How can managers encourage open and honest feedback?

By Peter Cullen FIML

 

What are your first thoughts and feelings when someone comes up to you and mentions they would like to give you some feedback? Typically, our thoughts tend to sway towards the negative such as, “What have I done wrong?” or “Here we go again”. This could also be accompanied by feelings of anxiety, frustration or dread.

However, when we provide open and honest feedback, what we create is a sense of openness. Receiving feedback becomes an engaging and supportive process when what’s best for both parties is taken into consideration. It should be a positive and productive learning experience where improvement is required, and commendation provided. There should be no such thing as negative feedback.

A question I often ask during facilitation is, “How do you like to be asked to do something or receive feedback?” Typically, attendees say they prefer very clear communication with no ambiguity. All too often the recipient of the feedback feels uncomfortable and is left wondering what the purpose of the conversation really was. You can avoid this by keeping the following points in mind:

 

SET A CLEAR STRUCTURE

Clear expectations on the frequency and format of feedback meetings are essential. During feedback meetings, promote conversations that are open, honest and appropriately respectful. This applies for both one-on-one and team discussions. Use simple yet powerful questions during these meetings. Find out what is working well and why, then explore what can be improved and how. These feedback meetings may be scheduled or ad hoc.

 

WALK THE TALK

Role model the ideal behaviours of providing feedback to members of the team so they understand what it looks and feels like. Giving your time to people and being 100% present in the conversation can be very difficult when you have many priorities and time limits niggling away in the back of your brain. The discussion will not be taken seriously if you are distracted by emails, phones or other people. This is a quick way to lose respect and trust. Remember, whatever you do or say becomes permissible for others to do the same.

 

BUILD TRUST

A safe environment is created when mutual trust exists between people. Trust is established over time by our day-to-day behaviours in the workplace. When giving or receiving feedback, it’s important to stop, think and then respond rather than react. Other behaviours that help build trust include being calm, questioning rather than challenging, remaining patient and listening. If you are explaining why tough decisions had to be made, present it from a fact-based, business perspective.

 

STAY ON THE SAME PAGE

Seeking clarity is often overlooked, leading people to interpret the discussion differently from one another. To ensure everyone is on the same page, either restate what your understanding of the conversation is or ask the other person what their understanding of the discussion is. This will ensure any agreed actions are aligned with all parties involved. If a misunderstanding is identified at this stage, thank the other party for bringing it to your attention.

 

FOLLOW UP

Following up at agreed times on any decisions and actions is essential to ensure the desired outcomes are reached. This is also an opportunity to ensure you are on the right track and to reflect on the whole process.

When feedback is delivered in the right way at the right time, it is typically uplifting and motivating for everyone. If you want people to be honest with you, you need to be honest with them.

Peter Cullen is an education and training facilitator and Fellow of IML ANZ. He conducts three-day programs that engage participants in developing and implementing their capabilities as managers and leaders.

 

This article originally appeared in the December 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s exclusive Member’s magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

Five tips for successfully managing people

As told to Andy McLean MIML

In a leadership career spanning five decades, Chris Golis FIML has learned a thing or few about managing people. In this article, he shares five tips for a successful life and career.

1. ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS MATTER

In 1973 I was flown twice to New York by McKinsey & Company and offered a job – but I must be one of only a few people to ever turn them down. My MBA tutor was Charles Handy [who later became a world-famous management guru] and he said to me, “Chris, I’m not sure I’d take that if I were you. I’ve been thinking about what makes business success and have come to the conclusion that it’s being able to handle yourself in a one-on-one meeting. That’s when you get the job, hire someone, get fired, secure the funding, come up with a business plan, and so on.” I took his advice and instead pursued a sales career. I arrived in Sydney the same week that the Sydney Opera House opened.

