How to achieve change through influence

By Clara McCormack, Facilitator, Leading Teams

In my role as a facilitator, I regularly discuss with clients the need to influence behavioural change to positively impact on organisational culture. Sometimes it’s talking with leaders who have authority to direct change, but mostly it’s enlightening team members on how they can influence change.

So, what’s the difference between authority and influence?

Authority is about exerting a formal right to direct others to do something.

Influence is about compelling someone to make a change – in behaviour, in their decisions, or about their thoughts on someone or something. Influence is nothing to do with the organisational chart – anyone can have influence, including those not in a position of authority.

If you want to influence change in your business, consider these key steps

1. Know your audience

Understanding people’s behavioural preferences is a great way to learn how to influence them. One way that we do this is through the use of the DiSC®* behavioural preference tool. This tool helps individuals to decode both their own and others’ behaviour in the workplace and how they prefer to be communicated with.

As individuals, we all interpret situations, behaviour and communication differently. Having this extra degree of self-awareness, and understanding of the people around us, can help us to ensure we treat others how they would like to be treated, not how we like to be treated.

Identifying who you are trying to influence and what their style is (and how it differs from your own) is beneficial when working out the best way to have an effect on their behaviour or a course of action. Imagine a situation where you like lots of detail and process around a solution to a problem, but you’re trying to influence someone who likes a brief summary and is outcomes-focused. You would need to use their preferred style, rather than your own natural preference, to get the best possible outcome with that person.

2. Understand the organisational culture

Take the time to work out the current culture and how this might impact the changes you want to make. Find out who makes things happen in your organisation (we call these people ‘centres of influence’) and who are the blockers that might stop change from happening. If there is an accepted process for change already, look at what opportunities for influence that process affords you. If you work with the existing culture, rather than against it, your ideas will be seen as more congruent with the current ways of working and therefore less frightening.

3. Understand values and language

Making an effort to gain information on what an individual’s values and priorities are, and what benefits your ideas for change will have on their role, is important. By tailoring the language you use with them to effectively represent their values – putting it in a way they value and understand – and by helping them to understand what’s in it for them, you will positively impact your level of influence with that individual.

4. Build relationships

Building strong workplace relationships is integral to influence. Strong relationships typically lead to trust, and if people trust you, they will be more likely to listen to your ideas and what you have to say. I have seen many examples in the workplace where people have great ideas but cannot influence others due to a lack of trust or a solid relationship.

And it’s good to remember that having strong professional relationships is vital not just for influencing, but for high performance in the workplace as well.

5. How to approach influencing change

People have said to me, “Isn’t influence sort of like manipulation?”

It’s a valid question but the answer is no. You should view influence as constructive negotiation; as helpful in gaining traction with your ideas for change. If it feels manipulative maybe consider whether your motives are ethical and if the change you’d like to effect is really going to positively impact the organisation?

People need to buy in to your ideas. There are lots of ways to achieve this: consulting with the relevant people or decision-makers, asking for their ideas and getting feedback from them on what you’re proposing.

It’s important that you identify the people whose support you need to get your idea for change over the line – who is going to be affected by the change and who will advocate on your behalf? It’s human nature for there to be ‘safety in numbers’, or what we call the ‘weight of numbers’, and if you gather a coalition of advocates, others are most likely to be positively influenced by the majority.

Lastly, use your authenticity to make your point. If you have expertise in your field and passion for the changes you’re proposing, let these show! Your enthusiasm for your ideas will be contagious. And remember to be thick-skinned – the change you want may take some time to achieve (but that’s nothing personal) and a strong level of persistence and patience might be required.

 Clara McCormack

Clara McCormack joined Leading Teams in 2012, coming from the sports industry. She originally worked in a marketing role at Leading Teams before becoming a facilitator. Clara’s in-depth understanding of people and psychology means she can work in a wide range of industries with people from all backgrounds. She is particularly passionate about maximising individuals’ potential which results in a greater contribution to the team. A great strength of Clara’s is her deep passion for the Leading Teams model which she uses as a blueprint for both her professional and personal lives.

 

5 Reasons Why Salary Data Is Worth Investing In

Think all salary surveys are pretty much the same? Think again.

If you’re managing a business or working in Human Resources, it’s your responsibility to keep up with remuneration trends across your industry. After all, there are many factors that influence how employees are paid – from changing customer demands to broader economic trends. If you’re not on the ball, you risk over-paying or under-paying your people, neither of which is great for business.

Chances are you’ve already come across (and utilised) salary data, especially when review time rolls around. But while there are plenty of resources out there, it’s worth taking a close look at the numbers you’re using to make your decisions. Not all research is done with quite the same diligence – and it’s risky to take statistics at face value.

Australia’s longest-running survey, the Institute of Managers & Leaders’ National Salary Survey (NSS) is one of the most respected resources out there. Partly this is down to the fact that IML has been leading the way in remuneration research for over fifty years, so they’ve learned what questions to ask (and how to ask them). IML haven’t rested on their laurels either – over the years the number of HR professionals surveyed has grown, giving data into 250,000 employees gaining data into more than 25,000 employees, from hundreds of businesses and locations across the country.

If you’re on the fence about investing in the NSS, rather than relying on free resources, here are a few reasons to take the leap.

See what people are being paid in your specific industry, right now.

Salaries vary greatly between different industries – and what’s happening in one sector isn’t necessarily happening across the board. Whether you’re in Government, Social Services, Manufacturing, Construction or Business Services, it’s important to know what people are doing in your specific industry – and not all salary surveys can tell you this. We know that these days, Australians are embracing a wider variety of job types than ever before, which is why the NSS surveys over 250 positions across a broad range of industries. The more organisations you survey, the more robust your data, and more insight you have into the nuances between specific jobs. All of which is very valuable to those developing salary strategies.

Another factor to keep in mind is timeliness. Salary trends can shift extremely quickly, and data can become outdated within the space of a year. Unlike some other resources, which are annual, the NSS is updated every six months, so it always contains recent, reliable information.

Get an accurate picture of what’s happening across Australia.

Variations between industries aren’t the only differences to be mindful of – in Australia, employers also need to know what’s happening in different geographical areas too. With any survey, it’s important that enough people have been surveyed in your city or region – otherwise you risk be giving an employee in Perth a raise based on Sydney-skewed information. Again, this is where the number of people surveyed in the NSS plays a big part in its accuracy, and usefulness.

