches a very good lesson and makes us wiser in our future job searches and appointments. What about the organisation, is it unfortunate for them? The answer is most likely “yes” for the obvious reasons such as loss of good employees, poor morale that leads to low employee engagement, low productivity and ultimately increased sickness and absenteeism. The 2022 Gallup poll stated that “60% of employees are disengaged at a cost of US$8.8 trillion to business globally.” If that doesn’t make your ears prick up or hair stand on end, then I don’t know what will.

    What are the top-rated worst leadership behaviours according to a survey conducted by Bamboo HR of 1000 employees:

    Your boss takes credit for your work 63%
    Your boss doesn’t trust or empower you 62%
    Your boss doesn’t care if you are overworked 58%
    Your boss doesn’t advocate for you when it comes to compensation 57%
    Your boss hires and/or promotes the wrong people  56%
    Your boss doesn’t back you up when there is a dispute  55%
    Your boss doesn’t provide proper direction on assignment/roles  54%
    Your boss micromanages and doesn’t allow you freedom to work 53%
    Your boss focuses more on your weaknesses than strengths  53%
    Your boss doesn’t set clear expectations  52%

    On top of these reasons, Gallup together with Workhuman in a survey conducted in May 2023 established an extensive connection between employee recognition and wellbeing, finding that “employees who receive the right amount of recognition for the work they do suffer from lower burnout, enjoy improved daily emotions and stronger relations with their co-workers.”

    What does Gallup consider to be wellbeing? This is divided into different aspects of wellbeing:

    • Community
    • Social
    • Financial
    • Career
    • Physical

    I agree that wellbeing is not just physical, wellbeing is much more than that, infact it is holistic just as Gallup has highlighted. The way I explain wellbeing is physical (vitality, energy, strength) mental (clarity, cognition, concentration), emotional (resilience, inner balance, positivity, self-compassion), and spiritual (purpose, alignment, integrity). In the Gallup survey these different aspects of wellbeing, in turn are placed into three buckets:

    • Thriving Wellbeing – High wellbeing across most elements
    • Suffering Wellbeing – A mix of high, medium or low elements
    • Struggling Wellbeing – Low wellbeing across most elements

    What then is the link between leadership and thriving employee wellbeing? According to Gallup and Workhuman – it is what they term “Strategic Recognition”. This is the ability to use the technique of giving genuine recognition to all employees. To be strategic it needs to:

    1. Meet employee expectations. In other words, be given in a timely manner and for the work that the employee thinks deserves recognition.
    2. Be authentic and genuine and not something that is simply on a to do list to be done every day.
    3. Personalised – given fairly to all without showing favouritism.
    4. Equitable – taking the needs of each individual into consideration rather than a one size fits all.
    5. Is part of the organisation culture and is lived throughout the organisation by all in everything they do.

    The interesting point here is that giving recognition to an employee for doing a good job, costs nothing, there is no pay check attached, bonus or increase of some kind. It is a simple act of human, respect, gratitude and quiet celebration of an individual’s performance. The result when recognition is given authentically is an employee who feels valued for what they do, resulting in willingly doing more of the same. This in turn leads to increased engagement and productivity, less employees actively searching for a job and therefore increased retention, not forgetting the ultimate aim of decreasing sickness, both mental and physical, and absenteeism because employees thrive within the organisation culture.

    So what you might ask? A Harvard Business Review survey on the impact of poor leadership behaviours revealed that:

    • 48% of employees intentionally decreased their work effort.
    • 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
    • 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
    • 63% lost work time trying to avoid the offender.
    • 66% said that their performance declined.
    • 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined.
    • 25% admitted to taking their frustrations out on customers.

    Give me an example of any organisation leadership that would not want to turn employee performance around to stop damaging their business? I hope that all organisations would want to turn this around and create a thriving workforce who love what they do. This requires a change in leadership behaviour to those that embrace their employees and encourage top performance through strategic recognition. Does this mean that all employees perform well? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean that a manager and leader should see this as requiring discipline, severe correction or even some kind of abuse. It is an opportunity to understand why and consequently turn the employee’s performance round to one of excellence. In my opinion there are no such thing as bad employees, only bad managers.

    What behaviours do managers and leaders need to increase? Start by giving genuine authentic feedback and strategic recognition. This means “managing by walking about”, a concept that I learned in my early 20’s. By doing this you become human and approachable, you also know your employees by name and see how they perform, at the rock face while experiencing their daily work lives and not just seeing their names on a report or computer screen.

    Not all managers and leaders have received appropriate training to know when and how to deliver feedback. Ask yourself: “What is the damage and cost to your business for not investing in your leaders to provide the necessary training in leadership and these vital skills?

    Start the leadership training today, let’s talk.

    References:

    https://www.workhuman.com/resources/reports-guides/from-thank-you-to-thriving-workhuman-gallup-report-emea/?utm

    https://newageleadership.com/poor-leadership-behaviors-its-collateral-damage/#:~:text=Poor%20leadership%20behaviors%20and%20bad,root%20cause%20%E2%80%93%20bad%20leadership%20behaviors.

  • Inspirational Leadership – A Festive Thought

    2018 has been a very turbulent year, especially when we look at what has been going on in the world – dare I mention the “B” word again and all the leaders involved in that process to execute the will of the British public, the turbulence in the USA that came with Trump leadership, the unrest in France, challenges to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and many more issues that have created news in 2018.

