How are Millennial Leaders different?

Gen Y has taken our old-school notion of leadership… and flipped it on its head.

I was born in the early 1960s, stuck between the Baby Boomers and the first Gen Xers. To us, leadership was defined by politicians, military generals and captains of industry – as well as the willingness of dedicated workers to do whatever they were told because they were just “lucky to have a job”.

Most of we Boomers – and perhaps the Gen X-ers who followed our sometimes less-than-stellar example of silo-based, autocratic (and often self-indulgent) leadership would agree: the latest generation to serve as leaders in our workforce, the Millennials, has turned leadership into an art form.

Depending on who we talk to, there are many reasons why “leading toward good” has become a compulsory aspect of Millennial leadership. Here a few:

The Willingness to Share

Baby Boomers are notorious for holding our “secret sauce” close to the vest; to this day, we’re unwilling to share critical information that might help others succeed. Out of a sense of professional survival, we too often refused to share. For all but the most secure, mentorship became obsolete.

Gen Y entrepreneurs, however, see the open sharing of information, and the technology that serves as a delivery device, as an integral component of their success. From blogging about “best practices” (an unavailable resource until relatively recently) to open and active mentorship of colleagues and protégés, open distribution of knowledge is critical to the sharing aspect of today’s new leaders.

The latest generation to serve as leaders in our workforce, the Millennials, has turned leadership into an art form.

The Appeal of Success (Regardless of Who Gets the Credit)

Gen Y, as a stereotype that pushes 80 million individuals in the US alone into one being, is absolutely driven to success. Better said, Gen Y is driven by their own definition of success.

They’ve heard all the rhetoric about “go to school, get good grades, go to college and get a good job”. This decades old theory-turned-myth has not served them well. Neither has the notion that we’ll go to work for the same company for 40 years and walk away with that worthless gold watch at retirement.

Instead, they believe in the power of teamwork. They collaborate incessantly, even with would-be competitors. They hire and mentor their replacements, sometimes to their detriment. And, when projects go well and organizational milestones are exceeded… they distribute credit to others. To these new leaders, the mission comes first; personal accolades will come later.

The Desire to Learn While Leading

Millennials are often accused of being “entitled” and unwilling to “pay their dues.” What if we took a different look at this group and thought, “We must admire their desire to serve as leaders – and learn from their mistakes in the process – rather than wait years and years to step into some corporate-mandated leadership roles.”

They’ve heard all the rhetoric about “go to school, get good grades, go to college and get a good job”. This decades old theory-turned-myth has not served them well.

At YouTern, we work with emerging Millennial talent every day. We are constantly amazed at how they covet leadership roles, not from an ego-driven perspective as may be the perception, but from the desire to effect change. The theory seems to be, “I believe I am just as capable of gaining support, motivating, and leading as the generations before me. Why should I wait for permission to lead?”

Gen Y didn’t invent all the tools and methods that make them some of today’s most effective leaders. However, while they serve as role models to Gen Z and all who follow, Millennials have already shown the potential to create art in the form of inspiration-driven, precedent-setting, working-toward-good leadership.

Art by Kerozuki

Photo: iStockphoto

No longer just a place to post your resume, LinkedIn is a powerful professional-networking platform. And, like it or not, your presence there is an aspect of your career’s ‘curb appeal.’ Does yours add value, or is it untended shrubbery?

Mine was the scourge of the neighborhood, in need of a total overhaul. Before getting started, I asked SAP social media experts Bill Robb and Brian Rice for guidance. They offered excellent advice on optimizing my profile and using the site’s networking features wisely, and they agreed to let me share their expertise with SAP.info readers. Here are Robb’s and Rice’s top tips for using LinkedIn to keep abreast of your industry; develop and manage contacts; and enhance your professional reputation. (I threw in a few pointers too, about using your words for maximum impact.)

Keep it current

This is a no-brainer for many of you – please, skip ahead. But if you think LinkedIn isn’t relevant unless you’re job hunting, think again. “A few years ago, LinkedIn was a job board, an online resume,” says Rice, director, social media at SAP. “Today, it’s a major content provider. This was a necessary evolution for them to draw users in, and it worked. For a lot of people, spending time on LinkedIn networking and consuming content is now a routine part of their workday.”