2. PEOPLE DRIVE PERFORMANCE, EMOTIONS DRIVE PEOPLE, TEMPERAMENT DRIVES EMOTIONS

In sales I learned that we sell to people’s heart, not to people’s head. Understanding someone’s temperament is absolutely vital if you want to get the best out of them. The problem is most managers do not have a scientifically valid model of temperament to help them determine their own and other people’s core emotions. I practise and teach the most practical temperament tool available, the 7MTF which can dramatically lift your emotional intelligence. In the same way the Humm-Wadsworth temperament model is built on the earlier work of Rosanoff, the 7MTF builds on the work done by Humm and Wadsworth. All three models conceive our temperament traits as based on one’s position on the various spectra of mental illnesses.

3. ABOVE ALL, PEOPLE SKILLS MATTER

In 2005, my elder daughter Louisa was asked to run a team of 30 people at Perpetual before she was 30. She asked me a good question: “Dad, you have read all the business books, what do you recommend I read?” I began by referring her to research among Australian managers that showed ‘people skills’ ranked as far and away the most important leadership capability. So I said to Louisa she should read a book that would improve her people skills. After some thought, I realised that there was no practical handbook written to help new managers develop their people skills so I decided that I had to write one myself. Thus The Humm Handbook: Lifting Your Level of Emotional Intelligence was born and published in 2007. (Read details of the book at emotionalintelligencecourse.com.)

4. LEADERS CAN LEARN A LOT FROM THE CLASSICS

At the end of my book, I analysed five classic plays as business case studies. Why? Because theatre gives us a picture of what we are and what we want to be. It helps us to find out about ourselves and others. So I analysed three Shakespeare plays, as well as Death of a Salesman and Antigone, through the prism of emotional intelligence. In each play, the hero suffers a terrible reversal of fortune and loses everything they hold most dear. We can see how their personality traits inform the decisions they make, and can draw business lessons from these to enhance our own emotional intelligence. (For more, read this article listing five leadership lessons from Shakespeare)

5. PRIORITISE WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU

I survived cancer in 2000, 2014 and 2019 (my daughters say I’m now a cat with six lives!). Facing your own mortality changes your outlook on life. When I realised there was a chance I was going to die, I decided to empower the people around me to let them make decisions. I loved my work in venture capitalism but also knew business life would one day have to continue without me. I also asked myself: “What do I want out of life?” In 2000, my wife and I drew up a bucket list of places we wanted to visit and, since then, we’ve been on two overseas trips every year.

Chris Golis FIML is the CEO and lead presenter at Emotional Intelligence Courses.

Andy McLean MIML is the Editorial Director of Leadership Matters magazine.

This article originally appeared in the December 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s exclusive Member’s magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

Five tips for playing the infinite game

Thanks to his blockbuster TED talks and bestselling books, Simon Sinek has become a well-known name in business leadership thinking. As a motivational speaker and leadership consultant he has challenged many leaders to reconsider the way they view business. He aims to continue doing that in his latest book, The Infinite Game.

 

PLAYING TILL GAME OVER

Sinek questions the validity of the mindset (and language) that prevails among many business leaders. They refer to ‘winning’, ‘being number one’ and ‘beating the competition’ as their ultimate business goal. This characterises what Sinek calls the finite game: with winners, losers and ultimately, an end to the game.

 

THE INFINITE GAME

The Infinite Game by Simon SinekHowever, Sinek posits that to make a significant impact, leaders need to adopt an infinite mindset – focussed not on achieving finite goals, but rather in strategically keeping yourself in the game. In an infinite game, players are both known and unknown and success is based on whether you are ahead or behind. It is the players who disappear, but the game keeps going.

 

In his new book, Simon Sinek outlines five ways that leaders can prosper in the infinite game:

 

1. HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF PURPOSE

Sinek warns leaders not to confuse ‘finite’ with ‘aimless’. Instead, he encourages leaders to strive for progress and momentum to keep propelling themselves and their organisations forward. And the way to move forward is to align all business activities to a strong sense of purpose. You don’t have to be a visionary or even have a unique vision, but you must devote your energy to something bigger than yourself. Sinek adds, “Every job you have should be contributing to the same vision.”

 

2. BUILD TRUST IN YOUR TEAMS

Leadership for Sinek is less like sport and more like parenting: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in our charge. It’s a responsibility.” A perpetual view of the game helps leaders to understand the importance of empowering their teams to do their best. By becoming a nurturing and supportive leader to your teams, you’ll ensure they make it through the long haul as opposed to tapping out after a short sprint.

