At leadership & talent, we thrive on helping leaders and talents reach their goals and dreams. Ultimately, when done well, this leads to higher employee engagement and more well-being. What’s not to like?
It’s really quite simple. If we fully engage all our colleagues, they will perform well and stay with us. And the best talents will join us too.
Top management goes first. They walk-the-talk. Then the powerhouse of leaders goes to work. They role-model and enforce values and great behaviour. When done well, every single colleague experiences increased empowerment, well-being and management support – individually and in their teams.
Values, behaviours, engagement – then performance. When this works, colleagues can clearly see what leaders are doing differently. They notice how their leaders are being trained and how they are developing on-the-job, trying every day to encourage and support.
They experience leaders and colleagues working together in the Power of Us:
We will perform – we are motivated and have clear direction
We know how to perform – we have the knowledge and skills
We can perform – we have the right conditions and support
If only it were that simple. We often hear organisations claim that “leadership and talent are our primary competitive advantage”, yet studies show that many colleagues are not truly engaged in their work – at best, they are just getting tasks done.
So, as leaders, we need to stay on our toes. And let’s be honest, it can be tiring consistently being held accountable for making our place “a great place to work”. But, on the other hand, isn’t that what we all want?
One thing that can make it a little easier, and hopefully lead to lasting change, is to adjust our perspective from managing to serving our colleagues. Try asking yourself if you truly:
Show integrity and humility
Have consistent focus on involving, empowering and serving others
Care for, appreciate and develop others
Show professional drive, ambition and strategic alignment
Replace rules, controls and micro-management with strong expectations and accountability
Encourage curiosity, transparency, trial and error, feedback and dialogue
At leadership & talent, we believe this shift in the way we lead might just be enough. The hard work starts right there, if you will join us on the journey to The Power of Us.