In other words: Now that it’s ‘normalized,’ not maintaining a LinkedIn presence can look unprofessional.   So, at a minimum, make sure your profile is current and complete. LinkedIn makes this simple by walking users through the necessary steps and tracking degree of completion. According to Rice, while ‘100-percent done’ is ideal, as long as you keep your percent of completion above 90, it’s fine.

Optimize for search engines

“If you want to be found, be tactical and keyword-optimize your profile,” says Bill Robb, also a social media director at SAP. “Use keywords that highlight your skill-set, and use them in the right place. Certain parts of your profile, like the summary, index higher (in search).”

Don’t be a dweeb

Both Rob and Rice caution that keywords should not be confused with past-their-prime platitudes. “Every time I see the word ‘guru’ I cringe,” says Rice.

“‘Ninja,’ adds Robb. “Can people just stop using ‘ninja’ – please?”

Pimp your intro

The summary section at the top of your profile is likely to be the first visitors peruse. Unless you grab their attention (and quickly) it’s also likely to be the last. “Be as creative as possible here,” advises Robb, “but also be practical.”

In other words: While writing your intro in Klingon certainly shows personality, it’s also indecipherable.  Remember, keywords are critical here. Use terms you want to be associated with, even if they’re plain. Instead of trying to say ‘database administration’ in a newfangled way, focus instead on presenting the familiar language in an unexpected format. See my profile for one approach.

 Liven up your link text too

Face it – “My Website” and “My Blog” are just lame. Luckily, LinkedIn lets you change the default link text leading to your blog, portfolio, Web site, etc. Be creative, but don’t go nuts; you want people to know what they’re clicking. Use descriptive words, a call to action, or both:
Jen’s Social Media Musings
Read my social media blog.

If you’re in a creative or liberal industry, have some fun with it:
My blog is better than your blog.

Customize your URL

Your URL doesn’t have to look like this:https://www.linkedin.com/content=crazylong_toomany32908284numbers23095=#?!$!?textlink/UGH!.  It takes just a few seconds to customize your public profile URL. (Find options near the bottom of the right-hand column.)  If possible, use your name.

Ring in the endorsements

LinkedIn Endorsements are a way for users to ‘validate’ that their connections have certain skills. Conversely, your own endorsements are an offer-of-proof that you actually possess the competencies your claim. Opinions as to their value vary. Some users love endorsements, others think them meaningless because they can be gained simply by offering reciprocity:  Endorse me and I’ll endorse you back!

“Take endorsements for what they are, and they’re actually very effective,” Robb says. “I’ve spoken to the people who developed this feature and the idea was to quickly give people a general sense of where your skills lie. It works: In five seconds, people can scan your endorsements and see what your strengths are by where you have the most.”

But focus on recommendations

Without a doubt, Robb says, recommendations are far more valuable than endorsements. “Instead of clicking a prompt, someone actually took time to write something about you personally. That says a lot.”

Rice agrees. “I don’t spend time worrying at night that I don’t have endorsements for my skills. I’d much rather have recommendations.”

Point being: Focus your time and energy on soliciting peer or manager recommendations – a minimum of three is ideal, according to our experts – and let the endorsements come as they may.

Use LinkedIn Today to keep cluelessness at bay

LinkedIn, as mentioned, has become a major content curator, delivering news, blogs, and other information from around the web. LinkedIn Today has a number of features for customizing the content you receive, among them a feed of the most-read content among  your connections – a great way keep current with news and events relevant to your industry.

“LinkedIn also has some pretty cool thought-leadership content,” says Rice, referring to LinkedIn-exclusive blogs by renowned business-leaders.

Give, give, give, and then give some more

Contribute to your network and the LinkedIn community at every opportunity, and benefits ye shall reap.  If it’s recognition you’re after, don’t join a group and spam the members with self-promotional posts. Instead, earn a good reputation by adding value: pose interesting questions and contribute to the discussion whenever you can. If you use LinkedIn Answers to seek help, answer someone else’s question. “Like a lot of things, you get out of LinkedIn what you put into it,” says Robb.

This SAP.info post is by Jennifer Lankheim

Part of me wants to wrestle the term “diversity” away from all the diversity practitioners in organizations.