 

3. CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF COMPETITION

Shifting your mindset from ‘winning’ to ‘staying in play’ requires an adjustment in the way you view other players. Sinek recalls his short-sightedness when dealing with a rival. “His very existence revealed to me my weaknesses. And it was much easier to take that energy and put it against someone than it was to admit to myself that I’ve got some work to do”. In the infinite game, rivals must be seen as a means to identify areas for improvement, rather than someone to take down.

 

4. BE FLEXIBLE

Having existential flexibility means coming to terms with the fact that the game will continue, with or without you. An infinite mindset requires agility, and a willingness to pivot, letting go of long-held notions and ideas that no longer help you, your team or your business.

 

5. LEAD COURAGEOUSLY

“The courage to lead fundamentally means you’re willing to be open-minded, to consider that maybe, just maybe, the way you think the world works may be wrong… And just because everyone’s doing it, doesn’t mean it’s right,” says Sinek. Indeed, it takes real courage to choose people over profit, to challenge the status quo and to shift from a finite to an infinite mindset.

 

Book now. Tickets are selling out soon!

IML ANZ Members are invited to discover new leadership thinking at Simon Sinek Live – The Infinite Game.

Secure your tickets for:

Is nudge management the key to overcoming change resistance?

Business and change are inextricable. But just because it’s common doesn’t mean successful business change is easy. As humans, we naturally resist the new and novel. We will fight or flee from anything unfamiliar, especially if it presents a considerable shift from what we know. However, recent studies reveal that small, subtle suggestions are making huge impacts in changing behaviours.

 

Effective, optional suggestions

A technique often attributed to making easier, faster, and simpler choices, nudging isn’t new.  We see examples of it every day. Your alarm is a nudge, so is the default renewal of subscriptions, even the ‘low fat’ labels on food are nudges.

The reason why nudges are effective relates to the fact that you are free to ‘follow’ the push or not. You have a choice. For example, GPS directions are a nudge, but how often do we stick to the exact route provided?

One of the most publicised examples of successful nudge management involves the reduction of fuel consumption by Virgin Atlantic pilots. In the aviation industry, pilots – particularly the captain – enjoy much autonomy when it comes to decisions that involve fuel and the flight. The experiment saw how nudges had an impact on the behaviour of captains. By simply informing the captains that their fuel consumption will be monitored and requesting them to report on their fuel performance, the airline saved $5.4 million in fuel.

Perhaps the experiment was highly effective since it avoided making fuel reduction a ‘mandatory’ requirement for pilots. Instead, it preserved the pilot’s sense of autonomy while making subtle suggestions about improving fuel consumption levels. The change didn’t seem out of their control.

 

Nudging the right way

So what about when it comes to managing change in the workplace? Can nudge management help? If we think about the top reasons for resisting change, nudge management does provide an ideal counter:

  • Fear of losing control: As demonstrated with the Virgin Atlantic experiment, the liberty-preserving aspect of nudges could make them an effective way to start changing behaviour.
  • Concerns about the unknown: The most effective nudges present a benefit upfront. You could suggest an action to simplify a process, help others make healthier choices or ensure their safety (as with speed limits, for example). No one enjoys coercion.
  • Insecurity over reputation: In some change scenarios, people may feel that the shift is occurring because they failed and were ineffective. One type of nudge – the use of social norms – can address this. By confirming that the majority of colleagues feel positive about change (or want to see change occur), that lifts the pressure on the people who may feel personally responsible.

 

While nudge management is a great tactic to use when implementing change, it’s prudent to remember that it is just one of many. Plus, the most successful examples of using nudges to influence change have involved ‘behavioural change’. Structural changes, for instance, may not be as adequately covered by nudge management.

Change is complex. Resistance is only one of the many challenges that accompany any shift from the norm. Every organisation, team and individual will face unique hurdles in their transformation journey. Great leaders will analyse the specific needs of their team or organisation and consider whether nudge management is a tool they can use.

