The business of mindfulness in modern workplaces

By Anthony O’Brien

 

It’s not the start of an Irish joke, but what do search engine Google, retailer Target and bank JP Morgan, share in common? Apart from making plenty of moolah, these corporate heavyweights have introduced a commitment to mindfulness practices into their workplaces in recent years.

While often associated with adherents to the Buddha rather than mammon, mindfulness training courses are becoming common in New Zealand and Australian workplaces as firms seek ways to reduce stress and absenteeism, increase productivity, develop better leaders, and generate more creative workplaces.

The Australian Psychological Society’s website says work-related stress results when the demands of work exceed resources for managing those demands. Another report from the Victorian Government says workers experience stress over organisation culture, bad management practices, job demands, the physical work environment, relationships at work, change management, lack of support, role conflict and trauma.

 

MINDFUL LEADERSHIP

As a leadership tactic, mindfulness helps people to be more effective by directing focus to the most pertinent task at hand, according to Harvard Business Review. Deprogramming multi-tasking tendencies and intentionally focusing with full attention results in higher quality interactions and decisions, says HBR.

Pippa Hanson CMgr FIML, Chief Executive Officer from The Sports Injury Clinic, regularly speaks on the topics of stress management, work-life balance and thriving under pressure. The IML ANZ Member believes the age of the mobile phone and the internet has increased the need for mindfulness. “People are on their emails, not just when they’re sitting in front of a computer but they’re getting access on their phones. They’re carrying those phones around with them, they’re contactable 24/7 if they’re not putting boundaries in place.”

Creating boundaries is being mindful of what limits you’re setting for yourself as a manager and leader, “not only to complete your day-to-day activities, but so you know what your day looks like and what time it starts and finishes,” Hanson advises. “If you allow your day to be interrupted by responding to every email, you’re not mindful of what your day looks like, and that causes pressure, stress, poor mental health, and a lack of productivity. So, a lack of mindfulness has a negative impact on people’s work day.” Hanson also advises managers and leaders to be aware of how many times per day they check emails, while strategies such as turning off app notifications, can improve mindfulness.

 

DEFINING MINDFULNESS

Hanson says mindfulness can be confusing for the uninitiated. “I find some people only associate it with meditation or colouring in. They don’t believe that they’re mindful when they do other activities like crafts,” she says. “Mindfulness is about being present and aware of your current situation, rather than being on a mouse wheel and just going through the motions every day.”

For Hanson, who manages a busy allied health business employing 60 staff including health practitioners and administrators, mindfulness includes taking a midday break to assess the first half of the day before the afternoon shift begins. “I walk, at the end of the day because after a busy schedule of meetings, phone calls and face-to-face contact, just walking and listening to a podcast, radio or music, allows me to switch off from work, before I step back into family time.”

Hanson adds that mindfulness doesn’t just speak to physical fitness, but mental fitness and the ability to cope with pressure, stress, and the unexpected.

 

Mindful leader, Catherine Stock-Haanstra FIML

 

FINDING THE SWEET SPOT

A 90-day mindfulness plan has been around since Warren Buffett was a boy. But it’s only now becoming more widely accepted in business, says Hanson. “Mindfulness has crossed over into leadership in the workplace for health and wellness as well as business strategy and time management.” While practising mindfulness is part of Hanson’s daily routine, it is also a major component of her firm’s broader strategy. “Our leadership team takes a day every quarter to switch off from everything. This day is about focusing on our achievements and where we’re going, but really without interruption and without taking the phone calls and without reacting to the emails. This enables us to be present, slow down and focus without the extra pressure.”

Hanson says individuals will have a unique mindfulness sweet spot. “Mindfulness is different for everyone, and everyone does respond differently, and it’s about identifying that for yourself. There are simple breathing strategies that you can do at lunchtime to slow your heart rate down, and to take those deep breaths, which when you’re rushing and busy you don’t often do. Others might walk around the block, or someone might say, ‘No, I’m going to put my headphones on and listen to music for 10 minutes’.”

Laps of a pool give swimmers plenty of time to cogitate and practise mindfulness, while Hanson says some people gain satisfaction from running or riding. “When you’re focusing solely on something different, your present activity, you are switching off from work, or your family life because you can’t think of both of those things at the same time.”

If managers and leaders can understand mindfulness, they are better placed to educate their teams. “Maybe the phones haven’t stopped and the team won’t take a lunch break or a tea break. However, if managers and leaders can teach their employees about walking away and getting some fresh air and then coming back, it just makes for better relations in workplaces, better relations with clients and better outcomes for everyone.”

The full version of 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.