Don’t get me wrong—I think diversity practitioners are great. I’m one of them, in fact. We’re doing good work, for really good reasons, and we’re getting results. But over the years we’ve ended up enmeshed in HR, and training, and compliance, and protecting people from lawsuits…to the point where sometimes I think we might have lost sight of what diversity is all about.

Diversity Means Difference

That’s it. It’s the ways in which we are different from each other. And diversity’s sister term—inclusion—also tends to be similarly over complicated in organizations these days. Inclusion simply means the capacity to include difference (these beautifully simple definitions, by the way, come from Joe Gerstandt).

21st century leaders need to reconnect to these basic definitions, because in today’s environment, we need diversity and inclusion more than ever. Why? Because they are at the heart of innovation. You can’t have innovation without difference. Frans Johannson demonstrated this eloquently in his book, The Medici Effect, several years ago. We need people who are different to be working together in order to generate successful innovation. It’s at the “intersection” of thinking from people who come from different points of view where innovation is born.

One of the important jobs of leaders today is to help create cultures that do inclusion well.

So one of the important jobs of leaders today is to help create cultures that do inclusion well. And to be honest, this is not our strong suit. We’re good at similarities. We hire people who remind us of…us. We’re good at putting people together in departments who all think the same way and have the same background. We love consistency and sameness. It’s orderly and controlled.

Then we turn around and say how committed we are to innovation, without recognizing that our culture—which values sameness and consistency—is constantly working against innovation. So how do you create a culture that is good at inclusion?

You start by geting comfortable with paradox. Today’s leaders need to be okay with contradictions and not be stopped by them. I see this all the time in cultures that really value inclusion and walk the walk of diversity. In Humanize, we identified three paradoxes that provide a foundation for those cultures:

Proud Humility

The marketing department has to be confident in its expertise and insight, but also be willing to acknowledge that it can be a huge pain in the ass to the rest of us sometimes. That’s proud humility: powerful, but not walking over everyone.

Aggressive Sensitivity

When sensitivity turns into fear of upsetting anyone, we’ve all lost. We need to push each other, even offend sometimes, but stay committed to resolving conflict when it happens. That way we all learn and grow while still respecting each other. If you think the marketing department is off its rocker, you need to tell them and stay in the conversation until you’ve worked it out.

When sensitivity turns into fear of upsetting anyone, we’ve all lost.

Dynamic Stability

Inclusive cultures understand how to compose a consistent narrative about who they are and where they are going, despite implementing nearly continuous change. In companies like this, you won’t hear departments use “but that’s how we’ve always done it” as an objection.

There’s more to creating a culture of inclusion than embracing paradoxes like these, but it’s a good start – and a critical skill for 21^st century leadership.

Let’s Explore.

More explicitly, EdTech, is a the study and practice of facilitating “e-learning,” or instructional methods by combining technology, media, and learning theory (Marlboro Edu). EdTech systems can be K-12 schools, higher education, businesses, corporate facilities, and beyond. In a broad sense of the term, it is a tool used as an extension for human capability.

Caleb Clark, of Marlboro College Graduate School, defines it as a place where “teach” meets “geek.” Clark notes that teachers typically do not have the technological “geek” understanding of the system, but have the talent to teach. Reversed, those engineering the mechanical and technological support systems often don’t know how to “teach” and be engaging. Somewhere in the middle lies, EdTech, the perfect balance of “geeking it out” with technology and more traditional teaching approaches.

EdTech provides learners with the appropriate technological resources in the form of software, hardware, and Internet applications – blogs, wikis, and webinars, and telecommunications – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The facilitating process of technological resources is endless and quickly changing.

An interesting fact about EdTech is, that with the exponential growth of the Internet/technology, there are no limits or containing categories that EdTech falls into. Versatile as it is, “EdTechers,” those working behind the system and embracing the change, make sure to keep it a mere extension/liaison, and use it as a tool to bridge newer processes with traditional teaching, and ensure it is easily adapted without losing sight of the goal and main teaching objectives.

Current platforms supporting EdTech include digital classroom systems such as Blackboard, OpenCourseWare, and E-Lecta.edu. Other supporting technologies include podcasts, wiki pages, mobile devices (m-learning), and mobile applications.

What can we expect from the future of EdTech?