 

 

Earning trust: Five building blocks for cultivating trust

By Nicola Field

As human beings our default position is to trust others. Research noted in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) shows that human beings are naturally predisposed to trust – it’s in our genes and our childhood learning.. And most of the time it is a survival mechanism that has served our species well.

It’s only when we find evidence to the contrary that we stop trusting. And judging by the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, this is exactly what’s happening.

“The past decade has seen a loss of faith in traditional authority figures and institutions,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman.

He explains that there is a growing feeling of pessimism about the future, with only one in three mass population respondents in the developed world believing his or her family will be better off in the next five years. Just one in five believe ‘the system’ is working for them, and 70% desire change.

Tony Beaven CMgr FIML, General Manager of Elders Financial Planning, believes the erosion of trust within institutions has a lot to do with the environment we live in today. The pace of globalisation, disruption, and technological advancement are all making trust an increasingly scarce commodity for the majority of business leaders. As Beaven explains, “This can often see the needs of the organisation take priority over the relational aspects of building and maintaining the trust relationship throughout the organisation.”

And the erosion of our natural predisposition to trust goes even deeper than that.

Darren Fleming, behavioural scientist and author of Don’t Be A D!ck, says, “We tend to regard people who don’t trust as paranoid. But in many ways our sense of trust has been abused, and a lack of trust is the outcome. “If we look around the world, leaders haven’t been doing what we want them to do. This has led to a disconnect from leaders who are supposed to be pursuing our interests. The banking royal commission highlighted that we can’t always trust leaders in our business community – again because they weren’t doing what we believe they should be doing.”

Gabrielle Dolan, speaker and author on business storytelling and real communication, offers this perspective: “In these days of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ we are moving away from that default position of trust, and becoming inherently more suspicious. The result is that leaders have to work harder to gain trust.”

A NEW TREND IS EMERGING

While the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer signifies that people are generally less trustful, we haven’t entirely given up on trust.

Edelman says, “People have lost confidence in the social platforms that fostered peer-to-peer trust. These forces have led people to shift their trust to the relationships within their control, most notably their employers.”

Intriguingly, Edelman found 75% of people globally trust their employer to do what is right. Moreover, 76% are looking to business leaders to create positive change.

This suggests leaders and managers have some solid responsibilities to live up to. But why does trust even matter? And how can it be nurtured?

TRUST IS VITAL ON MANY FRONTS

Beaven says trust is important “because if you don’t allocate enough time to get the right balance of relational factors versus the business needs of the organisation, your business is potentially subject to turnover issues and a diminishing culture that can ultimately impact the survival of the organisation.”

For Fleming, the issue is clear cut. “Without trust nothing happens. We only get in our cars because we trust that people will drive on the correct side of the road. We turn up to our jobs because we trust that we’ll get paid.”

Fleming adds, “Trust is what allows us to contribute. If we don’t have trust, we have to second guess everything going on.”

As Beaven points out, trust can deliver real advantages to organisations. Dolan expands on that point, saying, “When employees have trust, decisions can be made more quickly, and workplace teams are more likely to buy into those decisions.”

She adds, “Trust also makes change easier because employees are confident that leaders will look after them and do the ‘right thing’ by them. Trust is especially critical in peak periods as staff can be sure that leaders ‘have their back’, and consequently they are likely to give more.”

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

The big question is how managers and leaders can go about building trust. It’s not always an easy task, especially as Australians and Kiwis have what Dolan diplomatically refers to as “a tremendous capacity to detect the inauthentic.”

As Fleming notes, “Developing trust calls for a far more proactive approach than a simple open door policy – after all, the trap door spider also has an open door policy.” Here are five proactive steps that leaders can take.

1. TRANSPARENCY

A key starting point in developing trust is transparency. “If you say you are going to do something, then do it,” advises Fleming. “Explain why you are acting in a particular way.”

He adds, “This is where politicians often get things so wrong. People are big enough to handle the truth but politicians don’t give it to us. Instead they try to secure the popular vote by not being truthful.”

Dolan agrees that transparency is essential. She adds, “It is very important to have transparent communication. Even if you have nothing to communicate, let your team know this.”

