New Leadership

As our frustrations of the pandemic finally start to lift there is a sense of excitement and panic as restaurants find themselves fully booked for the next year, holiday apartments sold out, people booking flights to foreign countries… and business leaders scrabble to “hit the ground running.”

And I fear we have learned nothing.

We have had a year to learn and reflect, but every time humanity takes a step forward in its evolution, it follows with a step back…

Research shows us that most of us DON’T want to go back to work “the way it was.” Our priorities have changed during lockdown. We realise things that are important to us that we ignored before with our noses to the grindstone. We’ve promised to make changes for the better, to not get onto that hamster wheel again… yet people are like elastic bands in many ways.

If we want to keep our best people we need to listen to their wants, needs and desires and become servant leaders. That requires Integrity, Self-awareness Compassion, Collaboration, Trust, Support and Empowerment of others.

Sometimes I think people will get bored of me banging on about how we should respect the core values or driving forces of our people and satisfy those if we are to empower them. And the empowering our people is what leads to fulfilment for them and the happiest of fallouts; productivity for us!

I have been preaching this since before my company gained Investors in People back in 2003. But imagine how Robert Greenleaf would feel, since it was him who coined the phrase back in 1969? I bet Plato and Aristotle must be rolling their eyes, too as they had the same message.

So unless we see the changes that we know must happen for us evolve, then I guess we’ll have to keep saying it?

To gain increased performance, productivity, and results, you need to empower your people. To empower them you must know what’s in it for them. What motivates them, what desires they want fulfilled. I’m not talking about your company values or the mission statement, I'm talking about our true personal core values, which are embedded in our experience during our formative years.

Leaders, it's up to you. Please do not allow us to go back to the way it was.