View historical trends and analysis.

Of course, it’s essential to have your finger on the pulse about the status of salaries now – but it’s also very useful to see this in the context of what has happened in the past. With over five decades of insights to draw from, the NSS is in a unique position to pinpoint historical trends that can prove very useful to HR managers. Which types of employees are gradually commanding higher salaries, and which are becoming less valuable? When forecasting for the future, what job roles can you expect to pay more for in the next few years? Answering these questions now can help prevent unpleasant surprises down the track, and help you anticipate how your remuneration approach may need to change over time.

Find out why employees choose to leave (from the horse’s mouth).

Retention is a huge issue for business and HR managers. Replacing staff is not only time-consuming, it’s also costly – on average it takes a massive $23,753 to find, hire and train a new staff member! With this in mind, it’s incredibly useful to understand the reasons why employees choose to leave – and it’s certainly a topic IML explores in the NSS. While salary is a factor, it’s not the only thing that drives employees to seek work elsewhere – the 2018 NSS found that many are seeking opportunities or personal development that they feel their current workplace isn’t providing. Armed with knowledge like this, you can put yourself in a better position to cater to your employees’ true needs, and stop them from looking elsewhere in the first place. Who knows, paying a bit more attention to training or career path planning could make all the difference to your turnover.

Curious to see what else the NSS can tell you?

Whether you’re looking to develop competitive salary packages for new staff, or hold onto your existing talent, the NSS is a tool that can make an enormous difference. Download the information pack below.

 

For the latest data on everything from bonuses to benefits, pre-order the IML National Salary Survey, or contact the IML team to find out more.

A Rich Palette of Success

Investment banker, philanthropist, art collector and self-made millionaire Simon Mordant AM discusses his views on leadership, management and the valuable role art plays in the mix. Story by Anthony O’Brien and photo by Daniel Boud.

SIMON MORDANT needs little by way of introduction. Renowned as one of Australia’s most successful investment bankers, he has a powerful reputation in business advisory, having co-founded Caliburn Partnership – the firm that successfully navigated some of Australia’s biggest mergers including Westpac’s $18 billion move on St George Bank in 2008, a merger that many thought would never pass muster with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

In 2010, Mordant and his partners sold Caliburn to Greenhill & Co in a deal valued at about $200 million. But just five years later, hungry to repeat his success, he teamed up with former business partners Ron Malek and Jamie Garis to launch Luminis Partners.

Despite his undoubted mastery of the deal, Mordant is perhaps best known for his passion for the creative arts. A visit to Luminis is a visual feast, providing an opportunity to view the impressive collection of artworks Mordant has acquired over the past four decades.

Indeed, it was their philanthropic support of the arts community that thrust Mordant and his wife Catriona into the public eye. In 2010, the couple donated an incredibly generous $15 million to Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), to help to fund a new wing. As a leader of the funding campaign Mordant couldn’t make the donation anonymously, yet he admits
to being wary of the scrutiny that would inevitably follow.

Mordant recalls, “We were incredibly nervous about what the community would say. I was nervous about what my team would think. I was nervous about what my clients would think.”

The donation was critical to garnering government support and getting the project over the line. “It was a game of poker,” says Mordant. “We were both so invested in that project that we thought we’d roll the dice.”

Mordant had the winning hand. His donation sparked a $26 million contribution from the federal and NSW governments, and the new wing – the aptly named Mordant Wing — was completed in 2012, extending the size of the MCA by 50 per cent and leading to over a million visitors each year. In that same year, Mordant was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the arts and cultural community.

It’s a far cry from the young man who arrived in Australia “with nothing”. Nothing material perhaps, but Mordant had plenty to offer the business community. He started his career in accounting – and to a large extent still works in a numbers game. However, he doesn’t see a head for figures as critical to success. Indeed, Mordant believes good leadership comes down to three key attributes.

First and foremost is the ability to distil information quickly. “There is so much information thrown at you,” he says. “Understanding what that information is, what is important and being able to interpret it is key.”

Mordant’s most critical skill is his ability to listen. “Being able to listen is very important,” he explains. “I’ve often thought that an advisor is like a corporate psychiatrist. We can’t claim to be experts in our clients’ industries, and when a client comes to us to help them through a problem, they invariably already have the answer. They may not have confidence that they have the answer, or evidence that it’s the solution they’re looking for, but they often have an intuitive sense of what will work because it’s their business.

“Where the advisor comes in is to listen, probe intelligently, ask the right questions to draw out the client in explaining what the issue is, and then brainstorm. You can’t do that if you talk all the time.”

For Mordant, the third valuable attribute is having the confidence to make decisions. He notes, “I’ve seen people who are very strong at the first and second qualities but fall at the third. And at the end of the day you’ve got to be able to make a decision. Not all your decisions are going to be perfect in hindsight, but a leader has to be able to make a decision.”
Describing his leadership style, Mordant says, “I’m a very caring person; I’ve learnt to be empathetic. I wasn’t when I first started out, but I’ve learnt that that’s very important.” He may fine-tune his style according to the situation but he believes the same skills apply.

“When I run the business I obviously have to make decisions. When I sit on the board of a not-for-profit, I’m there to challenge and support the chief executive.
So my style is a little bit different but the skills I employ are very similar. I listen, I draw out, I probe.”

NOURISHING THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

For Mordant, engagement with the creative arts goes beyond a personal interest: it plays a noteworthy role in his business success. “Creativity and leadership are very intertwined,” he says. “In a business like ours, every problem is new and different and can’t be cookie cut. We need to provide bespoke solutions, and creativity is vital.”
This need for creativity goes a long way to explaining the pageant of artworks on display at Luminis’s offices. “I want the team to be challenged by works of art, and I want our clients to be challenged.”

Clearly, Mordant is delighted when the artworks have their desired effect. He recalls how a client waiting to speak with Mordant went missing. “I came in to welcome him and he wasn’t in the meeting room,” explains Mordant. “The door was open, and I couldn’t work out whether he’d gone to the bathroom or whatever. In fact, he was wandering around the office, just immersed in the paintings. It was fantastic.”

The ability for art and business to feed both sides of the brain matters to Mordant. “Emotional intelligence and empathy are deeply connected with leadership.” He adds, “I’ve seen incredibly smart leaders who have no emotional intelligence. And invariably those businesses are impacted by that.”