    However, my thought as this year comes to a close, is around inspirational leadership.  Sadly there is little evidence of inspiration coming from world leaders during this year, therefore I want to go back to February when I had the honour of attending the winter Olympic Games in South Korea.  When I say, the honour, what I am referring to is the fact that one of my godson’s was competing.  Infact he was and still is the skip of the Swiss men’s curling team.

    I have never attended an Olympic games before, and from a leadership perspective it was quite fascinating to watch the curling teams manage the challenges of each game, the pressure that a competition like the Olympic games brings, as well as the relationships within the team and the need to make decisions in the moment that very often demanded the courage to take risk in order to be at the top of your game.  As in business, this risk sometimes pays off, and sometimes it does not.   Making those decisions does not make you less of a leader, infact the reverse as it is an opportunity to learn and grow, but at the same time an opportunity to inspire each and every team member to give of their best and to find that energy, courage and enthusiasm to keep focused and to excel by pulling something extraordinary out of the hat.

    Is inspirational leadership about winning?  Personally, I do not think so.  Winning is a bonus.  Instead it is about sharing the glory, sharing the disappointments, but more importantly knowing that everyone gave of their best and in that there is always celebration.

    I wish you all a very inspirational 2019 with opportunities to share, to experience the true essence of being a team, and to celebrate at every opportunity.

  • Integrity in Leadership; What Business Leaders Can Learn from Our Political System

    In today’s Britain, as we watch our government navigate scandal, public discontent, and complex global challenges, the question arises again and again: are our leaders truly working with honesty and integrity?

    Recent months have seen a string of events that throw this into question. Sir Keir Starmer entered office promising a clean break from political sleaze—but recent revelations suggest a more complex reality.

    In 2024, Starmer declared that he had accepted over £100,000 in gifts and hospitality since becoming an MP—far more than any other parliamentarian, including clothing and accommodation provided by Labour donor Lord Alli. While technically disclosed, this sharply contrasts with his message of accountability and austerity. As one Reddit commentator put it:

    “For a man who found so much pay dirt in presenting himself as a man of integrity, accepting these sorts of gifts … seems like such an easy bullet to dodge.” 

    There's also the awkward incident during lockdown: Starmer reportedly invited an acting coach to Downing Street for in‑person lessons while urging strict lockdown compliance for everyone else. The episode sparked claims of hypocrisy and doubt over whether “rules for some” applied across the board. (IAE Limited)

    On issues of openness and accountability, Starmer has called for a statutory “duty of candour” in government aimed at ending cover‑ups seen in the Post Office, infected blood, and other state failures. Yet critics argue that his own government's internal handling of data secrecy, e.g. hidden Afghan data leaks, hasn't always aligned with these values. 

    Take, for example, the ongoing Post Office Horizon IT scandal. After years of injustice, during which hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for financial shortfalls caused by a faulty computer system, the government promised compensation and transparency. Yet, as of mid-2025, many victims are still waiting. Promised payouts delayed, processes remain unclear, and bureaucratic hurdles persist. Despite repeated reassurances from ministers that the issue is being handled with urgency and compassion, families remain in limbo—forced to relive trauma while fighting for justice that should have been swiftly delivered.

    Is this leadership? Or is it another case of “managing the message” rather than taking meaningful action?

    Honesty and integrity in leadership aren’t abstract ideals. They’re the foundation of trust and trust is the glue that holds together public cooperation, engagement, and belief in the system. When leaders send mixed messages—one rule for the public, another for those in power—it erodes the very contract that enables effective governance. Is this any different for private companies and their employees?

    We’ve been here before. Rewind to the early days of the pandemic and the infamous Partygate scandal under then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. While the public was locked down, making sacrifices and losing loved ones, senior officials partied at Downing Street—breaking the rules they themselves had set. That hypocrisy shattered public confidence and left a deep scar on the national psyche. I suspect the deep scar might become even deeper as the truth about Covid and the “pandemic” is revealed.

    And what about science?

    When it comes to public health and medical research, integrity matters just as much, if not more. In a 2021 article in IHCAN Magazine, journalist Ronald Bailey exposed shocking systemic failures in the scientific research community. Former BMJ editor Dr. Richard Smith even proposed a radical stance: “Assume all medical research is fraudulent until proven otherwise.” Let that sink in! The very field we rely on for life-and-death guidance is increasingly driven by incentives that reward quantity of publication over quality or honesty of findings.

    As researcher Barbara K. Redman wrote, this “isn’t just a case of a few bad apples”—it’s a whole system that encourages poor behaviour. The absence of robust fraud-detection mechanisms, combined with an unwillingness to retract false findings for fear of reputational damage, is deeply troubling, setting an example to the many who look up to and follow those in authority through unquestioned belief. (Authority is one of Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence).

    What happens when the people can no longer trust their government leadership and the scientists who produce the “science” it not only relies on, but makes decisions on? When both leadership and knowledge systems seem riddled with opacity, contradiction, and self-interest. Until then, the public will continue to ask: “who are they working for – us or for themselves?

    That same question can be asked of leadership within an organisation. What happens when employees cannot trust their leaders and the information and systems they rely on? 