How to retain talent through learning and development

By Chris Burton

 

Increasingly, successful organisations understand that providing impactful development programs not only deliver performance benefits, it also provides a wonderful way to engage and retain staff who value learning and professional growth. But what does that look like in practise?

 

USE FEEDBACK TO INFORM DECISIONS

Many organisations use psychometric feedback tools as part of their professional or team development initiatives, for example, you might have a teamwork session that provides feedback about your team preferences or style. However, good feedback tools should be versatile enough that they can be re-framed to look at your work performance through multiple lenses and in multiple contexts. A learner might have good insights about how they work within teams, but what does the feedback tell them about their own individual work? Alternatively, the feedback might be great at helping an individual leader understand how to better collaborate with the different works styles of their teammates, but can it provide the entire team with reliable metrics to analyse their work processes?

 

To address how feedback informs our performance conversations, we can use a psychometric like the Team Management Profile (TMP) which was developed in Australia and used by more than two million people around the world. We know from the TMP worldwide database* that 51% of managers prefer to work in a systematic way on activities focused on immediate, tangible results. While that is not particularly negative, a problem arises when we compare the numbers of people who like to innovate and come up with new ideas (8%), or who like to focus on activities that ensure the sustainability of our work processes and organisational culture (2%). When we can understand the operational consequences of this disproportionate distribution of our work preferences, we can then make better decisions about our performance improvement strategies.

 

GENERATE ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND SCOPE

By extending the way that staff apply their learning to improve performance, we not only generate an economy of scale for the business, we also realise an economy of scope. The economy of scale occurs when we generate efficiencies by working with multiple people and supporting collaborative learning. The economy of scope occurs when we see that we reuse our learning resources to apply knowledge to other activities and contexts, providing us with the adaptability we need to compete in the 2020s.

 

Organisations keep their staff engaged with L&D initiatives by providing the workforce with new ways to apply and evolve their current knowledge in order to enhance how they work. And when the employees are increasingly capable of transferring their ideas into performance improvements, they achieve results more efficiently and contribute more to their teams. This, in turn, creates a multiplier effect, because when staff are generating good results in a continually improving, inclusive and results-focused environment, they are more inclined to be engaged and remain with the company.

 

FOSTER A LEARNING ATTITUDE

How do you promote your professional development initiatives internally? Do you shine a light on the opportunities your staff have to improve their performance? Do you help foster an attitude of learning transfer and continuous improvement? By making the effort to evaluate the performance impact that your training has on your team, you can highlight the benefits to your staff and stakeholders. And this, in turn, will engage, stretch and retain staff.

 

EQUIP YOURSELF WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS

Retention of key talent is always a hot topic for Australian managers. The Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand has a suite of diagnostic and development tools engineered to improve the ability of your organisation to retain talent and develop performance through improving self-awareness. If you would like to know more about the range of People Analytics tools available, please call 1300 362 631, email corporate@managersandleaders.com.au or visit managersandleaders.com.au/people-analytics

* Team Management Systems Research Manual (5th Edition), 2019. ITMS: Brisbane

Chris Burton is the Learning & Development Director, Asia-Pacific at Team Management Systems (TMS). He previously worked with Margerison and McCann for more than 20 years, is now an Executive Director and leads TMS’ Learning & Development Asia-Pac team as a programme facilitator and subject matter expert. An accomplished speaker and facilitator, Chris’s work spans from delivering keynotes at international conferences, to coaching boards and senior executives as well as delivering engaging, impactful workshops.

Career Doctor: How do you know if you are behaving ethically?

By Peter Cullen FIML

 

Whilst facilitating, I often see a lot of blank faces when I ask the question ‘How do you know if you are behaving ethically in your workplace?’

These blank faces reflect the fact that ethical behaviour is not promoted or alive in many workplaces. This can expose organisations to all kinds of problems, leading to legal ramifications or worse. The intentional disregard for ethics by some led to the recent Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry whose findings rocked the sector and shocked people from all walks of life across Australia.

 

LEARNING ETHICS

Ethics is a very broad subject. In Australia alone, there are more than 20 bachelor’s degrees offered in the subject. One of the many topics covered in a degree is business ethics. This represents the practices that any individual or group exhibits within an organisation that can positively or negatively affect the business’s core values. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organisations.

There is also the question of morals when discussing ethics. Morals refer to an individual’s personal principles regarding what is right and what is wrong. It is very easy for a person’s personal principles to guide their behaviour rather than adhering to business ethics. There can also be personal conflict between the two, making some situations even more difficult for individuals.

 

HUGE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES

Unethical behaviour by leaders can lead to catastrophic outcomes for an organisation. Widespread and continuous unethical behaviour by staff can cause untold damage to culture and reputation.

