The key themes of leadership books in 2018/2019 are:
- Breaking the mould
- Innovation
- Challenge
- Pushing boundaries
- Being a pirate
- Rebel workforce
- Bringing out your tiger
Why is this?
Politics is currently at its lowest point in terms of trust, with Kings College finding only 22% of UK nationals trust our current parliament. Millennials want to have a voice and feel recognized. Engagement costs the UK £50-£70 billion each year, and empowered employees are engaged employees. It’s common sense right?
So if this is what organisation’s want, why do so many employees experience a manager who feels threatened when challenged?
The fact is, it is not the fault of any one of these managers, they are simply responding to the culture and structure of the organisation they’re in.
Companies know that they need to empower, engage and behave inclusively, however the approach is often to roll out ‘coaching for managers’, ‘Management training’ or talent management programmes.
This is akin to giving someone with anorexia Bolognese pasta and telling them to eat it, the person might eat the pasta, but you’ve not tackled the problem at it’s core and the anorexia will not be magically ‘cured.’ In fact, long-term, the problem is likely to be exacerbated.
So what do we do?
We need rebels, pirates and disrupters. Everything is changing so quickly it is the only way to keep up with the continual political and economic disruptions
STOP focusing on managers. They are important, but if you train them without changing the environment they are in, they are likely to be even more disengaged.
START Looking at your culture, your values and your structure. Listen to staff; where do they think the barriers are?
For example, how easy is it to get to the CEO?
What happens to new ideas?
Physically what are the boundaries, i.e. How is your workplace set up?
What is the channel for feedback?
How honest is the feedback you’re getting? How much is it listened to and actioned upon?
How do your values fit in?
How collaborative is your leadership style (do you include staff in strategy and planning, etc.)?