Mordant believes “all business leaders should engage with something creative outside of their business.” He says, “At the MCA, we now run a corporate program, and we’ve had a number of leadership teams hold part of their planning days in one of the creative spaces. It just takes you into a different place.”

RESILIENCE IS VITAL

Mordant’s diverse interests, and his unwavering commitment to each of them, could exact a high personal toll. It’s an area where he says resilience plays a valuable role. “The demands on leaders today are 24/7,” notes Mordant. “The way technology works, you’re accessible the whole time and that does require a high degree of resilience.”

His personal resilience is also vital to the success of his team. “In our business, transactions have a very long lead time,” explains Mordant. “If you get a project completed in nine months, that’s fast. Projects can come on and off the boil over many years, and at the end of the day, sometimes they’re not successful, they just peter out.”

“The ability to hang in there and motivate your team, who are doing the work through the ups and downs of a transaction, is really key.”

Resilience has served Mordant well in the arts community also. In late 2017 he pulled out of funding Australia’s next exhibition at the Venice Biennale when the Australia Council failed to consult major donors about changes to the arts commissioning model.

It was a very public stoush, but Mordant felt compelled to speak out.

“When you are used to being forthright in the advice you give, you need to have the same values in your personal life,” he says. “If I didn’t say something publicly, everyone would assume I was comfortable with the arrangements. I felt I had a duty to the people who had partnered with us to make my views known.”

COMMITTED TO PERSONAL WELLBEING

Mordant may have just left the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation but his schedule hasn’t eased. He’s chair of the MCA and on the board of numerous not-for-profit organisations including the Garvan Research Foundation, MoMA PS1 in New York and the American Academy in Rome, to name a few. He also chairs the Barangaroo Lend Lease Public Art Program, with a $40 million budget to put public art at Barangaroo.

Such commitments can often involve a smorgasbord of social engagement. Down the years, that caught up with Mordant.

“Sitting down at 9pm at a function, if there were bread rolls there, I’d eat them,” he recalls. “If there was bad wine there, I’d drink it.”

With his weight topping 120 kilograms, Mordant admits, “I couldn’t buy any clothes from a shop; everything had to be made.”

The lightbulb moment came when he left Caliburn, and headed to Italy for a year. “When I was in Sydney, I was out every night. I couldn’t control my environment, whereas sitting on the top of a mountain in Italy, I was in a completely controlled environment and I thought I’d try and lose 20 kilos.”

The basis of Mordant’s weight loss success was simple.

He explains, “I just reprogrammed my brain. I cut out carbs, bread, rice, sugar, potatoes and pasta. It didn’t mean I didn’t put bad things in my mouth occasionally, but it became a conscious decision. I cut out wine too, and as a partner in a winery that was pretty challenging.”

Mordant didn’t just lose 20 kilos: he lost 60 – half his original body weight. And his best tip for managing well-being as a business professional is: “Think about what you put in your mouth. It’s a pretty simple thing to do, but for 55 years of my life, I never thought about it.”

Leadership in 60 seconds

EARLY IN YOUR CAREER WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF LEADERSHIP ADVICE YOU WERE GIVEN?

Listen, don’t talk.

WHICH LEADER HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM MOST DURING YOUR CAREER?

Let me answer that in two ways. The leader I learnt the most from during my career would have to be Giles Kryger, who was the Managing Partner of Ord Minnett, when I was there in the early 1980s. The business leader I have admired most during my career is Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas.

NAME THREE LEADERS IN THE ARTS AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES WHO YOU ADMIRE?

The first one has to be Liz Ann Macgregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The second would be Justin Milne, Chair of the ABC. Third would be Glyn Davis, outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

WHICH LEADERSHIP BOOK DO YOU MOST RECOMMEND?

That’s a no-brainer for me, Good to Great by Jim Collins. The way Collins contrasted the best performing companies in their sectors with the worst performing companies, to draw out a set of characteristics around leadership in the successful companies versus leadership in the unsuccessful companies was fascinating. I’ve applied some of those learnings to Australian companies, and it’s very illuminating.

NAME THREE QUALITIES THAT A LEADER CAN’T SUCCEED WITHOUT?

Empathy. Listening skills. Decisiveness.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE. LEADERSHIP MATTERS BECAUSE…

Everything is changing rapidly and you must be able to lead your organisation through change, in order to meet its ambitions.

4 reasons why I got my management accreditation

Why become a Chartered Manager?

Why did I bother? After all, I already have a Masters in Management (MMgt), and numerous other accreditations in coaching and human behaviour assessments. Well, while that’s great underpinning theory, we all know that it’s hands-on experience, proven results, and continual learning to stay current that matters most.

Just like other professions, standards of practice vary. For example, there are bookkeepers, qualified accountants, and there are Chartered Certified Accountants. As a leadership coach, it concerns me that in the coaching industry, there are numerous life coaches, wellness coaches, transformational coaches – a whole raft of labels anyone can use. From attending a weekend coaching course, to completing a full Diploma in Coaching, credibility varies greatly.

1. Get recognition as a manager

When IML ANZ refreshed their membership brand, they heralded a deliberate intent to raise the bar in professional standards of managers and leaders, they had my immediate attention. You see, leadership is at the core of everything I do, and everything I help others do. Our company – Vital Leaders’ mission is to develop more dynamic leaders, so it sits well with the Institute’s re-energised, agile direction.

On 16 January 2018, I officially achieved the internationally recognised, designated status of Chartered Manager – CMgr. What’s that mean, you ask? Good question. It’s quite a new recognition pathway for experienced managers and leaders in Australia and New Zealand. In fact, it is recognised as the highest status you can achieve as a leader.

IML ANZ offers this globally recognised designation here in Australia and New Zealand, though a strategic partnership with UK’s Chartered Management Institute – CMI.

2. Learn more about yourself as a manager

Similarly, there are accidental managers who fall into the industry and struggle without support, there are skilled semi-experienced managers who manage operations and outcomes, and there are dynamic leaders who inspire change, ignite growth, influence positive outcomes, and are intentional role models and mentors. There IS a difference, but it is often overlooked in recruitment processes and shoulder-tap promotions.

The Chartered Manager assessment offers two routes, depending on what qualifications and experience levels you already have. I took the qualified route, which required me to submit a comprehensive assessment outlining how I manage change and lead others, outcomes and learnings, from over the past 18 months. I also had to demonstrate how I stay current, including outlining my professional development plan for next 12 months.