In this era of education 2.0, we will continue to see platform expansion. As of now, m-learning seems to be on the rise with its appeal of on-the-go access, collaboration using cloud computing, and the sharing compatibility, which gives mobility possibilities even more leverage. As of April 15th, Scholastics launched its largest product in EdTech history, which was six breakthrough mobile programs for the common core proficiency of students, designed specifically for the iPad. We are sure to see more of this happening in the very near future.

Always keep learning.

To riff on the Billy Shakespeare’s quote, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the bureaucrats.”

I do find that sentiment funny, though I don’t subscribe to such a black and white view of life. I am, however, terribly honest, so here is my take:  bureaucracy is unavoidable, logical, and can be good. Much like government, alcohol, and chocolate cake it must be used in moderation. Excessive bureaucracy becomes a disease that erodes the capacity for rational thought.

In the face of excessive policy and red tape, it is the savvy politician and not the capable businessperson who runs the organization.

Recently I decided to leave the ivory tower to pursue entrepreneurial pursuits full-time. While wrapping up my final few months on campus an idea hit me. Wouldn’t it be great if I could take my laptop with me when I leave? I love my MacBook Air and figured I could pay the university a few bucks and be off with it.

I fired off an email to the Dean of the college. She replied that she would have to ask our business manager. Red flag! The top boss, on a trivial matter, was not empowered to make a decision. Interesting.

Days later, the Dean emailed me the response from the business manager. The email began, “Dean – I’m afraid that’s impossible.” A massive amount of legalese followed, describing why it was impossible to allow me to keep my computer. I’m bright, but I still had difficulty understanding the lengthy and arcane policies being described.

Excessive bureaucracy becomes a disease that erodes the capacity for rational thought.

The Dean accepted the ruling of the low level bureaucrat without batting an eye.

I was dumbfounded. The place where I have been a professor for over a decade is a quality institution of higher learning. It is amazing in many regards. We produce mountains of scientific literature. We produce engineers and medical doctors. We have researchers working on technologies that would blow your mind.

Yet it is apparently inconceivable that I could maintain possession of my laptop upon leaving.  How embarrassing.

Let me help those of you who might be wondering how bad the bureaucratic creep has become at your organization. Consider these two issues:

First, who has the power? Is it the innovators or the bureaucrats? Healthy organizations use bureaucracy to hedge the risks of innovation. Mediocre organizations allow bureaucracy to prevent innovation.

True, me leaving with my laptop is not innovation, but you get my point. If you see an occasional absurd decision, hey, that happens. If you regularly see absurd decisions, you’re in trouble. Bureaucratic creep has taken many a quality institution and rendered it sterile.

 Second, are you seeing many system-wide answers adopted for simple local problems? This is a sure sign that you are sliding down the slippery slope towards bureaucratic paralysis.

Many organizations are in serious need a good policy enema.

It goes like this: a manager perceives some error or threat or bad behavior (usually of no more than modest severity), they overreact, and demand a rule or policy to prevent this from happening in the future! The new policy is implemented and now the entire organization must bear the weight of this new policy.

Multiply this times all similar instances and you can quickly see how bureaucracy grows exponentially. Whereas people used to think about possibilities, they now consider ways their proposed behaviors might flout rules or otherwise get them in trouble.

Many organizations are in serious need a good policy enema.

It should not be acceptable to create new rules without eliminating others. It should not be easy to put new policies on the books. It should not be acceptable that there is no formally defined upper limit to the number of policies we might enact. It should not be the case that well-intentioned senior leaders feel neutered by risk-averse bureaucrats who can’t see past the end of their nose.

Bureaucracy, like all necessary evils or enjoyable vices, must be seriously watched – not encouraged to grow unchecked. Ladies and gentlemen, if innovation is to rule the day, I submit to you the following: it is not impossible to take the computer out of the building.

Art by: EducatedMolecule

Picture this.

You have a large family of various ages, interests and incomes, some who live with you and some who don’t, some who live nearby and some who are significantly farther flung. To build stronger ties and create a more cohesive family unit, why not organize a big expensive vacation in an exotic place where none of them has ever been?

You set to work, picking a departure date, purchasing airline tickets, and arranging accommodations. You send word to meet at your house for an important announcement. Then you spring the plan on them and demand that the entire group be ready to leave right now.

Sure, some people have conflicts or other obligations. Others just hate to travel. They grumble, they gripe, they resist. There’s crying, and a few walk away in a huff.