    For the UK we can still reclaim that future—but only if our leaders choose transparency over spin, substance over slogans, and integrity over image. In organisations it should never come to “reclaiming” because damage will already have been done and consequences will be clear as good employees jump ship, service levels drop and customer negative feedback increases all seriously effecting earning capacity.

    Conclusion: Lessons for Business Leadership

    Examples shared and the many others whether Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Rishi Sunak, David Lammy or Boris Johnson all demonstrate important lessons for organisational leaders:

    o    Trust is earned, not assumed: Promising reform or transparency isn’t enough if actions don’t follow through—and stakeholders notice inconsistencies.

    o    Details matter: Whether in public office or private boardrooms, undisclosed interests or misstatement, even when unintentional undermine credibility.

    o    Prioritize timely, accurate declarations of interests.

    o    Ensure consultation and stakeholder engagement are genuine and recorded.

    o    Show transparency in who you are and what you do.

    o    Back up what you say with personal behaviour and deliver on what you promised. In other words “walk your talk”.

    o    Communicate honestly—even when facing difficult decisions or scrutiny.

    o    Be true to yourself, and to others.

    As Nelson Mandela reminded us: “A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars.”

    Organisations can build that bright future—but only if leadership demonstrates integrity in word, action, and transparency.

    References

    Bailey, Ronald. (2021). Zombie Trials and Outright Fraud: Why Medical Research is Mostly Fake News. IHCAN: The Practice and Science of Natural Medicine, September, p. 42.

    Smith, Richard. (2021). “Time to Assume Fraud?” BMJ Editorial.

    Redman, Barbara K. (2021). Research Misconduct Policy in Biomedicine: Beyond the Bad-Apple Approach.

    https://iaelimited.com/keir-starmers-days-are-numbered-the-scandal-that-could-end-his-leadership-carole-malone/

    Cialdini's 6 principles of Persuasion book

  • International Women’s Day – A Celebration of Female Leadership

    On the 8th March to celebrate International Women’s day perhaps it is appropriate give credit to the many female Heads of State, CEO’s, Owners and Mothers.   How interesting that the world has a strong representation of female leaders, 22 countries in total including  Denmark, Poland, Bangladesh, Lithuania, Brazil and Norway.   This is quite a sizeable representation of women in top leadership positions, some in countries that are culturally showing more masculine than feminine qualities. (Hofstede)  It is irrelevant what you think about them, but the fact is these female leaders are running governments and countries in what can only be termed a very troubled and challenging period, including Teresa May who is grappling with the turmoil created by Brexit.   Angela Merkel holding strong as the German Chancellor who has  just been re-elected (with some help from her friends), and Norway Erna Solberg who has been Prime Minister since 2013.

    What are the principle characteristics of female leadership?  Can we characterize these principles and definitively separate them from the principles of male leadership?  Unlikely, because styles of leadership differ amongst men and women equally depending on education, experience, courage, individuality, stamina and so on.  However, when looking at women and men, there are differences and when women bring these differences into play we might see different characteristics, many of which come naturally to women.

    Female characteristics:

    • Intuitive and sensitive emotional intelligence
    • Ability to sense the emotion behind something as well as see the facts – therefore make decisions on both factual and emotional levels
    • Patience and tolerance
    • Ability to forgive and let go
    • Quiet drive, stamina and courage
    • Ability to multi task therefore being able to think about, understand and action different points with ease
    • Ability to release own emotions to relieve tension and break stress often through crying.  As well as breaking the tension in a situation.
    • Happy to be out of the limelight and just get on with the job

    In this list I am not saying that men do not have some of these characteristics, I am saying that these characteristics are more common in women in general, but particularly in female leaders.

    What does this all mean?  Are we moving into a time when female leadership is more appropriate for the challenges we face in today’s world – starvation, homelessness, loneliness, escalation in chronic disease, environmental damage on a huge scale, greed by the few who want to monopolize the many, to name but a few?

    I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know the questions:  How much longer can we, as human beings go on living in an environment that we are determined to destroy, removing the right to heritage for generations to come?

    How long can we continue to ignore, flush over, minimize the impacts of large industrial farming whether fishing, dairy, crop or animal farming on human health. Not to mention the pain caused to the animals themselves and the impact on waterways, air and the earth?

    How long can we go on not listening to, or covering up the detrimental impact of processing foods on our health and the health of our children, leading to escalation in chronic disease, obesity and stress, all of which we see in most of the English speaking world, with other countries not far behind having adopted a Western diet?

    Lets celebrate all our female leaders and leadership, not only on this day, but everyday whether Heads of State, Heads of Companies, Company Owners or Mothers.  Perhaps it is our leadership that will turn the ship to become more caring and responsible about how we live, what we live for and what we leave behind?

  • Interoception – 7 Ways to Self-Regulate and Limit the Impact of Negative Interoception

    “Interoception” is not a new concept, it was already receiving attention over 10 years ago. However, with rising numbers of people suffering from mental health illnesses, often emotion and mood related are triggered by external factors that lead to internalising negative thoughts and feelings frequently to a point of “no control.”  Consequently, “interoception” as a concept takes the stage more noticeably in the business environment.