An assessor was assigned to me, and I had the privilege of meeting with her for my final assessment interview in London, while I was there visiting family. My submission piece was assessed against strict professional ethics and the CMI Code of Conduct and Practice.

Honestly, the process was more challenging than I initially thought it would be – but that’s a good thing. Achieving Chartered Manager status is more than a document of proof or a form-filling exercise. It required considerable introspective reflection on why I do what I do, and particularly, what I learn from each experience. It recognised the vast range of skills I use, often subconsciously, but always intentionally.

3. Credibility, currency and commit to ongoing professional growth

What being recognised as a Chartered Manager means to me is these three core things:
Credibility – International recognition of my high-level expertise as a currently practicing company manager, leader of change, trainer and mentor of aspiring leaders; formally assessed to rigid Code of Conduct and ethical practice standards (formal qualifications + experience + intentions + results + learnings).

Currency – acknowledged value of what I currently do, how I resolve issues by challenging the status quo and driving change, how I meet client expectations by using the latest practices, and recognition of positive outcomes achieved the last 18 months.

Commitment to continual growth – acknowledgement of my insatiable thirst for continual professional development [CPD], and commitment to research and learning, for which I will be held accountable each year through a CPD reporting process.

4. Stand out from the competition as an intentional leader

Embedded into our leadership development programs, is a trust formula for leaders, which is fundamentally about building credibility.

Character + Competence + Consistency = TRUST.

The Chartered Manager process gave me the opportunity to provide evidence of my ethical, honest and intentional character, my competence levels and achievements, and my consistent approach to continually learn and grow. Being awarded the Chartered Manager designation and proudly upholding those standards, means I stand out from the mediocre, and stand proud as an intentional leader – as a trusted role-model and mentor.

Yes, it’s means more than just another paper certificate.

Yes, I’m proud of being globally recognised for my achievements.

But above all that, I’m honoured to share my journey and what I’ve learned so that others can aspire, reach and grow.

Intentional leaders mentor and develop more leaders … and my intention is to keep doing that.
Leadership credibility matters.

Want to find out more about becoming a Chartered Manager? Click here.

By Jilinda Lee CMgr FIML, Director and Founder of Vital Leaders.

Too busy to lead?

How’s your to-do list looking for this week? Back-to-back meetings in your diary… in-box overflowing… staff appraisals overdue…

Most people in leadership roles would be fairly familiar with that state of affairs. When you’re juggling so many balls and being pulled in all different directions with day-to-day management tasks, how on earth do you find time to devote to that essential management task of leading? You know, pulling yourself out of the fray and actually taking a birds-eye view of your patch long enough to set a clear path for yourself and your team.

As someone who loves to help people, one of my steepest learning curves has been learning not to say yes to everything. After all, it’s hard to get the best quality out of yourself when you’re burdened by quantity. And while I’ve always felt I had a lot to offer, I now know that any strength, when taken to the extreme, quickly becomes a weakness.

This became crystal clear to me after winning silver at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. I was going for gold but didn’t even perform at my personal best and I was feeling really down on myself about it. But then I saw how I’d spread myself so thin in the lead up – I was completing the final year of my physiotherapy degree but getting credits instead of distinctions, working part-time, living out of home and saying yes to every opportunity that came my way, which made it impossible to be at my best during the 30 hours a week I spent training. I realised the hard way that I didn’t win gold because I was performing at a silver level in every area of my life.

So how did I go on to win gold at Athens in 2004? Well, that harsh reality ended up being liberating. I saw that in trying to check off so many things on my to-do list, I was compromising my commitment to something even bigger. The trick was to get really clear on my values and priorities and let those guide my yeses. I made deliberate choices rather than compulsively saying yes. In short, I became selective as hell!

Our values can tell us what to say yes to while our priorities provide the when. So even when there’s a lot to do, it may not have to be done right now. Like when I struggled fitting in charity work (which has always been really important to me) while training, I decided I could make time for that later in my life, which I now do.

Perhaps there are things on your to-do list that, if you were to reassess in term of your broader values and priorities, are actually negotiable so that you can free yourself up?

Of course, sometimes we may not have control over the what or the when. So when you can’t delete or delay, the next best thing is to delegate. You don’t actually have to do it all. You can outsource it. Or you can use it to build competencies in your team which, by the way, is a key part of leading. Again, it comes down to adjusting your lens. Tweaking your definition of leading could make all the difference.

Look forward to picking up on this – and more – in May!

About the author:


Katrina Webb, Katrina Webb OAM MIML

Katrina Webb is recognised and acknowledged for her unique athleticism and outstanding success as a Paralympic athlete. She has won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in athletics at three Paralympic Games.

She was the first torchbearer to enter the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games and in 2006 Katrina was selected to present on behalf of the International Paralympic Committee to the United Nations in New York. In 2012 & 2016, Katrina was selected as a Paralympian Ambassador for the International Paralympic Committee at the London & Rio Paralympic Games.

Off the track Katrina is the Director of her own business Silver 2 Gold High Performance Solutions. As a qualified physiotherapist and a person who knows how to achieve gold medal results more than once, her business specializes in improving the performance and health of organisations, teams and individuals.

www.katrinawebb.com.au

 

Katrina Webb  will be speaking at the IML TEL Talk: Effective Habits of Daily Leadership Life on 10 May in Adelaide.
Katrina will draw from her experience as an elite athlete and professional businesswomen to demonstrate how leaders can use discipline to implement practical coping strategies into each working day.
This event includes lunch and refreshments.

Book now

 

 

Leading Well by Making the Unconscious Conscious

By Clare Edwards

Let me start by getting you thinking with a little puzzle.

A bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Did you arrive at 10c? Then you’re a fast thinker. Answer to the puzzle at the end of this article.

If only I had more time…..

As leaders, we have myriad tasks to perform, goals to achieve and people to develop, yet there are only so many hours in the day and sometimes, something’s have to give. When it comes to leading and developing our people, it is rarely or never our intention to compromise but compromise we do, often without conscious awareness. This is what we are going to explore.

Thinking Fast and Slow  

In his book, Psychologist Professor Daniel Kahneman ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ invites us to consider the metaphor of 2 systems of thinking. System 1 is reflexive, fast, automatic and largely unconscious. System 2 is reflective, analytical, deliberate and conscious.