What, you wonder, is wrong with these people? Surely, you reason, they’ll be more appreciative once the vacation actually begins.

But nooooooo…

Cousin Mattie gets anxious in crowds. Uncle Leo, the recovering alcoholic, has settled in at the bar. Your sister’s new outfit would have been fabulous here, except no one told her to bring it. Mom can’t negotiate the stairs and won’t take the elevator, and Dad just wants to watch TV.

Not one of your relatives is taking advantage of the adventure or even the weather. You decide you must have the worst, most ungrateful family in the world.

But let’s look at it another way.

With perfectly good intentions, you made a well-thought-out plan. But because you didn’t prepare any of the participants for their journey or their destination, they became uncooperative, unhappy and resentful. Why?

Because you didn’t manage their expectations.

You didn’t ask for input. You didn’t share information that would have helped them get ready. You’re not even making improvements now that it’s underway. You simply thrust them into unfamiliar territory without the supplies, support and snorkel gear they needed to succeed.

It’s not that they were unwilling to make a change. It’s that you didn’t present the change in a palatable way.

Likewise, any significant organizational change requires people to make major behavioral changes both individually and collectively – not only in the ways they perform specific processes but also in how they operate, interact, collaborate, learn, adjust, and share. So it’s just not fair to impose change from the top down and ignore the “people” aspects that will inevitably result.

Not only is it unfair, it sets them – and you – up for failure.

Learning to change is never an easy task. As professionals in the learning industry, we are charged with finding ways to make it easier for people to accept and adjust to change. That’s why SAP Education explores how Learning is Changing. Through the lens of today’s social learning revolution, we have unprecedented opportunities to access the newest approaches, test the newest tools, and experiment with the newest techniques, led by the industry’s thought leaders and trendsetters.

I’m not saying it will be a vacation. But it will be a welcome change.

This blog originally appeared on SCN and was republished with permission.

We live in a world where trust in political and corporate leadership in America is still hovering near all-time lows. Of course, much of this lack of trust is easy to explain.

The gridlock in Congress, along with the less-than-stellar role Wall Street and our financial institutions played in the last recession have created doubt about the strength of our country’s leadership institutions. In addition, the media likes to revel in bad news like pigs in dirt.

When viewed holistically, you can see how we live in a world that has many viewing the glass as half empty and wondering not whether, but when, the other shoe will drop.

Having worked with dozens of organizations over the past 15 years, though, I believe most leaders have integrity are trying to do right, while also doing well. But without question, leading is difficult. I have found that what hinders leaders’ efforts is not intent, but lack of awareness of the key issues or lack of skill to lead well.

I have found that what hinders leaders’ efforts is not intent, but lack of awareness of the key issues or lack of skill to lead well

The America’s Workforce survey delivered some meaningful insights on areas leaders can focus on to build leadership credibility and lead more effectively. After all, we can keep talking about what is not right or we can focus on what we know we can do to make a difference.

The survey results suggest that top leaders do three things effectively in successful organizations.

1. Understand what winning looks like

In the survey, 40% of employees admitted that they don’t fully understand their company’s vision. Some haven’t been exposed to it at all. The same percentage felt their managers don’t understand the company’s strategy or goals.

So the first thing a good leader needs to do is to make sure the people in the organization understand what winning looks like by meaningfully connecting people to the vision. Have you ever worked on a puzzle without seeing the box top? Or think of playing in a game without being told how you actually win. It is difficult, de-motivating and not a whole lot of fun.

People in the organization need to understand what winning looks like

A good leader tells the story of the business, looks for avenues to have organizational conversations, invests in managers so they understand how to translate the strategy for their people, and ensures that everyone recognizes how they contribute to winning.

2. Lead with authenticity

The second focus for good leaders is to make sure their authority comes not just from the position, but from a sense of trust, authenticity, and stewardship for the organization.

49% of the workers surveyed felt that their leaders are genuine or authentic only sometimes, if not less often. It’s very difficult to be at your best if you are not sure you can fully trust the intentions of your leadership. This is one reason so many employees play it safe. In fact, 67% of the workforce in the survey could name at least one thing that would prevent them from taking any kind of risk at work.

 It’s very difficult to be at your best if you are not sure you can fully trust the intentions of your leadership

The number one item that stops them from taking any risk – you guessed it – is not having enough support from their supervisor. It’s not enough to have a workforce ready to contribute if they are also nervous that if they jump in and take risks, no one will back them up.