    Defined as the “sense of the internal state of the body, whether conscious about that state or not.” “Interoception includes all signals from your internal organs, including your cardiovascular system, your lungs, your gut, your bladder and your kidneys,” as documented in an article in The Guardian, August 2021, written by David Robson, “The Hidden Sense that is Shaping Your Wellbeing”. In the same article Robson refers to the comment by Professor Mano Tsakiris, a psychologist at the Royal Holloway, University of London who said that “There is constant communication dialogue between the brain and the viscera.”  When aware of this communication link, each one of us is better able to self-regulate. Self-regulation is quite a familiar term for most of us, as one of the main characteristics of Emotional Intelligence defined by Daniel Goleman.

    The main function of the brain is to maintain balance or allostasis within all bodily systems. It is responsible for predictive processes based on previous experience and the perception of the current experience. The former affecting how the brain responds to what is currently occurring. In other words, the brain regulates the body’s internal systems by anticipating our needs and preparing to satisfy them before they arrive. This function is central to our thinking process, emotional responses and decision making. When there is allostatic disruption, this can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders due to the perception that you can no longer control your own thoughts and feelings.

    Who Rules Who?

    This is not totally clear, but the current thinking and research by people such as Professor Tsakiris and Tallon-Baudry is that the brain is controlled by the body. “We tend to think that the brain is sitting on top of the pyramid, and it’s controlling the body in general – actually, it’s probably the other way around.” The main indicators behind this are in the way our bodies are literally wired as eighty percent of the fibres in our vagus nerve ascend to the brain from various organs, especially the stomach and heart. This reflects in our understanding through phrases such as “my gut instinct says….”, “my gut response is….,” “Follow your gut.” And so on. When we fear danger, it is the gut that sends the message to the brain via these communication fibres, triggering the fight or flight reaction, resulting more often-than-not in either standing up to the threat or running away from it.

    The relationship between the heart and the brain for instance, can create enormous resistance to learning something new. Could there be a place for interoception to create a greater understanding of effective teaching methodologies in relation to adults who are unable to self-regulate?

    A Blueprint for Emotional Response

    Craig back in 2002 wrote that “Interception is a blueprint for an emotional response. The body sensation underlies most of our emotional feelings, if not all, particularly the most intense feelings of hunger, pain, body temperature and the need for survival.” Emotional regulation is equal to a coherent relationship with the self and plays a big part in effective communication between mind, body and feelings and consequent behaviour, reactions and mood.

    Interoception – 7 Ways to Self-Regulate and Limit the Impact of Negative InteroceptionTechniques that Positively Influence Self-Regulation

    We know that negative emotions lead to the fight or flight response, triggered firstly by gut instinct and then by the brain. What actions and or techniques are useful in addressing the fight or flight response to create a sense of calm and inner control that enables logical thinking and effective decision-making, thus managing emotional responses and self-regulation more effectively?

    Looking at this question from the opposite perspective.  Fear is directly linked to stress on both mind and body. When we get stressed our ability to self-regulate is less effective. Typically, we become less patient, are more likely to be curt in our responses, and demonstrate less tolerance for others whether colleagues, family or friends. Suppressing emotions will at some point lead to an explosive response, often the situation having little to do with why you are stressed, and very often it is with a person who you feel safe with, usually someone close such as a family member or close colleague.

    Not all stress is bad, infact a certain degree of stress is what gets us out of bed to accomplish the things we want or need to accomplish. When stress is out of balance it has negative effects on the nervous system leading to the fight or flight reaction, limiting our ability to think logically and to self-regulate, especially when internalising the emotions and losing consciousness about those emotions until such time as someone or something triggers their release.

    7 Ways to Self-Regulate and Limit the Impact of Negative Interoception

    Understanding that each one of us has the power to become emotionally aware of our feelings and thoughts and therefore implement actions and techniques to limit impact of stressful situations and our personal stressors through:

    1.  Value and respect yourself through living and speaking your truth and in so doing to minimise “prostituting” yourself in pursuit of money, in an environment in which we are not feeling fulfilled and happy and dread the start of a new day.
    2. Create daily practice of something that diffuses built-up stress and maintains an inner balance of calm, such as breathing techniques, dance and other joyful movement, yoga or meditation.
    3. Encourage and develop self-confidence in yourself and others through appreciation and gratitude.  Seeing and expressing the positive aspects in others, attracts the same to yourself. Remember “like attracts like”. Working for a boss and within a team and environment where you are appreciated, that is fun and creative, is the best support and stress-buster of all.
    4. Make time to play. Humour and playful activities can magic away built-up inner tension and reduce anxiety.
    5. Learn to say “No” to extra tasks when you are already feeling overwhelmed and cannot cope with anything additional.
    6. Avoid procrastination and “Eat that Frog” (Brian Tracy) everyday as one of the first three things you do.
    7. Become emotionally aware and connect to your feelings. Use all your senses of sight, hearing, feeling, touching and tasting to connect with how you feel about particular experiences, occurrences and interactions. Include the different organs in the body. Build your awareness of what each one is telling you about how it feels. Recognise those feelings and release them appropriately before they build up and result in an emotional explosion. (Refer points 4 and 6 above)

    When addressing the internal state of the mind and body through supporting the adrenal axis and nervous system, negative interoception is less likely as our perception of the current experience becomes more positive, therefore does not trigger a deep negative response. All in all, the increase in personal self-awareness through regular practice that dissipates the build-up of emotions, you will be more able to take things and people in your stride through a logical, balanced assessment and approach, overall sustaining an allostatic balance within mind and body through conscious awareness and self-regulatory actions.