The downfall of Enron in 2001 is a classic example. It led to the imprisonment of several of its senior leadership group and destroyed one of the world’s largest audit firms Arthur Andersen. Charges laid on the senior leaders included manipulating accounting rules, money laundering, bank fraud, insider trading and conspiracy.

 

ETHICAL GUIDELINES

A quick question: Do you know your organisation’s core values, code of conduct, policies, procedures, processes and systems and do you live them in your workplace?

If you do, congratulations. If you don’t or are unsure, you have some work to do because those values probably define the ethical expectations in your workplace. In addition to the values, there is also legislation such as the Fair Work Act, Work Health and Safety Act and others. A great place to start if you are unsure about any of these is to speak to your human resources team.

There are many benefits when all employees from top to bottom are behaving ethically. They include trust, honesty, integrity, transparency, consistency, fairness, improved decision making, productivity and many more. Ethical behaviour creates an environment where people feel safe to speak up and challenge unethical behaviour knowing they are supported by the organisation.

Every person in every organisation – whether large or small – is responsible for behaving ethically in the workplace. Leaders are role models and must lead the way with ethical behaviour. People will observe their leaders’ behaviours and whatever they do becomes permissible for others.

Become a role model for others by embracing and living ethics in the workplace.

 

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

 

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.

Must Read: Leading Well: 7 attributes of very successful leaders

Derek Parker offers an in-depth look into the latest book that examines seven attributes of inspiring leaders.

 

This is the follow-up and companion to the 2017 IML ANZ publication Leadership Matters: 7 Skills of Very Successful Leaders. That volume was concerned mainly with the technical abilities required in senior roles – what David Pich CMgr FIML, Chief Executive of IML ANZ, describes as “the perspiration of leadership” in the introduction to the new book. Leading Well focuses on the inspirational side of being a leader: the personal, emotional, and psychological aspects. The seven attributes – respect, integrity, emotional intelligence, ability to inspire, authenticity, self-awareness, and decisiveness – were chosen through consultations with IML ANZ Members.

Respect was rated as essential in a survey, a point underlined in the chapter by Pich and Jamie Getgood. The key to respect is a willingness to listen to others, talk through their concerns, and empathise with their viewpoint. This is not easy in an era of diversity but the authors take the view that Australians are a tolerant bunch when it comes to cultural differences. They look at IML ANZ’s public statement on same-sex marriage as an example, noting that it was the result of discussions with Members. Respect, they say, is not about agreeing with everyone but about understanding and consideration. An expression of genuine gratitude is also a component of respect, and something that can go a long way in building strong relationships.

It is something of a balancing act but that is true regarding many of the skills examined in the book. Michelle Gibbings’s discussion of integrity acknowledges the difficulty of acting consistently and ethically in the face of competing stakeholder demands. She sees an ongoing tension between personal courage and consciousness of the business environment but she comes down on the side of having the courage to do the right thing. Integrity, once lost, is almost impossible to rebuild.

Allison Keogh’s contribution on authenticity picks up this theme. Authenticity is about aligning thoughts, words and actions, all stemming from a core of values. Say what you mean, mean what you say: it’s the same message whether applied to individuals or organisations. If you want an example of what not to do, she says, look at some of the practices in the financial services industry uncovered by the recent inquiry into banking.

Self-awareness is the first step to becoming a great leader, according to Margot Smith FIML. It means acknowledging your weaknesses and blind spots, but it also requires taking action to improve. She suggests some training methods although honest discussions with peers and mentors can also do much. It means admitting vulnerability but it is often the only way to move forward.

Many of the themes of the book come together in the final piece, an examination of decisiveness by Bill Kernoczy and Luke Challenor. Having to make the final call on a difficult issue is often seen as the central test of leadership. And, indeed, any issue that gets to the senior levels of an organisation is going to be difficult: the easy ones are decided elsewhere. Once upon a time a CEO would tick one or another box and walk away but Kernoczy and Challenor argue that the complexity of modern business means that the gut-feeling method no longer makes sense. Instead, they lay out a process of definition, analysis, evaluation, and consultation. They look at a number of models for making decisions, establishing the common thread as a need to follow through on implementation, review and feedback.

This is consistently useful stuff. In fact, all of the chapters in the book make a point of moving from theory to practice, with step-by-step guides and tools for self-diagnosis. Another important section is a series of interviews, conducted by IML ANZ chair Ann Messenger, with outstanding leaders. Each discussion has its worth but the views of Georgie Harman, the chief executive of the beyondblue organisation, are particularly interesting, especially in the areas of authenticity and humility.

Each of the chapters of the book has important things to say but it is taking the package as a whole that provides the most insight and direction. Whether you are already in a senior position or aspire to be there, you will find a great deal of value here.