2. STRONG PERSONAL CONVICTIONS

“Good leaders with strong personal convictions explain what they are doing,” says Fleming.

“A lot of the time people in the workforce don’t know why they’re doing something. If someone on your team questions why they have been asked to complete a task, explain why. It’s not good enough to just say ‘because I’m in charge’.”

3. DON’T AIM TO BE PERFECT

Be prepared to show a vulnerable side. Dolan explains, “The leadership style of never showing weakness, never making mistakes and having all the answers is outdated. The ability to show a vulnerable side calls for courage and self-assurance.”

According to Dolan, being able to show vulnerability is a sign of strength. Conversely, refusing to demonstrate vulnerability is a sign of weakness.

“The maxim that ‘perfect leaders aren’t real, and real leaders are imperfect’ is very true,” says Dolan. “When someone is trying to be too perfect they don’t come across as approachable, and we aren’t comfortable with them.”

This view is confirmed by the HBR study, which found we’re far more likely to trust people who are similar to us in some dimension.

4. INVITE, LISTEN, OBSERVE

Fleming has developed his own mantra for building trust, “Don’t turn your back on people, don’t cover your ears, and don’t close your heart”.

He explains this saying, “Invite people into conversations. We are social creatures and we don’t like to be excluded. When you include people, they feel protected because they are part of the tribe.”

Be prepared to listen to others. “We all have a voice and we all want to share and contribute,” adds Fleming. “When you shut people down they become resentful.”

Keeping your heart open matters too. As Fleming notes, “It can be difficult to find a balance between leading and building trust. It’s about knowing your people, reading the environment and having social awareness.

“Observe your team, ask if everything is okay, and adopt an empathetic person-to-person approach. We’re all people trying to get through life. A lot of leaders lose sight of this amid the ‘we’re here to make money’ attitude.”

5. SHARE PERSONAL STORIES

Dolan recommends sharing personal stories to build trust. “It can be very powerful as long as you’re sending a business message to demonstrate personal values,” she explains. However, this calls for leaders to truly know their own values, such as integrity, respect and teamwork.

“Do things that demonstrate your values,” says Dolan. “For example, you may believe in the value of feedback but this means you need to be able to accept feedback yourself.”

Storytelling can be used at team meetings, presentations, or even in a one-on-one situation. Dolan offers an example of how very public storytelling can deepen relationships.

“A client of mine was speaking at an event, and she openly described how the amount of time she was spending at work was starting to threaten her marriage,” notes Dolan. “It was a deeply personal anecdote. But by sharing it she was acknowledging ‘I haven’t got this right’.

“The response from the audience was exceptional,” adds Dolan. “Many people thanked the speaker – it just hadn’t occurred to those she worked with that this person would be having these sorts of issues. It gave others permission to share their story.”

This article originally appeared in the December 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s exclusive Member’s magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

Learning new ways: Education keeps pace with a changing business landscape

Political tension. Technology disruption. Regulatory change. Economic tremors. The list goes on. Every aspect of modern life seems clouded by uncertainty right now. For managers and leaders, it can feel like the only certainty is that more change is coming.

That presents an enormous challenge for those institutions charged with educating the managers and leaders of the future. How can universities prepare graduates for a business landscape that could be unrecognisable in years to come? Or, to put it another way, how is it possible to prepare someone for tomorrow, when you don’t know what tomorrow even looks like

 

Keeping up with business and education

One man who may have the answer is Professor Tony Travaglione. The University of Newcastle’s Pro Vice-Chancellor of Business and Law has his finger on the pulse of business education in Australia and worldwide. Until recently, he was President of the Australian Business Deans Council, providing leadership to 39 business schools, nationwide. And he is currently on the International Advisory Board at the Institute of Management Technology in Dubai.

Prior to his role at the University of Newcastle, Professor Travaglione held senior positions at the Curtin Business School, the University of Adelaide and the University of Sydney. He has also held the position of Visiting Professor at Stanford University where he taught MBA students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Throughout his career, Professor Travaglione has maintained close links between the education sector and the business community. He has delivered research and other projects for an enviable collection of organisations including ANZ bank, BHP, Qantas, Nespresso, Main Roads Western Australia, Westrail, Hunter Area Health, and Centrelink. He has also conducted projects for international organisations including Norwich Union, Royal Sun Alliance, Guinness Brewing and the London Underground.