    In Daniel Goleman’s definition of self-regulation, “Handling our emotions so that they facilitate rather than interfere with the task at hand; being conscientious and delaying gratification to pursue goals; recovering well from emotional distress.”

    References:

    Armstrong, K. (2019). Interoception: How We Understand Our Body’s Inner Sensations. Available: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/interoception-how-we-under…. Last accessed 8 November 2021.

    Goleman, D (1999). Working with Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 318.

    Price, C.J, Hooven, C. (2018). Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT). Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5985305/. Last accessed 8 November 2021.

    Robson, D. (2021). Interoception: the hidden sense that shapes wellbeing. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/15/the-hidden-sense-shaping…. Last accessed 8 November 2021.

    WANT TO MASTER INTEROCEPTION? SEE OUR WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE E-LEARNING COURSES!

  • Is Technology Ruining your Life?

    Is technology ruining your life?Technology is a fine thing, and something that most of us cannot do without on one level or another. It keeps us connected to colleagues, partners, family. It even helps make our lives more tolerable, less intensive, more effective and overall easier.

    IS THAT REALLY THE CASE?

    Did I say, more tolerable, less intensive, effective and easier?  Information flies around at such speed that it is almost impossible sometimes to feel that it makes life less intensive. In some instances, it is even questionable whether it helps us to be more effective.

    SUPPORTIVE FACTS

    Here are just a few facts and figures to support my comment, from Bernard Marr of Enterprise in a Cloud, May, 2018:

    • 3.7 billion humans use the internet
    • 40,000 searches are conducted through Google every second.  That is equal to 3.5 billion searches per day on Google alone.
    • In the last two years 90% of data was created at the current pace.  That is 2.5 quintillion bytes of data being created every day.  If you don’t know what a quintillion is – check out Google!

    EVERY MINUTE:

    • 156,000 emails are sent
    • 103,447,520 SPAM emails are sent
    • 4,146,600 users watch Youtube
    • 45,788 Uber rides
    • and the list of technology related statistics goes on……

    THE RESULT

    It is no wonder that some days, I feel like I am in a washing machine that just keeps going and never reaches the end of its cycle. I’m constantly bombarded with information coming in via WhatsApp, Linked In, Facebook, including Messenger, Twitter, SMS messaging, email and finally the odd telephone call.

    The feeling of having to be constantly connected and available can be very stressful. Not to mention the other side of the coin, of keeping in touch with the latest information, just to keep your head above the parapet.  This list of possible ways to contact is not complete by any means when considering all other in possibilities.

    IMPACT ON BUSINESS

    Is present day business expecting all leaders to have the same digital availability, whilst also managing team members on a face-to-face basis.  Or have leaders become digital, thus leading without face-to-face exposure?

    Impact on the brainIMPACT ON THE BRAIN

    With so much focus on technology in today’s society, we find ourselves paying a price. Sleeping problems, anxiety, stress management and work stress are just a few. This blog offers a solution. Are you prepared to hear it? #sleep #stress #technology

    What impact is this having on the brain?  Research is already showing that brain function due to neuronal re-programming is changing and becoming wired differently.  Whether this is evolution or not, time will tell.

    Ill health such as anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder and other brain related diseases are increasing in number and hit the headlines more often.

    POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

    Is it time to think about using digital technology for the purposes that it was designed for – to assist and make life easier by transferring information instantly, to conduct meetings virtually, to send the same information to a group of people at the click of a button and to access news as and when time is appropriate?

    Would this allow “unconnected” down-time to enable enjoyment from leading people, and to be able to appreciate what they do and say in a fully focused manner?  Interacting with others on a face-to-face, person-to-person basis brings what technology is unable to do, fully engaged communication, that human touch which we all need at times, and a normal conversation with facial expressions, shared joy, disappointment, laughter and interest.   Is this approach, old hat, or simply lost under the demand of our digital world?

    Do you really need technology to tell you how you slept?DO YOU REALLY NEED TECHNOLOGY TO TELL YOU HOW YOU SLEPT?

    With so much focus on technology in today’s society, we find ourselves paying a price. Sleeping problems, anxiety, stress management and work stress are just a few. This blog offers a solution. Are you prepared to hear it? #sleep #stress #technologyThis blog came about because of one of those all too rare face-to-face conversations with a friend and business colleague as I noticed that she was not wearing her Fitbit activity tracker.  On asking where was her Fitbit she answered, I used it for 2 things:

    • To tell me how far I have walked
    • To tell me if I am sleeping

    With that last comment she added: “When I wake in the morning, I know whether I have slept well or not. Why do I need a Fit bit to tell me this?”

    Is this yet another aspect of giving up brain capacity to a piece of digital technology, which at the end of the day tells me what I already know?

     

    References:

    Bernard Marr (May 2018)

    Baroness Susan Greenfield, Mind Change (2014)

     

    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.

  • How Can You Lead Others If You Are Running On Empty?