 

Leading Well book
Get your copy of IML ANZ’s latest book, Leading Well: 7 attributes of very successful leaders (Major Street Publishing, A$34.95).

The book highlights seven attributes that ignite inspiring leadership. It focuses squarely on the personal attributes that can transform managers into leaders and good leaders into great leaders.

Order your copy here.

 

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.

Why your leadership reputation is a catalyst to business growth

When you run your own business – and you’re not a large operation – the basics of success might seem simple. Business booms when more people want to buy from you, existing customers want to stick with you, and your staff are happy to work for you.

But anyone who’s run a family-owned or small to medium enterprise will know that driving business success is a complicated matter. After all, it takes an investment of your time, effort and resource to grow the business, keep your employees engaged and build your brand and reputation.

Plus, the smaller your operation, the larger the effort, time and resource required to stay competitive in any market.

What if you’ve overlooked a highly valuable driver in achieving business growth, employee engagement and customer loyalty? Your leadership reputation. It’s no wonder that legends of the business world hold it in such high esteem. Warren Buffet identified it as an even higher priority than profits.

This principle applies just as strongly for small to medium enterprises. The difference is that it is you, as the owner and leader, whose reputation is the anchor for your business.

Think back to when you started your business. A large foundation for what it is today would have been because of your contacts who became your first clients. Your knowledge and expertise evolved into your current products and services. Your vision is the glue that formed your first team.

Your leadership reputation might have been instrumental in setting you up but why is it even more essential for running a successful business into the future?

Here are just three reasons:

 

 1. Your leadership impacts how you attract new business

Reputation is sometimes misunderstood. It’s often thought to be the same as your brand. However, unlike your brand, your reputation is not something you create and then project. The public formulates reputation based on what they know about you.

Investing in your leadership reputation is a worthwhile venture. In fact, one study found that a good reputation can increase a customer’s intent to purchase from you by up to 6.3%.

The challenge for busy small business owners, however, is that you can be so consumed in the day-to-day tasks that you might neglect setting time aside to build on the elements that influence your reputation. Also, being the boss can sometimes mean there’s no one keeping you in check about your leadership skills.

Dr Travis Kemp, an organisational psychologist, independent company director and adjunct professor at the University of South Australia’s Business School, faced the same challenge.  “Because I run my practice and lead organisations, there are very few people who I actually have to report to,” Kemp recalls.

But Kemp understood the importance of being accountable for proving to the public that he was a capable leader. So, he sought accreditation to benchmark his leadership standard. He needed to find a way to make his skills, “understandable and acknowledgeable by other people… An external validation and accountability for [his] experience.”

Strike a balance: While caring for your reputation as a leader is a must, finding the time can be difficult. That’s why accreditation is a great solution. Find a professional designation that doesn’t take away too much of your time from running the business but at the same time validates your skills, experience and expertise.

 

2. Your leadership impacts employee engagement

Starting a business is an exciting time of discovery. But as your business evolves, you and your staff will face new challenges. As a leader, your people will look to you for guidance and solutions when facing these issues.

That’s why it’s important for business owners like you to ensure your leadership skills are up to standard. If your staff can’t trust you to pull them through tough situations, then you can’t expect them to give their best at work. And when they fail to give their best, business performance suffers. Research by the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Workplace Leadership found that many leaders fail to master fundamental leadership skills and unsurprisingly, more than 40% of Australian businesses do not meet their targets for return on investment and profitability.

Unsurprisingly, Kemp recommends investing in leadership skills. “I think leaders’ impact can be incredibly positive when it is directed in the right way, to the right people at the right time. Leadership has always been part of my life. I have been an active leader, I have grown companies, I have even started companies”.

Lead to engage: As a business owner, you’re not just managing products and services – you lead people too. So, seek out ways to benchmark your leadership skills up to the highest standards. You simply can’t afford to leave the wrong impression about your leadership with your employees.

 

3. Your leadership impacts customer loyalty

Can the reputation of just one person really affect the trust of customers? When one employee of United Airlines damaged their reputation by violently removing a passenger, the airline’s stock price lost $1.4 billion – investors simply lost trust. If that is true for the actions of one employee, all the more so for the actions of a business owner – regardless of business size.

While financial results matter for all businesses, there’s a lot more value in keeping loyal customers. It’s no secret that it costs more to acquire new customers. So, your trustworthiness as a leader and business owner is key.

Kemp observed how important it is to be a trusted leader. “We come back to the notion of ‘good people, doing good things’ and for the right reasons. Sometimes that gets lost in our pursuit for commercial gain,” said Kemp. But he adds, “It is important to raise the standard of leadership around the notion of ethics and values in decision making.”