IML ANZ chief executive David Pich CMgr FIML caught up with Professor Travaglione to discuss how the education sector is evolving to meet the changing needs of aspiring managers and leaders.

 

Addressing the issue of graduate employability

DAVID PICH: Employers sometimes lament that university students, upon graduating, are not ‘work ready’ for the business world. How would you respond to that?

TONY TRAVAGLIONE: Traditionally, graduates who undertook business courses such as MBAs found it relatively easy to find employment. However, more recently, we’ve seen a shift where some institutions’ curricula have struggled to keep pace with the speed of change in the world of work. Of course, the flipside is that there’s been huge success for the universities and courses that have reacted positively and quickly.

 

Connecting with industry and staying relevant

David Pich and Tony TravaglioneDP: How can educators adapt to stay relevant?

TT: Working closely with the business sector is a big part of it. One way we’ve done this at the University of Newcastle is in relation to our EMBA, where we’ve consulted with industry. This has resulted in students working on organisational projects. We’re keeping the curriculum up to date by having organisations and employees working on real-life projects, and bringing their learning back to the classroom, and vice versa. So instead of completing textbook assignments, they’re rolling up their sleeves and doing workplace projects.

DP: The University of Newcastle’s links to the business sector now extend to IML ANZ too. We’re delighted to have the University of Newcastle on board as a Pathway Partner for your Executive MBA (EMBA). What excites you about that partnership?

TT: It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with a really professional body like IML ANZ and it helps to address what is missing in MBA programs right now in Australia. To enrol in this program, you need support from an employer. The curriculum supports you in the attainment of a range of skills and competencies, allowing you to graduate as a Chartered Manager in one year if you complete all the eight courses. And, during that journey, students are entitled to IML ANZ Member benefits.

DP: I can’t help but think that’s how education, and particularly tertiary education, has to go: building more of these kinds of partnerships with industry.

TT: Oh absolutely. That’s how to ensure university courses adapt at the same speed that industry does. And equally, if a university is leading the way in terms of research, then that also feeds its way back into the organisations. Everyone benefits from the knowledge that everyone brings to the table.

 

The shifting education landscape

DP: When I think back to my own university degree, it was essentially sitting in an old dusty, draughty lecture theatre. It was really no preparation for the world of work at all. Back then, the gap between work and academia was huge. Has much changed?

Tony TravaglioneTT: If you were to come and attend classes at the University of Newcastle now, your experience would be unrecognisable from what you just described. The analogy I would use is that the old form of learning – hour-long university lectures – was like sitting down and reading a newspaper for 60 minutes. But instead, we now use blended learning.

Blended learning is more like sitting down with three or four friends, and discussing what you’ve learned having already read the newspaper. Then, at a certain point, a subject matter expert (a university academic and/or industry expert) joins you for the discussion to add their insights. All of a sudden, someone jumps in saying, “Well, I found this online yesterday”. Someone else points out something they read in a magazine. And by the time that 60 minutes is up, you’ve covered numerous sources from around the globe and participated in a sophisticated debate.

Given the choice, what would you do: Stick to reading the newspaper for an hour? Or engage in all those interactions with people using all of those sources of information? I think it’s obvious which approach would enrich your learning most.

 

DP: In the past, people would study a tertiary degree then work in a single profession or industry for the rest of their lives. Now, as people live longer and markets are increasingly disrupted, individuals are likely to switch careers several times in their lifespan. That means reskilling and learning will be required throughout people’s lives, not just when they’re in their teens or early 20s. What advice would you have for managers and leaders who want to thrive in such an environment?

TT: The skillset that will be transferable across industries may not necessarily be a technical one. It is more about soft skills which centre around leadership: teamwork, negotiation, understanding culture, harnessing diversity, and so on.

My advice to anyone is that the days of a single qualification are indeed gone.