    How many business leaders do you know who miss lunch breaks, work at the weekends, work well into the evenings and have vacation days stacking up? Or is this you?

    If it is you, you are probably well aware of what you are doing, and have perhaps made some New Year resolutions for yourself to address the number of hours you work, the extra pounds you have put on or the lack of time you are spending with family and or friends.

    How can you lead others if you are running on empty?As leaders we have an obligation and responsibility to our team members and to ourselves to ensure both you and they are fully charged, leading a balanced life that in turn quickly translates to productivity and ultimately profitability for the company and its many stakeholders.  Why is it that leaders so often miss applying these guidelines to themselves, to their health and wellbeing and to achieving a healthy balance in life between work, career and personal lives?

    It is understandable to feel overloaded when there are meetings to attend, reports to write, customers to call and teams to look after, but when we try to carry an unsustainable workload two things happen.

    Firstly, we are denying the fact that the system is flawed if it requires a ridiculously large workload.

    Secondly, we are giving our team members a message, loud and clear that it’s OK to neglect ourselves, our physical and mental health as well as our family and friends under the umbrella of work expectations.

    Unless we lead by example, we are serving no one.

    As with every other aspect of leadership, wellbeing, organisation values and culture must start from the top of an organisation. If this is not demonstrated by the leaders it becomes harder for personnel to believe it’s the right thing to do.

    FILL YOURSELF UP FIRST

    One of Fresh Air Fridays core wellbeing principles is to “fill yourself up first”.

    Two simple metaphors describe this well:

    1. On a plane, in case of an emergency, the crew always tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first, making sure you take care of yourself before you try to help others.
    2. The common saying, “you can’t pour from an empty pot” describes the same idea that you need to see to your own needs to enable you to care for others.

    Both things are proved true when it comes to wellbeing. If we believe that we must consistently and continuously do for others without resourcing ourselves, the likelihood is that at some point something will give. Whether the result is mental burnout, physical ill health or some other crisis.

    AS LEADERS WHAT CAN WE DO?

    The first step is awareness, and this needs some consideration. Regularly taking time to listen to and understand what your needs are, is important. This can become more difficult when it gets hidden in the morass of work, that we end up feeling overwhelmed and therefore don’t hear the messages.  Taking a moment, to have a short walk to clear the head, is something that Fresh Air Fridays would recommend.   However, short bursts of time can also be found in those forced moments, which invariably find us being irritated and frustrated, such as sitting in a traffic jam, waiting for the traffic lights to change or any other situation that’s presents a few minutes to ask yourself: “What would looking after me look like?  What would filling me up involve?”

    If you have no idea, just notice you have no idea. If something unexpected comes up, don’t react, just take a minute to consider it. Over the course of a few days or weeks keep gently asking yourself this question – your subconscious will be working on it anyway without much conscious effort from you. When you come up with some ideas, make it a priority to try some out. Schedule time in your calendar to make sure it happens.

    With all leadership skills and practices, this is not a one hit wonder.  You have to keep making time to listen and to feel at what level your petrol gauge is at and to avert circumstances when you are running on reserve tank.

    Wherever this exploration takes you, remember that the people around you, your teams, your colleagues, your family, and friends, are much more likely to take notice of what you do, rather than what you say. Therefore, if you want to create wellbeing in your workplace, you need to start with you.  With the start of 2020, a new year and a new decade, now is the time to make a fresh start in a manner that you mean to go on.

    Wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year. 

     

    To learn how we can help you and your organisation, email Rachel directly at rachel@greenkeypersonaldevelopment.com

     

    References:

    Fresh Air Fridays www.freshairfridays.co.uk (Saranne Postans) 

     

    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.

  • Does your employee appraisal process need an appraisal?

    “The most basic problem is that performance appraisals often don’t accurately assess performance.” – W. Edwards Deming (Founding Father of Total Quality Management)

    We traditionally rely on employee management performance systems / performance appraisals to give feedback to our employees. In most organisations this is a yearly ritual after having completed the statutory probation period. If you are lucky, it might be twice yearly. How do manager’s typically view this? Do they look forward to spending valuable and productive time with an employee listening to how they feel they have performed and opening up discussion if for some reason it differs from the manager’s view. Or does the manager provide a monologue of feedback according to the question and rating on the form in some kind of awkward manner in the hope that the employee firstly understands and secondly agrees with what is being said. If the manager orients towards the autocratic style, what the employee thinks or agrees with is probably highly irrelevant. The box gets ticked, and the employee goes back to what they were doing muttering on the way about the “BS” that he or she has just been subjected to.

    I remember many years back when my then manager called me at a random time when I was travelling home from work on a Friday, having been away on the job since the previous Sunday afternoon to give me my appraisal. “Give” was the appropriate word as 10 minutes later after listening to him, he ended the monologue with “Have a good weekend.” My emotions? Disbelief, disappointment both of which later developed into anger due to the shear disrespect I had been shown for working 12 hours a day, 5 days a week while living in a hotel and eating pub grub or take aways for the entire week. Was he interested in my thoughts, questions or comments? Definitely not! The fact that he did not even have the respect to organise the call in a proper way giving me time to prepare myself. Perhaps that was what he was afraid of? It’s no surprise therefore that I managed a year before departing for greater things.