Earn others’ trust: Once again Kemp looked toward an accreditation that displayed his commitment to sound leadership practice. Don’t keep your customers guessing. Show your trustworthiness by gaining the right leadership accreditation.

 

Great leadership helps your business to grow

Leaders with strong reputations carry their teams towards success, outshine the competition and reap financial rewards. If you want your reputation to be that of a leader who gets results, then you need to equip yourself with the accreditation that confirms it.

The Chartered Manager accreditation is the highest status that can be achieved as a manager and leader. It is awarded on experience, expertise and a commitment to management and leadership. The three-step application process involves just 12 hours and can be completed at your own pace – essential if you’re a time-poor business owner.

By becoming a Chartered Manager – like Travis Kemp – you’ll ensure your leadership drives the success of your business. In fact, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in the UK, found that Chartered Managers:

  • Help businesses grow: One in three Chartered Managers have used their status as a competitive advantage, citing it in tenders to win new clients
  • Deliver engaging leadership: 62% of Chartered Managers said their designation improved their people management skills
  • Build client loyalty: Two out of five Chartered Managers maintained business turnover

 

Drive business success by accrediting your leadership – become a Chartered Manager.

To find out more or to apply, visit managersandleaders.com.au/chartered-manager.

In leadership, respect is about understanding, not agreeing

By David Pich CMgr FIML

 

Respect is undeniably complex. This complexity is only increasing as the world – and the world of work – become simultaneously more polarised and more open. It’s interesting that these two global trends seem to be in such conflict.

Countries and workforces are becoming increasingly diverse, while public opinion about all aspects of diversity seems to be ever more polarised. We seem to be metaphorically pulling down walls, but leaders are appealing to millions with notions of building physical walls. Barriers to trade and those that restrict the freedom of people to move and work across borders seem to be becoming mainstream policy in many nations.

 

DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY

These macro trends and developments have made the concept of respect a fraught and complex matter. The typical workplace contains incredible diversity. A relatively small team of, say, 10 people in Australia or New Zealand can be made up of any combination of females, males, and those who identify as either or neither. It may also include people in same-sex relationships, people with or without kids; and it may include Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and atheists. There may be people with a physical or mental disability (or both) and people from quite literally any cultural background you can mention. In fact, it’s safe to say that I have missed more ‘categories’ (and yes, I detest that word) than I have listed.

When all of these people – our workmates – arrive at work each morning, afternoon or evening, they do so against a social and political environment that is increasingly polarised and opinionated. Stereotypes abound, and the impact of these shouldn’t be underestimated.

The best example I can give is from the UK following the Brexit vote in 2016, when Polish and other mainland European nationals living and working in London and other cities reported feeling an overwhelming sense of fear and uncertainty in the workplace.

Similar feelings were reported in Australia among the gay community during the same-sex marriage debate.

The seemingly constant attack on, and airing of, ‘differences’ in lifestyle choices, religious beliefs, cultural backgrounds, nationalities and other aspects of the rich tapestry of individuals’ lives means that showing respect is increasingly portrayed as unnecessary and, even worse, a sign of weakness.

 

RESPECT IS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING, NOT AGREEING

Showing respect as a leader isn’t about agreeing. It’s simply not possible to agree with everyone about everything. Trying to do that is the quickest way to tie yourself up in knots and lose the respect of the team. It’s also disingenuous.

When I joined CanTeen in 2002 as the Head of Fundraising and Marketing I met Carolyne, the Head of HR. We became and remain close friends. Carolyne is a committed and practising Christian, while I’m a committed and practising atheist. We freely talked about – and laughed about – our very different life views and belief systems, and we frequently explained to each other why we had come to our own separate and diametrically different conclusions.

That’s life! As I once said during a conference keynote, “If the workplace was full of middle-aged blokes from Manchester with a love of eighties music it would be a very dull place indeed!” Difference and diversity is interesting, enriching and rewarding.

Respect is about understanding why people believe what they believe, do what they do and are who they are. Despite what we read and hear from a vocal section of today’s media, and read on the more extreme reaches of the internet and social media sites, it’s perfectly possible – and perfectly acceptable – to understand without agreeing. Showing respect as a leader is about accepting that you don’t always need to be right, that there isn’t necessarily only a right and wrong or just a black and white. Respect is about accepting and embracing the idea that other people’s life experiences are different to yours and that that’s OK.

As a leader, respect is about encouraging and embracing the view that difference and diversity bring strength to a team because they open the way to new thinking, new approaches and new ways of solving problems. Once this view is accepted it can be implemented in any number of ways within the workplace or team. For example, in recruitment, leaders should ensure that they do not fall into the trap of allowing personal bias to creep into the formal and informal recruitment process. In the same way, leaders need to guard against allowing their own views to cloud the way they deal with any number of issues and situations that arise each day in the workplace.