Think about a drive that you do regularly, maybe it’s a commute – have you ever arrived home unsure as to how you got there? System 1 at its best. However, choose to drive in a European country, or in a city that you’ve never visited before, and system 2 will kick in. You know you’re grinding the gears and you wish that your passenger would just shut up so you can concentrate.

To illustrate another way, let me ask you – what is 2 X 2?, 4 X 4? and 5 X 5? Easy right? System 1.

Now what is 13 X 19? 17 X 24? and 16 X 32? System 2.

One set of calculations comes to us instinctively, the other, unless you’re a maths genius, requires use of conscious consideration (or a calculator!).

Systems 1 and 2 operate in different parts of our brain. System 1 resides in an older part of our brain called the limbic system and this also houses the seat of our habits, the Basal Ganglia. It’s great because we can do things ‘without thinking’ and the brain loves to conserve energy and take the path of least resistance. It does though mean that in our fast world of fast thinking, things and people get left out.

System 2 resides primarily in our prefrontal cortex (PFC), the CEO of our brain that sits just behind our forehead and the newest part of our brain to develop. The PFC is energy hungry and tires easily so it’s handy to let it become a little lazy and revert back to system 1…with consequences.

Leadership Habits that Hinder  

Back to our role as leaders. Much as we like to think that we are there equally for all of our people, we have evolved to be biased in order to stay safe, and to save time and energy. It is those unconscious biases, driven by system 1, that, if we bring to our conscious attention, we can address – resulting in us leading even better.

For example, do we tend to give our best projects to our brightest people? Do we mean to involve everyone in important decisions, but actually decide for them to save time? Do we ensure that once we’ve empowered someone, that we avoid checking in on them frequently?

Our Core SOCIAL Needs

Neuroscientist Evian Gordon and Professor Roy Baumeister of the University of Florida identified that the primary function of our brain is to move us away from danger and threat and towards safety and reward. We do this on a scale of 5:1; we have 5 times more neurons dedicated to sensing danger than we do to looking for pleasure. This plays out in subtle ways every day at work.

There are 6 core social needs that we all have that, when not met, can leave us feeling threatened and insecure. The following are examples of often unconscious leadership behaviours that can result in our people feeling under threat, becoming stressed and under-performing.

I have adapted models from Evian Gordon and David Rock of the Neuroleadership Institute to create the SOCIAL® model of core needs.

Safety – the need to feel physically and psychologically safe at work

Objectivity – being treated fairly and with equity

Certainty – a need to know what’s going to happen next

Importance – a sense of value and status in the system

Autonomy – a perception of being at choice

Love (Connection) – belonging to the tribe

All of these core needs we have developed from our earliest of days. For example, if we weren’t considered Important, no one wanted to procreate with us and we didn’t carry on the lineage. If we were cast out of the tribe, unwanted and unLoved, we would soon become lunch. If we weren’t Certain where the lion had its lair, or the enemy tribe were lurking, we were in real danger.

Where might we unconsciously create Threat and Bias?

I would like to invite you to reflect on some questions and consider if you have or do now, sometimes default to system 1 and not lead as well as you possibly could.

Safety – how do I deal with someone’s mistakes? Do I create an environment where they feel safe to ‘fess up’ and I coach them on the learnings or do I do something else?

Objectivity – does everyone have equal voice in our meetings? Do I distribute work equally or do I resort to the same people because I know they’ll get the job done?

Certainty – how well and how quickly do I cascade information from my management meetings ensuring that everyone gets to hear the important points at the same time?

Importance – how often do I consciously praise my people for something they did well, being specific about why it was good and the difference that it made, or am I just too busy for this?

Autonomy – how much energy and time do I invest in delegation, giving my people the best opportunity to grow and develop and freeing me up to do the important stuff? Have I ever been considered a micro manager?

Love (Connection) – how do I foster team spirit and morale? How do I grow the tribe and let each and every individual know that I care deeply about them? How much do I know about my people outside of their work persona?

Summary

In my management career I had one goal and one goal only – to be a great people manager. It was one of the most difficult goals to achieve and I realised that it was aspirational and would never be ticked off on the ‘done’ list.

Over time, however, I learnt how to step back and engage system 2; to make my actions deliberate, conscious and fair, especially after reflecting on the havoc I would sometimes wreak when I let system 1 be in charge of system 2 jobs!

We know from the research that Gallup did over 25 years that people don’t leave their companies, they leave their managers. How might stepping back and engaging system 2 help make you one of those managers who people want to stay and grow with?

The Bat and Ball Answer

I know – I’ve teased you for too long!

A bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

If the ball cost 10c as many of you might have guessed, then the bat would have to cost $1.10 to be a dollar more than the ball, so together they would cost $1.20.

The answer is the ball costs 5c and the bat costs $1.05c making them a total of $1.10.

If you guessed 5c at the beginning of this article, congratulations, you engaged system 2!

 

About the author:
 Throughout her management career Clare Edwards had one goal that she relentlessly pursued and that was to be a great people manager – a goal she found the most rewarding and frustrating at the same time and one that could never be ticked off on the ‘done and dusted’ list.
Clare’s passion for people development continued after her corporate career where her insatiable curiosity for understanding why we do what we do and how to change what isn’t working, led her to the study of the Neuroscience of Leadership – how knowledge of our brains can help us to be more emotionally intelligent and effective leaders and managers.
Clare consults to organisations internationally in a variety of industry sectors helping people to manage and lead themselves and others more effectively in complex and uncertain business environments.

 

Clare Edwards will be speaking at the The IML Conference 2018. The series explores the topic of Leading Well, and this Melbourne event will focus on how to develop and build high performing teams that drive financial success and ROI. This conference will be an interactive day including keynote presentations, panel sessions, case studies and Q&A’s. Join us for the third-year running to uncover the latest management and leadership thinking.

 

Book now

 

 

5 Reasons They Keep Leaving

1. The lowdown on staff remuneration & retention in 2018

It’s no secret that pay increases have been few and far between in recent years, with wage growth in Australia currently sitting at a record low of 2.9%. Considering the state of our economy, this isn’t wholly surprising – in the past year alone, we’ve felt the impacts of everything from extreme weather events to political instability, both globally and close to home. With the International Monetary Fund predicting that Australian economic growth will only reach around 2.2% in the coming year, a return to the golden days of pre-GFC pay-packets does not seem imminent.