    What does the employee think about the performance management system and their appraisal? Is this recognised as an opportunity to talk openly about what they are doing and how they feel they are doing or is it something that they dread knowing that their point of view will likely be ignored or brushed off like a piece of dust on a dark-coloured jersey?

    Every organisation needs a method of understanding how an employee is doing, how they are feeling about their current role and what it is they are interested in growing into. After all this is the foundation to succession planning and can help not only the department manager, but the employee, HR team and General Director in a smaller operation saving large sums of money on search and recruitment fees.

    The best performance appraisal is one that is no surprise to the employee because they have received ongoing feedback, both positive and negative as and when required, making the formal “meeting” almost a summary of their performance and an opportunity to open up discussion around future plans and to agree a way forward to assist that employee to grow and develop their potential to be ready to assume a new position as and when it appears.

    Information gained from such a conversation has much more value to enable for succession planning and facilitate an understanding of the positions that will need recruiting in the future, linking to HR planning. It also provides information for the manager to ensure that he/she takes an active interest in his/her employees, organising and delegating accordingly to facilitate learning, helping to keep individual employees engaged and motivated as well as loyal. The latter being especially important at this time when there is a shortage of people in the market. Learning and development that cannot be facilitated through delegation of skills, role rotation and so on might need to be addressed by organised learning through courses that meet the specific skills need whether face-to-face, virtual or through specialised digital courses. Again, knowledge gleaned from the appraisal process is fed into HR or Learning and Development to enable yearly budget planning for company employees’ training and development needs according to demand for particular skills courses whether it be leadership, communicating with customers, delegation or computer skills.

    There is a standard approach to conducting appraisals that any manager needs to know, but there are also critical skills to conduct a performance appraisal effectively, including:

    • The ability to ask questions that develop open discussion and probe to understand fully and clearly.
    • The ability to listen effectively not only to the answers, but tone of voice and body language behind those answers.
    • To use appreciative enquiry to build trust, respect and openness in all aspects of the conversation.
    • To lead the discussion in a positive manner that includes all aspects of performance, while not being afraid to address issues in performance where the employee is not performing at their best.
    • To help the employee identify how they can improve their performance through invitation to help them find their own answers.
    • To encourage engagement of the employee to want to improve where required while at the same time motivating change in performance in skills and areas that require it.
    • To be open and honest.
    • To not be afraid of receiving feedback as the employee’s manager in how your style of leadership for this person could be improved to build a trusting relationship.

    Giving feedback to develop and improve performance is a skill required of any manager and leader. Them making light of the process could be an indication that they themselves do not have the necessary skills to feel comfortable and confident appraising others who are under their responsibility, or it could simply be that the senior management themselves under value this process, encouraging their subordinates to adopt the same attitude.

    “A performance appraisal that is conducted effectively leads to greater employee morale, higher productivity, creating a positive culture and improved overall performance and effectiveness of an organisation.” –  Kumar Parakala, global business leader

  • Emergence of female leadership

    How interesting that the world is opening up to female leaders.  It is irrelevant what you think about them, but the fact is we see more female leaders stepping forward to run countries in what can only be termed a very troubled and challenging period.  Hilary Clinton in the USA – will she become the next president?  Teresa May slipping through in the turmoil created by Brexit and Angela Merkel holding strong in Germany as the German Chancellor.  Then the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Denmark, Iceland, Australia, Bangledesh and Trinidad and Tabogo are all women, as are the Presidents of Lithuania, Liberia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil and Finland.  Quite a sizeable representation of women in top leadership positions, very often in countries that are culturally showing more masculine than feminine qualities. (Hofstede)

    What are the principle characteristics of female leadership?  Can we characterize these principles and definitively separate them from the principles of male leadership?  Unlikely because styles of leadership differ amongst men and women equally depending on education, experience, courage, individuality, stamina and so on.  However, when looking at women and men, there are differences and when women bring these differences into play we might see different characteristics, which most women have naturally.

    Female characteristics:

    • Intuitive and sensitive emotional intelligence
    • Ability to sense the emotion behind something as well as see the facts – therefore make decisions on both factual and emotional levels
    • Patience and tolerance
    • Ability to forgive and let go
    • Quiet drive, stamina and courage
    • Ability to multi task therefore being able to think about, understand and action different points with ease
    • Ability to release own emotions to relieve tension and break stress often through crying.  As well as breaking the tension in a situation.
    • Happy to be out of the limelight and just get on with the job

    In this list I am not saying that men do not have some of these characteristics, I am saying that these characteristics are more common in women in general, but particularly in female leaders.

    What does this all mean?  Are we moving into a time when female leadership is more appropriate for the challenges we face in today’s world – starvation, homelessness, loneliness, escalation in chronic disease, environmental damage on a huge scale, greed by the few who want to monopolize the many, to name but a few?

    I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know the questions:  How much longer can we, as human beings go on living in an environment that we are determined to destroy, removing the right to heritage for generations to come?

    How long can we continue to ignore, flush over, minimize the impacts of large industrial farming whether it be fishing, dairy, crop or animal farming on human health, not to mention the pain caused to the animals themselves and the impact on waterways, air and the earth?

    How long can we go on not listening to, or covering up the impact of processing on our foods, whether additives or nutrients removed to create something that is so far from what nature intended it gives no nutritious value and creates a build up of toxins leading to escalation in chronic disease, obesity and stress which we see in most of the English speaking world, with other countries fast behind once they adopt a Western diet?

