4 reasons why I got my management accreditation

Why become a Chartered Manager?

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

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

1. Get recognition as a manager

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

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

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

2. Learn more about yourself as a manager

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

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

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

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

3. Credibility, currency and commit to ongoing professional growth

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

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

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

4. Stand out from the competition as an intentional leader

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

Character + Competence + Consistency = TRUST.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Too busy to lead?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the author:


Katrina Webb, Katrina Webb OAM MIML

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

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

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

www.katrinawebb.com.au

 

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

Book now

 

 

Leading Well by Making the Unconscious Conscious

By Clare Edwards

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

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

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

If only I had more time…..

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

Thinking Fast and Slow  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leadership Habits that Hinder  

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

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

Our Core SOCIAL Needs

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

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

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

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

Objectivity – being treated fairly and with equity

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

Importance – a sense of value and status in the system

Autonomy – a perception of being at choice

Love (Connection) – belonging to the tribe

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

Where might we unconsciously create Threat and Bias?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Summary

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

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

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

The Bat and Ball Answer

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

Book now

 

 

5 Reasons They Keep Leaving

1. The lowdown on staff remuneration & retention in 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. How do you know what someone is worth?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 Hidden Indicators that Trust Issues are Negatively Impacting your Organisation

By Marie-Claire Ross

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

1. Working around People, not with People

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

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

 

2. Fear of Relying on Others

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

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

 

3. Avoiding Delegation

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

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

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

 

4. Not Speaking Up

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

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

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

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

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

 

Getting Ready for a Collaborative Future

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

Book now

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

By David Pich FIML, Chief Executive

Institute of Managers and Leaders

 

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

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

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

My anxiety disorder.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

By David Pich FIML, Chief Executive

Institute of Managers and Leaders

 

 

Three key ways to create a mentally healthy workplace

beyond blue

 

By beyondblue

 

 

One in five employees in Australia is likely to be working with a mental health condition and interestingly beyondblue research has found that despite 91% of employees believing workplace mental health is important, only 52% think their workplace is mentally healthy.

While organisational leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of good mental health at work, many aren’t quite sure how to turn this awareness into action.

The good news is any business can achieve great outcomes by following a process that includes involving employees in the design, implementation and review of mental health strategies.

While leaders have a major role to play, everyone in the workplace needs to play a part for there to be enduring improvements.

A key responsibility for leaders is to inspire and inform employees so they can achieve their best possible mental health.

beyondblue has found there are three crucial elements that lay the groundwork for improving the mental health culture of a business.

Creating a mentally healthy workplace

  1. COMMITMENT FROM SENIOR LEADERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS

Showing a visible commitment to mental health in the workplace is essential to developing a plan, its implementation and ongoing refinement.

Leaders should educate themselves and inform staff about conditions such as anxiety and depression and speak openly about mental health, including their own personal experience if they feel comfortable.

Making mental health an everyday discussion in the workplace creates a culture where managers will know how to look after their own mental health and what to do if an employee tells them they are experiencing difficulties.

It also makes employees feel comfortable that they can speak to a manager about a mental health issue.

Staff will also have the ability to recognise if a colleague is struggling, the knowledge to support them and refer them to professional health services.

workplace activities and staff participation

  1. ONGOING MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION

Research shows that involving your workforce in developing and imbedding a workplace mental health strategy is essential to the initiative’s success.

Staff should be invited to participate in its design, development, implementation and review.

Employees have a role in influencing the strategy’s design and will feel that they own the changes and the results, once the plan is implemented. It will also mean the strategy will be relevant to the specific needs of the workplace.

workplace communication

  1. KEEP THE COMMUNICATION LINES OPEN

Informed staff are engaged staff.

Continual communication will help break down barriers to addressing mental health and wellbeing while also contributing to reducing stigma.

Regular and ongoing communication also means a mental health strategy can be adapted as needs change and can gain buy-in from new employees.