Leading Well book
This is an edited extract from IML ANZ’s latest book, Leading Well: 7 attributes of very successful leaders (Major Street Publishing, A$34.95).

The book highlights seven attributes that ignite inspiring leadership. It focuses squarely on the personal attributes that can transform managers into leaders and good leaders into great leaders.

Order your copy here.

 

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.

Three Points of View: How to keep your rising stars

How can managers and leaders keep top millennial talent from leaving the organisation? Leadership Matters Editorial Director Andy McLean MIML asks experts for their advice.

 

Sinead Hourigan FIML

Queensland Director, Robert Walters

Sinead HouriganCandidates want to join and remain in businesses that invest in their people, so there are huge benefits if employers can attract millennials.

It is important to train millennials in management and leadership now so that they are ready to fill gaps left by baby boomers who will exit the workforce over the next 10–20 years. Upskilling is essential for millennials and is crucial to their continuous development and lifelong learning. Millennials are keen to access training and development to support their personal and professional growth, so organisations should factor this into their candidate attraction and engagement strategies. In fact, if the company’s values match those of millennial workers – its ethics and coaching, clear progression, flexibility, and feedback – employees are likely to show even more loyalty.

Millennials don’t need to be in a classroom or structured group training session – they’re happy to learn in front of their computers or work with mentors and coaches on the job. However, it’s key for employers to provide a clear roadmap of training opportunities to motivate millennials.

 

Wendy Thompson MIML

CEO and Founder, Start Social NZ, Auckland

Wendy ThompsonA millennial colleague is an awesome asset: proactive, a global thinker and a tech native. But I don’t necessarily think keeping them should be your primary aim.

Millennials often look elsewhere after two or three years so employers need to play a long game and not take it personally when they leave. If handled correctly, you may one day welcome them back wiser and more experienced! One way I do this is by inviting all our ex-Socialites to our annual Valentine’s Party; it’s a great night out and keeps everyone in touch.

Something else I do to help my millennials on their chosen career paths (and get the best out of them for my company) is one-on-one structured mentoring. At the beginning of the year we set personal and career SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound) then have monthly progress catch-ups, before celebrating success at the end of the year. Heading into that festive season, where people often reassess their job, my team has a very fresh reminder of how much Socialites has helped them achieve over the past year.

 

Sally Roebuck MIML

Operations Manager, Bulimba Outside School Hours Care, Queensland

Sally RoebuckAs a millennial myself, I understand our generation’s desire to be heard, respected and valued in the workplace. I’m the leader of an almost exclusively millennial team and believe the most important part of attracting and holding on to talented millennials is to create a team culture of mutual respect, where each individual feels their contribution is meaningful and valuable.

Collaboration is vital when managing and leading millennials, as we have been living and breathing collaborative practices since kindergarten. We were taught in school not to accept the status quo, but to question, hypothesise and brainstorm.

We were immersed in the digital revolution, and were educated in resourcing and synthesising differences of opinion and facts for a broader world view. Allowing opportunities for collaboration among team members, especially between colleagues of varied experience and job roles, will ensure millennials feel able to make valued contributions to the organisation’s goals.

Developing this sort of positive growth mindset among your team also gives millennials the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge while giving them clear pathways for advancement and success.

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

Five things Shakespeare can teach you about leadership

By Andy McLean MIML | Photo by Prudence Upton

 

Modern-day managers and leaders can learn a huge amount from the epic plays of William Shakespeare.

Here are just five lessons:

 

1. Bring your people with you

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a military and political leader who has begun to believe his own publicity. He claims he is ‘constant as the northern star’ and his success to date makes him think his decision-making is infallible. Caesar’s failure to listen (to his Senate peers, his wife, a Soothsayer and others) proves fatal.

Leadership lesson: It can be lonely at the top – but it doesn’t have to be. By definition, a leader is someone who brings people with them. In business, that means taking time to consult with stakeholders and explain the reasons for decisions.

 

2. Take time to recognise people’s achievements

The Percy family literally risks life and limb to support Henry Bolingbroke’s battle to become King Henry IV. But, once in power, Henry is distracted by new priorities. He neglects his former allies and disregards their contribution to his success. This oversight almost costs Henry IV the crown when the embittered Percys later raise an army against him.

Leadership Lesson: In today’s market, where change is constant and time is short, it’s tempting for leaders to focus solely on the challenges ahead. But it’s essential to pause occasionally and recognise the achievements of individuals and teams. Rewarding the right behaviour helps to role-model the organisation’s values, foster loyalty and propel people to even greater heights in the future.