While the economy is certainly a contributing factor, it’s also unlikely that this is the only reason we’re seeing such sluggish wage growth. With the rise of the ‘gig’ economy, the way Australians are working is changing too, with online platforms like Uber, Deliveroo and Airtasker opening up more competition for hourly-wage jobs. Our perception of what it means to be an “employee” is changing – and so are our expectations.

In some ways, Australians in 2018 are demanding more, especially in terms of flexibility and culture. In other ways, we’re asking for less – especially in situations where our rights aren’t clear, or where we’re too insecure about our job to ask for a pay rise. As more industries embrace freelance and contract workers, these trends are likely to start affecting professionals too, especially if work can be done remotely.

2. What does all this mean for Australian businesses – and workers?

Anyone who has waited, hoped, asked or even fought for a pay rise will know how important it is to feel properly valued and compensated – and how off-putting (even devastating) it can feel to have your request refused. However, while there’s a clear link between salary and staff retention, you might be surprised to learn that pay isn’t the only thing that buys the loyalty of an Australian worker.

The 2017 Staff Retention Report from the Institute of Managers and Leaders (IML) drew on responses from 246 organisations across Australia, who shared their employment data as part of IML’s National Salary Survey. When asked about their employees’ top reasons for leaving the company, respondents stated that two of the top reasons were the desire to seek new challenges, and the fact their current employer provided limited opportunities for staff development. Salary was cited as the third driver – showing that, while money matters, it takes more than salary to keep a worker happy.

3. Employees don’t just want to be paid, they want to be valued.

High turnover isn’t just disruptive and potentially damaging for workplace culture, it’s expensive too. At IML, our research tells us that it takes an average of $23,753 to attract, hire and train a new staff member – a cost that most businesses would prefer to avoid. With this in mind, it’s key for Australian businesses to stay on the front foot when it comes to staff retention strategies.

According to 2017 research from the IML Staff Retention Report (a supplementary report from the data gathered from the National Salary Survey), some sectors may need to work harder than others. While overall staff retention in Australia decreased from 2016 to 2017, Professional Services, IT and Finance all saw considerably higher turnover than average. In contrast, Agriculture, Manufacturing and Mining were the most stable, with below average turnover.

Happily, it does look like Australian businesses are rising to the challenge of giving their people more opportunities to learn, grow and succeed. Henley Business School’s Corporate Learning Survey found that 35% of respondents spent more on training in 2017 than 2016, a 7% increase since the last survey. Participants also ranked their top challenges as managing the speed of change, and achieving cultural change. This is positive to see, as it suggests there’s an increasing appreciation for the way in which an employee’s experience can add value to their role – over and above the actual salary they take home.

4. How do you know what someone is worth?

One of the toughest questions for employers is how much to invest in the people who work for them. Calculating an employee’s worth is rarely straightforward, and there’s much more to it than assessing someone’s job description and performance reviews. A multitude of other factors also need to be considered, from an individual’s past tenure and future potential, to the cultural influence they have within the organisation.

When weighing all this up, it helps enormously to know what your peers are doing. After all, if you don’t give someone the salary, training or support they expect, there’s a good chance someone else will. Equally, if you overpay staff, it could have a detrimental effect on your bottom line, and create resentment within your team.

This is where resources such as IML’s National Salary Survey are invaluable. Due to be released on 30 April 2018, our latest survey not only provides a benchmark from which to make sound remuneration decisions, it also provides insights into how other organisations are approaching things like training and development.

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to remember that salary is only part of the equation. For some employees, having fresh challenges or a clear pathway within the business is just as important as salary (if not more). Fortunately, IML has the tools to help you to discover what your people want (such as profiling tools and 360-degree reviews), and many ways to recognise and support their growth (our Chartered Manager accreditation is just one example).

5. With all this in mind, it’s worth asking yourself how you’re deciding the value of your employees.

Is it something you determine based on budget alone? Is it perhaps more emotional than rational? Are you still in touch with what your peers are doing for their staff, and is your approach still suitable? If you’re uncertain about any of these questions – or whether you’re still ‘on the money’ where salaries are concerned – it’s worth finding out.

For the latest data on everything from bonuses to benefits, pre-order the IML National Salary Survey, or contact the IML team to find out more.

4 Hidden Indicators that Trust Issues are Negatively Impacting your Organisation

By Marie-Claire Ross

For 19 years, Greats Places to Work and Fortune magazine have been formulating The 100 Best Companies to Work For list.  Surprisingly, the distinguishing theme underpinning all of the best companies is not their fancy freebies, parties or lavish annual leave policies.  It’s how much trust there is between co-workers and managers.

Companies that scored highly for trustworthiness also finished first for metrics on higher profitability, revenue growth and stock performance.   But just like people, these organisations are not perfect.  The research uncovered major discrepancies between the experiences of those on the frontline, as well as differences between gender, ethnicity and even full-time versus part-time workers.

What’s becoming increasingly obvious is that organisations that have company leaders right down to front-line workers who all embrace the value of a candid and open exchange of ideas and information, create highly functional and profitable enterprises.

After all, it’s trust that enables different people within an organisation to consistently rely on each other. It’s trust that enables your customers and other stakeholders to believe that you will deliver on your promises and behave responsibly. It’s trust that enables a company or brand to bounce back after a crisis.  And it’s trust that enables an organisation to change and grow.

Yet, very few organisations strategically improve trust in order to improve performance.  One of the problems is that trust is an emotional issue and it’s hard to see, let alone fix internally.   It is often outside the sphere of leadership capabilities.  Even when they do realise trust is a problem, they each have a different frame of reference making it tricky for everyone to know the best steps forward.  Often leaders, waste time and headspace focusing on the wrong trust elements or deny it’s a problem.

Here are four common leadership frustrations that are all signs of trust issues that negatively impact workplace culture.

 

1. Working around People, not with People

A common CEO gripe is that newly formed teams (and even existing) operate more like a collective of individuals rather than a team.  Team members prefer working with those they know and avoid newcomers or even those with different job titles.   Email is preferred to discussions and the most knowledgeable person in the team is rarely consulted.  The result is that people work in different directions and make poor-quality decisions.