These three factors are crucial to the success of mental health plans in workplaces.

They can help ensure that a workplace treats mental health the same as physical health, that stress and other mental health risks are managed, and employees are able to thrive.

Watch the video below to learn more about how you can play a role in workplace mental health.

 

FIND OUT MORE

Members of the beyondblue Workplace Engagement Team will present a series of mental health workshops at 18 locations throughout February and March as part of the IML 2018 Leadership Outlook Series.

They’ll provide insights into how to develop a workplace mental health plan and show how beyondblue’s Heads Up website and resources can guide an organisation’s approach.

To participate in a session, click here.

A Battle Worth Fighting For

By Stuart Taylor,  Chief Executive Officer of Springfox (formerly the resilience institute Australia).

Creating a resilient corporate culture takes time and effort, but you won’t regret it.

Stress. We all experience. We all talk about it. Even seeing the word in print stirs at least a little discomfort in most.
Removing stress from the workplace sounds like a great idea in theory. In reality, though, a certain amount of stress can be beneficial and, in some cases, necessary to drive individuals and corporations to higher levels of performance. However, there is a tipping point at which pressure to perform has counterproductive effects.

The focus of modern cultural change programs shouldn’t be on removing stress, but rather on creating an environment where people are able to process, rationalise and view pressure as a opportunity. Employers don’t need to create stress-free organisations, they need to create resilient organisations.

Organisations exist for people and through people. It is true that modern organisations are increasingly characterised
by technology, systems, processes and rules, but at the core they remain much like any other group of people or tribe. And just like any other tribe, members look to the chief to rally them in times of trouble.

A resilient corporate culture is one that is able to balance the drive for high performance with a focus on maintaining the safety, well-being and effectiveness of its people. Resilient organisations understand that high performance is very different to sustainable high performance. And it all starts at the top.

“In a volatile, uncertain and complex world, resilience is a strategic asset.” – Stuart Taylor

Disruption, resulting from technological advances and geo-political shifts, personifies the modern corporate battle ground. This places people under increasing pressure and strain. The persistent change in the world and the pressures on us to transform and adapt require agility.

To thrive in this environment, organisations must commit to a systemic approach to fostering a resilient culture where people feel respected, trusted and supported. Leaders must be role models. When they fail to engage, the tribe loses trust in its chief.

Our organisation’s study of 26,099 professionals over a six-year period revealed confronting insights about our modern workforce. More than half of those surveyed (55%) worry excessively, 50% are hyper vigilant, 45% experience distress symptoms, and 30% experience excessive work intensity, and/or have impulse control problems.

The research clearly demonstrated that the workforce is anxious and overloaded, contributing to a prevalence of absenteeism, presenteeism, conflict and attention loss in the workplace. The effect of absenteeism alone costs the Australian economy more than $44 billion a year.

Here are some simple steps leaders can can take:

  1. LEAD WITH COMPASSION

    Resilient organisations are possible when you lead with deep care and the ‘greater good’ in mind. Sometimes this requires tough love, however, it will build trust and respect.

  2. SHOW VULNERABILITY

    A powerful way to demonstrate your trust, compassion and respect for your people is to ask the same of them. Leaders who aren’t ashamed to show their shortcomings demonstrate that what is expected is commitment and effort, not perfection. This breeds a culture of accountability, where people are willing to admit they need help or have made a mistake.

  3. TALK TO YOUR PEOPLE

    People perform best when they understand what’s expected of them. Make your strategic priorities clear and resist the urge to use corporate jargon.

  4. FIND OUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE GOOD AT

    We all do best when we play to our strengths. A concerted effort should be made to help people understand what their natural strengths are. This can contribute to an organisation’s strategic priorities.

  5. CONSIDER DIVERSITY

    Does your organisation accurately reflect the world outside? It is critical  that people feel comfortable to be themselves at work, regardless of age, gender, sexuality or cultural beliefs. A considered diversity strategy is critical for any modern organisation.