 

3. Give your people purpose beyond profit

In The Merchant Of Venice, everyone is consumed by the pursuit of wealth. There’s Shylock lending money, Antonio wheeling and dealing, Bassanio hustling to raise funds – and Lorenzo even wooing Jessica with one eye on the till. All of Venice’s most influential people are clamouring for cash and a toxic culture infects the city. Bell Shakespeare’s James Evans, who facilitated a Leadership In Action workshop, points out: “In one of the best opening lines of a play ever written, Antonio says: ‘In sooth, I know not why I am so sad’. He’s got everything that money can buy, but he’s still not content.”

Leadership lesson: When it comes to work, money is not the be all and end all – and your workforce knows that. As a leader, people will only follow you if you can articulate a purpose beyond profit.

 

4. Show empathy to inspire your people

On the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, King Henry V and his army know they are outmanned and outgunned by their enemy. Henry spends the night in disguise, listening to his soldiers’ hopes and fears. The next morning, before the fighting starts, Henry delivers a motivational speech that unites and emboldens his people, including the immortal lines: ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me/Shall be my brother’.

Leadership lesson: If you know what makes your people tick, then you can help them achieve extraordinary things. Use surveys, forums and informal feedback to gauge the mood of your staff. Incorporate what you’ve learned when you communicate with your people. And never underestimate the power of public speaking!

 

5. Plan your succession carefully

Shakespeare wrote that, ‘All the world’s a stage, and all men and women merely players, They have their exits and their entrances’. Time and again, his plays remind us that – no matter how great the leader – their tenure is only temporary. Yet too often, those leaders fail to ensure a smooth handover of power. Rome is plunged into civil war because there is no prearranged Plan B after Julius Caesar falls, and King Lear pays a bloody price for leaving his kingdom in the hands of his two devious daughters.

Leadership lesson: Ultimately, it must be a leader’s mission to leave their organisation in a better position than when they found it. That means always keeping an eye on the long term and identifying the right talent to lead in the future.

On stage near you

Bell Shakespeare’s national tour of Much Ado About Nothing continues across Australia until 24 November. Their production Titus Andronicus will be staged in Sydney in August and September.

About the author

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

Five tips for young leaders stepping into their first management role

By Emma Mulholland

 

Watching some of the most inspirational business leaders in action, it’s easy to forget that even they had to start somewhere. When they were younger, beginning their first-ever management role, they felt the same mixture of trepidation and excitement that every fledgling manager feels on their first day.

So how can first-time managers make their mark? And what can young people do to compensate for their lack of experience? Start as you mean to go on and be upfront, suggests Sydney-based executive coach Stacey Ashley FIML, who helps top-tier managers hone their leadership skills.

“It starts with having really clear conversations,” says Ashley. “You want the people who report to you to know what your expectations are – and you need to know what they expect of you.”

Ashley is the author of ­The New Leader: From Team Member to People Leader – a Practical Guide. “When I was writing the book, I asked a number of leaders a similar question: knowing what you know now, what is the one thing you’d tell your younger self on becoming a leader? They said things like ‘Trust yourself more’ and ‘You don’t have to be like the person who was in the role before you.’”

Leadership Matters asked Ashley to share her five tips for young people who want to nail their first management role.

 

1. GET YOUR BOSS ON SIDE

The first week is going to be all about the sit-down: you need to get to know your new manager and every person on your team (remember: it’s all about being upfront). “If you don’t enrol your boss in your processes, you’re not necessarily going to get the level of support you need,” says Ashley. “Equally, if you don’t understand what their agenda is, you’re not going to be able to deliver against it.”

Ashley recalls a job early in her career when she spent hours compiling detailed weekly reports for her new manager, only to discover – six months later – that he didn’t even read them. “He just wanted a few traffic lights, half a page,” she says. “The problem is, I’d assumed I knew what he wanted and he’d assumed I’d be upset if he told me it wasn’t right. What a complete waste of time for both of us!”

Avoid this by asking your new boss what they need from you in the role. And before the meeting winds up, be sure to arrange a follow-up one-to-three months down the track to review how things are going.

 

2. RALLY THE TEAM

In the first five days, you also need to let your staff know what you expect from them over the next few months. This is especially important if you’re managing changes in working relationships (say you’ve gone from being a member of the team to leading it). “It gives your colleagues the opportunity to ask questions, to understand what it means for them and how you’re going to work with each other,” says Ashley.

And while it may not happen in the first week, it’s important to get to know the people who work for you. This advice came up again and again when Ashley quizzed business leaders for her book. “It makes it a lot easier to understand the decisions your staff make and how to get the best out of them,” she says.