    How much longer are we going to ignore the greed of large corporations that only have one goal in mind, lack integrity and do not care about the negative impact whether on humans, animals, birds, insects or bees?

    Perhaps it is female leadership that will turn the ship to become more caring and responsible about how we live, what we live for and what we leave behind?  I hope so.

  • Empathy – A Business Case

    Empathy, one of the characteristics or we might say building blocks of emotional intelligence, is an essential aspect of effective leadership. Amid the hurried lives we live today and the demands from employers, family members, government and  ourselves for many and varied reasons, often means we are rushing here and there and consequently might say things in conversation that we don't mean or miss things that someone is either trying to say or has said that are important. The bottom line, empathy ends up taking a back seat.

    Empathy is not sympathy it is the ability to experience the moment in response to a customer, colleague or employee 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 longer lasting through a relationship of trust, as well as the organisation bottom line. Customer experiences make the difference between them becoming loyal customers 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 your service offering. In the current labour market, it is not just the external customer who might choose to go elsewhere, but your employees, your internal customer also. Now with the possibility to work from home in many job roles, it has removed the need to be based in a particular geographic location, making the employment market a job seekers market, rather than employer market making hiring the right person so much more difficult.

    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. 

    The rising importance of employee service (EX) according to the survey, “94% of CEOs agree that making EX improvements that empower employees and drive efficiencies will improve CX and directly affect net profit. Furthermore, the study explains, “Organizations that strongly identify as being an employer of choice are almost twice as likely as those that do not achieve promoter-level CX performance. Those that have improved their EX capabilities and significantly increased their levels of employee satisfaction in the last year also show a 30% increase in their share of customer value or wallet (including customer retention).”

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

    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

    The aspect of sensing others’ feelings and perspectives of empathy includes several points that are particularly relevant to leaders and those working in customer service:

    The ability to sense and understand feelings, concerns and perspectives of others through intuition. The feeling aspect is the challenge for the development of AI tools to effectively support employees who provide customer service, truly giving them time to listen and respond empathetically. This likely involves examining interactions, work processes and flows as well as considering overall employee wellbeing. 

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

     

    Tips for Developing Empathy

    Developing empathy to work with others and communicate effectively takes time and effort, but with willingness and the ability to self-reflect this is a skill everyone can develop and benefit from. Below are some suggestions in how to develop empathy for interacting and understanding others.

    Practice self-disclosure – Self disclosure involves sharing feelings, opinions and thoughts about yourself with others. It demonstrates openness and honesty and leads to a greater sense of ease when communicating, building trust and rapport. Being able to self-disclose develops the ability to show empathy towards others.

    Practice being an empathetic listener – Listening, is about being present in the moment while paying close attention to the other person’s emotions, body movement, gestures, tone of voice and language. It is about showing empathy and understanding rather than evaluating or judging. When listening empathetically you listen not only with your head, but your heart as well. You are oriented towards the person giving them full attention, avoiding any temptation to check an email, answer a text or interrupt in order to speed them up or because you have decided you know what they are going to say. The risk of frustrating the customer when processes require service givers to complete a customer conversation within a set period of time can be detrimental to the overall goal of providing excellent customer service. For example, in a call centre where call length is a key performance indicator (KPI), as is number of calls processed by each agent, ignoring the difficulty of some of those calls by negatively hurrying both service giver and customer, impacting behaviour, tone of voice and response.

    Practice emotional scanning – Tune into the emotional state of others and your team as a whole to sense the prevailing emotional climate at any moment in time. This is achieved through noticing body language, tone of voice, the topic and content of what people are talking about as well as asking, how an individual or group are feeling at any point in time and then responding appropriately.

    Match and mirror – Being able to match means that you closely observe the behaviour of the person to whom you are talking and then adapt your behaviour to better match theirs. For example, if they are speaking slowly, you slow down to match that. This adaptation is called "mirroring". Do not copy or mimic them exactly, the goal is to narrow any gap to be less different and help them feel at ease. Invariably the response is sub-conscious in that they simply feel comfortable with you and as a result the conversation will be more open and trusting.

    Ask open questions – Avoid jumping immediately into offering a solution, some advice or what they "should do" by proposing your own perspective and opinion on the subject. Instead ask open questions to understand the situation and how they feel about it, noticing what they say and how they say what they are saying. The use of open questions and listening to the answers, invariably helps the other person to find the solution for themselves, which is more powerful than any personal advice.

    Keep a journal – spend a few minutes each day writing down how you reacted in one or two different situations. Assess whether empathy was needed and if so did you respond appropriately. How did the other person react? If you feel that you got it right, try to understand and identify what you did in that moment. If on the contrary, you feel you got it wrong, be open and honest with yourself and identify why you responded incorrectly. Think about whether there is something you can do to correct the situation when you next see the person and if there is, do it.

    Empathy is a skill that can be learned. The ability to show empathy with internal customers and to external customers is a foundation stone to building loyalty by reducing churn, increasing job satisfaction and in turn increasing organisation profitability and overall reputation.

     

    References

    Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman (1999)

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

    Leadership in Easy Steps, Jon Poole

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