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Tuesday, October 27, 2009Simple Leadership Tip You Can Use Today
This article is © 2009 PositivePsychologyNews.com - Marie-Josée Salvas Shaar.
Are your employees eager to work for you most days of the week? Too few leaders can answer this question with a confident yes. Today’s a tip will help you be one of them.
Many of us envision the "ideal leader" as someone who is physically and mentally strong. Someone who gets things done. Someone who is both invigorated and invigorating, and preferably who succeeds equally well in their personal and professional lives.
When you think about it, that's the portrait of someone who knows how to capitalize on their strengths and who has the mindset of a winner. It implies enough self-respect to cultivate sensible sleep, food and exercise habits, and enough respect for others to give them the opportunity to do the same.
This ideal leader is the opposite of the overstretched, impatient and nothing-but-work mentality that is so typical. Yet, a lot of business people still think of the overstretched attitude as reflective of good business acumen. Revisiting this whole concept is long overdue.
A Leader’s Job Is to Make People the Best They Can Be
How employees perform determines to a large extent whether companies succeed. To produce and maintain first-class performance levels, employees need to be in good mental and physical health. For that reason, positively encouraging staff members to adopt healthy lifestyles is a sound leadership strategy.
And it works. In an address to the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Barbara Fredrickson shared the results of a meditation research she led in a corporate setting. Commenting on her findings, she mentioned that compliance rates amongst participants were higher than ever anticipated. Curious, I asked what accounted for such high compliance rates. Her answer? Employees felt more inclined to stick with the program because it was available through work.
In other words, not only does a healthy workforce render better results, but due to the contractual nature of their relationship with employees, leaders are in a particularly good position to encourage their teams to achieve lifestyle changes.
Concrete Application You Can Use Today
Here’s
a simple yet effective leadership tip to integrate healthy
behaviors with business strategy. Start a new spreadsheet. On the
vertical axis, write down the names of your employees.
On the horizontal axis, write behaviors you want to
encourage consistently in your staff. For example,
you might want to give recognition more often or remind your team of a
timely priority (current promotion, specific deadline, etc). Other ideas may include expressing trust, or encouraging the use of one’s strengths. Also
as column headers, write healthy behaviors you want to encourage in your
employees (sleeping enough, turning blackberries off during meetings, making time for a nutritious lunch, etc.).
Then each time you encourage an activity for a specific employee, put a check mark in the corresponding box of your spreadsheet. Samantha seems more focused than usual today? Give her kudos, then keep track for yourself on the grid.
Over time, you may notice that you fail to reinforce certain key behaviors. Or you may be really good at giving recognition to certain employees, but not to others. Assuming everyone is deserving of appreciation, this reality check will help direct your attention towards your praise-deprived team members and make it up to them.
This technique will help you adjust your practices so they reinforce the behaviors you want to see, thus making your more of the leader you want to be. Equally important, it keeps you accountable for the behaviors you are encouraging in others, which will improve and enhance your relationships with your staff.
“The leader who exercises power with honor will work from the inside out, starting with himself.” – Blaine Lee
“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi
Images:
Clock courtesy of Inno’vison
Happy employee courtesy of Edwin Dalorzo
References:
Fredrickson, B. (2009). Address at the International Positive Psychology Association World Congress.
Fredrickson, B. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive. New York: Crown.
Lee, B. (1998). The Power Principle: Influence with Honor. New York: Fireside.
Loehr, J. & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. New York: Free Press.
Posted By: Marie-Josée Salvas Shaar @ 5:21:15 PM