New manager Duncan Toole MIML spent a year learning the ropes on the warehouse floor at Pirtek Fluid Systems, a company that repairs hydraulic hoses for heavy machinery, before being promoted to supervisor last September. Though Toole, 25, was well versed in the company’s day-to-day operations, taking on 22 staff members – almost all of them decades older than him – was no small feat.

To help him make the transition, he signed up to the IML ANZ’s Intentional Leadership Foundations program, joining 10 professionals from a range of industries in the same phase of their career. Toole says that one of the most valuable skills he picked up was learning to apply the DiSC model, a behaviour-assessment tool that’s used to identify a person’s motivators and stressors.

“It’s helped me understand what drives my workers, which is especially important in a culturally diverse workplace,” he says. “With the DiSC model, I can put everyone into categories and know how to speak to them. Some people ask questions because they want to have input and they like to find the easiest – most efficient – way to do things. Others just want to know how to fix it; they don’t want to beat around the bush.”

 

3. NAIL THE DRESS CODE

For Toole, one of the most challenging aspects of the new role was going from being ‘one of the guys’ to being the guy that tells everyone what to do. Switching hi-vis for office attire helps him make the distinction and stay on task. “It just shows that I am actually the boss who needs to do in-house work to improve processes and things like that,” he says.

And yet, by afternoon he’s often back in the hi-vis, helping out on the warehouse floor. “That’s probably one of my biggest problems,” he says. “Sometimes people call in sick and there’s no other way to get the work done. But it’s also because I know how I want a job done so when I see something that needs doing, I think, ‘Oh, I’ll just do it.’”

It’s a trap new leaders often fall into, says Ashley. “While it’s always tempting to muck in and help out, your role is to provide direction, which means enabling others to grow and perform. You need to take a step back and think strategically. Ask yourself: ‘What do I have to deliver?’ ‘What am I here to do?’ ‘And how can I have the greatest impact?’ Focus on the things that make a difference and schedule them into your day.”

 

4. GIVE YOURSELF A HEAD START

Of course, this also includes long-term planning. Ashley recommends blocking out time on your calendar each week – be it an hour, or half a day – to plan for the future. Sure, it may feel indulgent when there are immediate tasks to get on top of, but adopting a managerial timeframe means thinking beyond the day-to-day.

“We’ve all got the same amount of time, don’t we?” says Ashley. “Making decisions about how you invest yourself across all those different demands is one of the most critical skills a new leader needs to develop.”

For Toole and his boss, the best approach is an informal catch-up over coffee at 7 am before the warehouse staff arrive. They talk about the day ahead, but they also mull over less immediate concerns, like boosting morale and designing a new staff incentive scheme.

You might think that you have quite enough on your plate but there’s also long-term career planning to consider. You’ve worked hard to land this position, don’t let it be your last. Are you attending conferences, networking events, training days and checking in with your mentor?

As Ashley warns, you could wind up being so effective in your new role that the company will want to leave you there – forever. Plus, says Ashley, “You’ve got to have something to other: as a leader, you have a responsibility to always bring something new to the company”.

 

5. FORGET ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Okay, so you can’t do away with performance reviews altogether. But as a new leader, you have a chance to rethink that once-a-year formal sit-down that everyone (including the boss!) dreads. Annual reviews are scary – and often useless. Instead, Ashley recommends you coach your staff every single day.

“We need to get much more comfortable with talking about performance,” she says. “It’s not about having a conversation once a quarter or once a year; you should be having it all day, every day. Because if I’m in your team and you don’t tell me that there’s something you’re not happy with, I can’t do anything about it.” Of course, the same goes for praise – if someone’s performing well, don’t wait 12 months to tell them.

And what if you’re tasked with performance management for the first time? Ashley says that a successful outcome – and a happy team player – depends on many things, including your attitude. “It’s not about having a big vent because it will make you feel better,” says Ashley. “You need to go into those conversations with the intention of getting a really great outcome. You want something good for that person.”

Ask yourself: ‘What is it that I want for them?’ The answer, suggests Ashley, might be that you want them to step up and be able to really perform in their role. “Now have a conversation that helps them do that. If they say, ‘Look, I don’t understand how to do the task’, then there’s something you can do to help them.” As always, it’s about being upfront.

Learn the foundations of leadership

IML ANZ’s Intentional Leadership Foundations program is designed to help ‘accidental managers’ become intentional leaders – helping them transition from individual contribution to succeeding through their team. The 12-week program blends facilitated learning with online study, leadership coaching, one-on-one mentoring, diagnostic tools and workplace-based projects. Participants will gain key learnings on how to manage themselves, communicate effectively, manage teams and individuals, and how to lead with the bigger picture in mind.

For more information, go to managersandleaders.com.au/foundations-intentional-leadership.

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