On the surface, these teams may appear to be operating at a decent level.  It’s only when leaders start comparing the outputs of a few teams together that the stark difference between performance become apparent.  High trust teams are inclusive, get more done and reach goals faster.

 

2. Fear of Relying on Others

Following on from teams is the even bigger issue of departments and units not collaborating together.  Research by Harvard Business Review reported that only 9% of managers feel that they can rely on cross-functional colleagues all of the time, and only 50% say they can rely on them most of the time.  Managers also say they are three times more likely to miss performance commitments because of insufficient support from other units than because of their own teams’ failure to deliver.

When managers cannot rely on colleagues in other functions and units, they undermine execution by duplicating effort, letting customer promises slip, delaying their deliverables or passing up attractive opportunities.

 

3. Avoiding Delegation

One of the most important capabilities of a successful leader is being comfortable with delegating work.  This makes them more effective because they get more work done and let their direct reports know that they are confident in their abilities to deliver.  It improves accountability and goal kicking.

Leaders who avoid delegating tend to rely on themselves falsely believing only they are capable of doing the work.  Over time, they feel alone, even betrayed by the organisation, because they feel overworked and overwhelmed.  At the same time, they get categorised as being a micro-manager, limiting career opportunities.

Managers who delegate well have the time to focus on the bigger picture.  They avoid jumping from one fire to another.  Not only does it increase their job satisfaction, but those reporting to them feel empowered, accountable and more confident in their own abilities and even the leader.

 

4. Not Speaking Up

A study by VitalSmarts found that when people were afraid to speak up about issues, employees were engaging in resource-sapping behaviours such as: complaining to others (78%), doing extra or unnecessary work (66%), ruminating about the problem (53%), or getting angry (50%).

These are costly behaviours.  The same research found that the average person wasted seven days undertaking these dysfunctional problems instead of talking about it.  Silence damages deadlines, budgets, relationships, turnover, employee engagement and meeting goals.

After all, when you don’t get the unpleasant stuff out of the way, you waste a lot of time.  It’s hard to get moving on anything if people won’t talk through issues or how to resolve them.

Humans are designed to avoid conflict.  Both leaders and employees alike fear speaking up about their concerns or even alternative opportunities in case it makes them look stupid or unpopular.

It is an important leadership challenge to create a strong, shared culture where people are unified, to avoid a political and potentially adverse environment.

 

Getting Ready for a Collaborative Future

With technological advances increasing and change occurring at a rapid rate, the reality is that employees within an organisation need to rely on each other more.  There is a revolution occurring in how we need to interact together at work.

Yet, few companies actually consider how to address this specific issue, especially from a trust perspective.  Some even accept their current operating model as a normal part of doing business and how people collaborate.

But the companies that will successfully meet the challenges of tomorrow will be those that require employees change how they interact with one another.  And it all starts with leaders who can build trust.

About the author:
Marie-Claire Ross is the Chief Corporate Catalyst at Trustologie.  She is a workplace sociologist, author and consultant focused on helping leaders put the right processes in place to empower employees to speak up about issues, challenge each other and share information.  You can see her at Leading Well Conference on April 27 2018 discussing 5 Hidden Trust Decelerators that Sabotage Leadership Result.

 

Marie-Claire Ross will be speaking at the The IML Conference 2018. The series explores the topic of Leading Well, and this Melbourne event will focus on how to develop and build high performing teams that drive financial success and ROI. This conference will be an interactive day including keynote presentations, panel sessions, case studies and Q&A’s. Join us for the third-year running to uncover the latest management and leadership thinking.

 

Book now

 

 

The ‘Intentional Leader’ in the age of work/life blend

Way back in 1994 I took delivery of my very first (and sadly, only!) company car.

Naturally, I thought I’d made it! I thought I had finally arrived at the top of the tree. It was a bright red Renault 18 with lots of fancy stuff, like part leather seats, air-conditioning and electric windows. Oh, and a car phone. Yep, a car phone. The phone had been installed in the centre of the car between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat – where the central storage unit used to be. That had been removed to allow room for the car phone. The phone was absolutely huge. It was massive. It was the size of a small brick wall. And it was connected to its base station by a 2-meter curly, black plastic cable.

When I jumped into the car for the very first time, the very first thing I wanted to do was call somebody. Of course I did! – I had my first company car and it had a phone – albeit the size of a small brick wall jammed between the driver and passenger seats! The problem was that I had no-one to call. That was because back in 1994 almost no-one had a mobile phone. (To anyone reading this under the age of 35, this was what life was like ‘back then’. Back in the dark ages! It was very uncool and depressing). So, I called my mum at home in Manchester. She answered my call on the cream-coloured, dial-style home-phone that everyone had in 1994. My mum couldn’t believe that I was calling her from a car. A car! Whilst I was driving! It was like magic had actually happened.

If we fast forward a lifetime, we can only dream of not having someone to call and of not being ‘connected’ pretty much 24/7. Imagine that – no texting, no social media, no smartphones, no Facetime. The horror!

“As our work lives and our non-work lives become ever more entwined, connected and indistinguishable, two things are becoming very evident.”

It’s 2018 and this the modern world. Of course, it would be so much better for everyone if we could switch it all off and leave the workplace mentally at the same time as we leave it physically. I fear that the truth is that that ship has sailed. And it ain’t coming back anytime soon.

If anything, all evidence points to even more blurring of the now almost-indistinguishable line between work life and home life. Have you noticed, for example, how ‘work/life balance’ – the buzz phrase of the past decade – is fast becoming obsolete? And it’s just as quickly being replaced by a new concept and a shinier and more modern new buzz phrase; ‘work/life blend’.

As our work lives and our non-work lives become ever more entwined, connected and indistinguishable, two things are becoming very evident.

The first is the realisation that companies employ the whole person. That we aren’t two people. Revolutionary, hey! It seems silly to acknowledge that there’s work John or Joan and non-work John or Joan. But back in 1994 when I was cruising in my red Renault 18 with no-one to call, there was a clear line between work and home. That is no longer the case.

The idea that the organisations employ ‘the whole person’ has been creeping into management thinking for a few years.

“This ever-increasing blending of work and life is having another absolutely profound impact; it’s making management and leadership even harder than it once was.”