 

DP: That echoes what we’ve been saying at IML ANZ. If you want to lead people, then technical skills alone are not enough. However, I was interested when you used the phrase ‘soft skills’. I use it too – but I have a problem with it because ‘soft’ sounds easy. Whereas soft skills are actually hard to master!

TT: I agree – we do need to change that phrase. Perhaps we should simply talk about leadership skills? Because to be a successful leader, you’ve obviously got to understand what it takes to recruit, develop and manage a successful team. You’re only able to do that if you’ve got effective leadership skills. You can be the best in the world in a technical area, but if you don’t have those leadership skills, your career will stall. You’re not going to make your organisation as effective as it should be.

 

DP: Are you optimistic about the future of business education in Australia?

TT: I’m an optimist simply because I believe in competition. There is currently competition in the marketplace and that is only going to grow and grow. Yes, we all offer pretty much the same products, but how the products are delivered is what matters. At the University of Newcastle we use blended learning, as I described before.

There are other business schools who would expect their students to turn up to a big lecture room packed with hundreds of students.

You can simply record that lecture and play it over and over again year in, year out. And the students know that. So why would they bother going to classes? When we hear that perhaps students are not attending classes in the same numbers as they might have done 10 or 15 years ago, it’s easy to see why.

Today, some educators are trying to teach students the same way that they did 10 or 15 years ago. And students today are not interested in those outdated forms of delivery.

But I’m optimistic for business educators and institutions who follow a different path – the path of blended learning.

The full version of this article appeared in the December 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s exclusive Member’s magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

Four ways psychology influences strong leadership

Young leader and registered psychologist, Rheza Tan CMgr MIML, lists how the mind impacts effective management.

1. MASTER THE LEADERSHIP MINDSET

When I studied business, I found that many leadership concepts are drawn from psychology or informed by the science. The two main lessons that I keep in mind are:

  • Look after people. Don’t just focus on the bottom line. If you look after your people, then they’ll do the same for you and your organisation.
  • Have meaning and purpose. As these are higher-level needs, once people meet their basic needs, they search for meaning and purpose. I found that leaders who share their sense of purpose with their staff and organisation support others in fulfilling their higher-level needs too.

2. CULTIVATE A POSITIVE VIEW

Although I was primarily trained to help people with diagnosed mental illness, when I became a manager I was drawn to positive psychology. It’s about assisting healthy people to increase their wellbeing and happiness. The focus is on enhancing the positive rather than eliminating the negative. When I dug deeper, I found that positive psychology, and business and executive coaching are becoming really intertwined. There’s a strong alignment between positive psychology and coaching. Leaders can use positive psychology models and apply those when helping their teams.

3. LISTEN TO THE UNHEARD

Both personally and professionally I’m drawn to assist those from a culturally and linguistically diverse background – including students, migrants and refugees. Regardless of where people come from, there’s always a struggle to adjust to a new culture. The greater issue they face is a lack of good mental health literacy. Many cultures don’t acknowledge mental health issues. In some, they don’t even have words to describe concepts like anxiety and depression. So it can be challenging for them to get support. As a migrant myself, I understand their experience. When they can speak to someone who understands, it really makes a huge difference.

4. DEVELOP AS A PROFESSIONAL AND AS A LEADER

Completing the Chartered Manager program was the first time I was exposed to a competency framework for leaders. Comparing myself against it was an excellent reflective process. I feel that it gave me an ongoing commitment to be competent as a professional leader. As Chartered Managers, we have a responsibility to uphold ethical business standards and a commitment to leadership development. I know many colleagues who are both health professionals and leaders. While they tend to continue clinical training, they don’t always develop their management knowledge or leadership skills in the same way. Now, I complete professional development for two disciplines – as a psychologist and as a leader.

This article originally appeared in the September 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s quarterly magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

Beyond fulfilment: How to keep teams motivated

When employees reach a peak of self-fulfilment and growth, how do you help them to stay motivated? Could there be more to fulfilment than simply achieving personal bests? More importantly for managers and leaders, how does keeping your employees impact your business?