The funny thing is that the work/life balance revolution was focused mainly on the life side of the equation. Work was work and the workplace was the workplace. It was all about working from home, setting up a home office, taking days off for family reasons and ‘mental health days’. The new work/life blend trend is different. The focus is on the work side of the equation. Now that our homes are set up to mirror the workplace, the focus is on making the workplace more like our homes! As an example, I popped to see a Corporate Member of IML (an architectural firm) the other week and there were 3 dogs running around the office!

This ever-increasing blending of work and life is having another absolutely profound impact; it’s making management and leadership even harder than it once was.

Back in the day – in the day of car phones the size of small brick walls – managers were typically only required to manage ‘work John’ and ‘work Joan’. Not anymore. Today, we now need to manage and lead the whole person. We need to manage people who are experiencing illness, infertility, divorce, relocation, debt, alcoholism, issues with teenage kids, issues with pre-teenage kids, issues with blended families, issues with non-blended families, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, Gen whatever. The list is endless. The role of the leader is endless and boundary-less. Leadership – and leaders – have an impact on the whole person, not just on the person at work. As work and life have blended, so the role of the leader has become blended and blurred.

And all of this means that managing and leading today is bloody tough. It’s certainly not a 9-5 job that you can leave at your desk when you head off home. It’s a role – and a responsibility – that has become blended into what was once thought of as personal time. These days, as a leader we can’t simply switch off, leave the workplace and leave our ‘leadership’ on our stand-up desk. We take it with us. We carry it home. And this means something extremely important; it means that we must absolutely ensure that we are Intentional Leaders as opposed to Accidental Managers.

Look out for next week’s blog about the Intentional Leader.

 

 

By David Pich FIML, Chief Executive

Institute of Managers and Leaders

 

The big, fat lie on my CV. Why leadership is about creating a mentally healthy workplace.

Ok, it’s confession time. My CV is not 100% accurate. Actually, that’s not 100% accurate. I’ll re-phrase it and tell it how it is; I tell a big fat lie on my CV.

I guess that now I’ve gone public with this uncomfortable fact, I’m going to need to fish out my CV and ‘make it good’. Were I ever to apply for a new position it’s pretty likely that I’ll be ‘googled’ and this article will probably pop up. Given that fact, I’m probably best to correct my omission and admit to my … my … my what?

My anxiety disorder.

My anxiety disorder that stemmed from doing a job that I absolutely hated, in a workplace environment I found incredibly stressful and toxic.

I ‘survived’ in the role for just 4 months. And then I called and said I wasn’t coming back. Ever. And I didn’t. I never went back. Not even to complete the dreaded ‘clear your desk’ routine. I simply stayed home one morning and decided to pretend the job had never existed. And I deleted it completely from my CV. It was easier that way. It meant that I didn’t need to explain that I’d taken a job and quit after 4 months. That I was a quitter. Or worse than that; that I was a quitter who called one morning and said I wouldn’t be coming into work. Ever again.

The morning that I called to say I was never coming back will live in my memory for years to come. That’s because it was totally different from the previous four months of Monday mornings to Friday mornings. On each of those mornings, I had travelled from home to Wynyard Station in Sydney by train. I had then sat on a bench on the platform of Wynyard Station for anything from 30minutes to 2hours (yes, on more than one occasion I sat for two whole hours!) trying to muster the courage to walk into the office. Every single one of those minutes sitting on that bench on the platform was nothing less than personally excruciating. Each minute was spent trying to pluck up the courage to stand up and go into work. On a few occasions I didn’t. I simply walked over to the opposite platform, boarded a train heading back the way I came, and went home.

Even when I did make it into the office (via the longest possible route from Wynyard Station to Castlereagh Street), I headed straight for the bloke’s toilets. Once in the toilet, I invariably needed to remove my shirt. And wait. And wait. And wait.

This waiting game was due to the fact that I’d developed a very weird ‘sweating issue’. And when I say sweating, I don’t mean normal ‘Sydney style sweating’. I mean sweating that resembles swimming. In a swimming pool. Fully clothed. My time in the toilet of the toxic workplace was spent wafting my shirt in a vain attempt to dry it out, and mopping my torso with a towel. A towel that I had been forced to carry with me when the weird sweating thing had started about two weeks into the job.

Needless to say, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Looking back now, I guess I’m pretty lucky. I did pluck up the courage to seek help and that help really helped. The psychologist suggested that quitting the job might be the best course of action.

And yet, the odd thing is that I continue to lie on my CV. I continue to pretend that ‘it’ didn’t happen. And I know exactly why this is. It’s because I’m ashamed. I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t cope. That I was weak. That ‘it’ (a toxic workplace) got to me. That I quit.

In the cold light of day, if I were to describe the workplace (that description is for a different blog on another day!) it would be crystal clear to everyone that the workplace was a complete disaster. It was totally toxic. From top to bottom. And yet, I remain embarrassed. Embarrassed that I couldn’t cope. That ‘it’ got to me. That I didn’t man up and push through. That I regularly sat frozen on that bench on the platform at Wynyard Station – sometimes for up to two hours. That I sometimes just went home. That I stood in the toilet mopping the sweat from my body with a towel I carried solely for that purpose.

That I wasn’t mentally strong enough to cope with a workplace that wasn’t mentally healthy.

And I’m still not. I continue to lie on my CV.

And I’m certainly not alone or unique in this. Research by beyondblue has found that up to 1 in 5 employees is working with a mental health issue. They also found that whilst 91% of staff thought that mental health in the workplace was a crucial issue, only 52% felt that their workplace was mentally healthy. In the UK, stress, depression and anxiety is the single biggest cause of absence from work – accounting for almost 13million days off work every year.

Here in Australia, all States have WH&S legislation that require employers to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health, including psychological health. The onus is firmly on employers to provide a workplace that is mentally (and physically!) healthy, and to monitor the mental health of their employees.

Creating a mentally healthy workplace is a key leadership issue. As leaders we must ensure that our workplace operates in a way that protects workers from harm to their psychological health. Doing nothing is no longer an option. It’s time for the stigma surrounding mental health to end. It’s time for change. Maybe it’s time for me to change my CV.

 

In February and March 2018, the Institute of Managers and Leaders, in conjunction with beyondblue, will deliver a workplace mental health series in 18 different locations around Australia. The series – called Leadership Outlook will focus on equipping helping businesses with the practical strategies and resources to create mentally heathy workplaces. Click here to register for your nearest event.

 

By David Pich FIML, Chief Executive

Institute of Managers and Leaders