Motivated employees are undeniably valuable. Findings from IML ANZ’s latest National Salary Survey (NSS), show that keeping engagement and motivation levels up is vital. NSS respondents revealed that the single most important human capital challenge they believe would add the most value to their organisation is motivating employees (53%).

Compound that with the fact that the NSS shows a slightly upward trend in voluntary staff turnover. Moreover, what’s the top reason for leaving a job? Employees are looking for a new challenge (72%). So, keeping your teams motivated is not just about getting them to be their best; it is also best for your business.

However, when an employee has achieved much on their own, is it still possible to keep them challenged, excited about the work and motivated to do their best?

Here are some ways to achieve this:

 

Maslow’s sixth level of motivation

Most of us are familiar with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At the apex of the five-stage peak is self-actualisation or the realisation of self-fulfilment and peak personal achievements. What is not as widely known is that later in his life, Maslow added a sixth level to his hierarchy of needs – intrinsic values. This involves supporting a cause beyond individual success.

How to harness it: Leaders must help all employees, including high-achievers, to understand how they play a part in the greater purpose of the organisation. Who does your organisation help? How does it contribute to society? Keep them focused beyond self-actualisation to help them stay motivated.

 

The value of teamwork

Staying motivated after achieving much as an individual doesn’t mean high-performing employees won’t appreciate team-led wins. Never underestimate the power of collaboration and great working relationships between colleagues. As social beings, humans always enjoy the sense of working together to overcome an obstacle, reach a goal or even assisting each other when times are tough.

How to harness it: Encourage open communication between teams and within teams. Use technology to open up lines of communication by starting a team chat group. Help your employees get to know each other not just as colleagues but as people – develop real connections by organising social activities. Celebrate successes as a team too.

 

Empowering others

A sense of motivation can be sapped if one feels that they are held back from making decisions. To help keep good performers engaged, display trust in their abilities.

How to harness it: Let your team members make the call on decisions that they know best. Avoid crushing their motivation by making them feel they are powerless when it comes to their own projects.

By emphasising how they contribute to the organisation’s purpose, fostering a healthy team environment and empowering your team members, you’ll keep even the highest achievers motivated to give their best.

Sources:

IML ANZ Members can access these articles via Leadership Direct.

Tips on becoming a stand-out leader

Sir John Storey Award winner, Gemma Wood MIML, is thriving as an emerging leader in the male-dominated sector of engineering and infrastructure. Leadership Matters asked her for her tips on becoming a stand-out young leader.

 

1. BROADEN YOUR MIND

Gemma_Wood
Gemma Wood MIML

I volunteered in Kenya and deliberately picked somewhere that’s basically as far away from home as I could get. It was a really good experience because I not only discovered more about the Kenyans’ culture but also learned so much more about my own culture. It opened my mind a lot.

 

2. RESPECT DIFFERENCES

It’s important to understand that factors like people’s upbringing and culture, background, language and spirituality contributes to how they think and operate. As leaders, it’s our responsibility to have some insight into that and consider what might make people comfortable and how best to work with them. For example, I must be aware of the wording I use and how I speak to someone. Acknowledging that some things are ‘different’, not weird. How we speak can have such an impact on a person.

 

3. LEAD WITH HEART

An unforgettable leadership moment for me was when my boss was faced with a situation that was not in the best interest of his people. My boss, as the leader, decided to put his people’s wellbeing first, no matter how much money it cost the business. And to me it is so incredibly important for leaders to back their team, having their best interests at heart. When people feel really appreciated and feel that they’re adding value, you’re going to get that discretionary effort out of them. They’re going to be really positive and invested in what they do.

 

4. RECOGNISE TRUE RESILIENCE

There’s a lot of talk about resilience. It’s such a buzzword. But I think, no matter how resilient a person is, it’s important to notice when high stress becomes the norm. That’s when you need to recognise enough is enough, and say ‘no’. Resilience is a great thing to work on and build up, but high stress should never ever become the norm because then you can’t bounce back. So, it’s an awareness of when to be resilient or when things have gone too far, and you have to say ‘no’ for your health or the health of your team.

This article originally appeared in the June 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s quarterly magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.