Great leaders are often publicly vulnerable. It is perfectly ok not to have all the answers, but to seek a better way with the team rather than just tell them. It is also important to openly discuss your expectations and your concerns and to define where risk taking is ok and where it isn’t.

I have observed that those conversations do not occur in most situations, and therefore leaders aren’t fully understood, employees don’t take risks, and performance is not great.

3. Create ownership and enable collaboration

Another challenge for leaders is how to best connect the dots of activities across an organization. In the survey, 69% of workers felt they were at least somewhat accountable for the success of their team. When asked about working with other teams, however, only 30% said that each individual’s responsibilities were clear.

Between managing up, down, or across different departments, 43% of workers called out managing across as the hardest to do. From a leadership standpoint, you need to consider effective goal alignment across teams. You also should encourage conversations that connect the dots between teams and align them to the larger picture of winning for the organization, rather than their specific team-based priorities.

From a leadership standpoint, you need to consider effective goal alignment across teams

The goal is to ensure everyone feels responsible for the whole as much as they own their piece.

So there is significant skepticism among America’s workforce, but great leaders are overcoming and setting examples for how to conquer the most pressing concerns. These leaders are able to paint a picture of what winning looks like that everyone can connect to. They understand the role of vulnerability and authenticity in gaining trust, and they focus on breaking down barriers to enable better cross-functional collaboration.

Understand the role of vulnerability and authenticity in gaining trust

This is how effective leaders can be best in class when it comes to creating better, more successful and more trusted organizations.

Preview the America’s Workforce survey findings or download the full report.

Graphic by  IkazNarsis

This Talent Project Blog post is by Jocelyn Lincoln, Vice President, Recruitment Operations – Kelly Services.

Managers cannot make work meaningful for employees. Managers, however, can shape the workplace environment to let meaningful work become possible for employees. With a context set to let meaning be experienced, employees can leverage the environment to derive meaning from their work.

Meaningful work is vague. What exactly is it? Assuredly it begins quite selfishly. But this is out of necessity. For work to be meaningful, it is the employee who must label it so. This requires a belief that meaningful work is a desired outcome from managements’ actions. And employees believe managements’ intentions and see actions aimed to let meaning emerge.

For work to be meaningful, it is the employee who must label it so

To explain what meaningful work is, let’s look at its characteristics. In short, however, meaningful work is employees’ perceived positive value of what they are doing. It’s a source of joy in their overall life. In the words of Max Depree, “[it’s] maturing, enriching, and fulfilling, healing, and joyful.”

Basic needs are met

Think Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Employees physiological and safety needs must be met. It’s a base requirement for meaningful work to emerge.

Strengths are leveraged

Don’t confuse strengths with competency. Strengths are what energize you. Employees must experience work that energizes them. Otherwise all work is draining and meaning is absent.

Don’t confuse strengths with competency

Pull personal satisfaction from work

Employees’ perceive their work to be fulfilling.

Being in on things

Employees believe they are trusted with important, inside knowledge. This includes knowing that there is important information but it must be kept confidential from employees for the benefit of the organization.

Treated with respect by peers and managers

This doesn’t say liked, but respected. There is a difference. At its core is employees’ believe they can speak their ideas and be in action to achieve the best possible outcomes.

See how one’s work fits into the bigger picture

Really, what hasn’t been said or written about this. Enough said.

Personal sense of independence and interdependence

Autonomy in completing one’s work has always been important. Collaboration is vital in the 21st century given the internet and globalization. These raise the importance of interdependence in today’s workplaces.

Employees believe they are valued by the organization, by management

To be viewed as a replaceable cog in the proverbial wheel is antiquated management. Organizations thrive or die based on human actions. To that end, meaningful work is marked by the belief that employees are the means to a profitable end.

To be viewed as a replaceable cog in the proverbial wheel is antiquated management

Opportunities to know self

Let’s look back to Max Depree’s words. For work to be meaningful, there must be a maturing nature of work. Such an evolving awareness of the nature of work is best met by an evolving, deepening awareness of one’s self. Coaching, feedback and awareness of one’s place in the universe are vital to make sense of meaningful work. Such opportunities are humbling.

Promotion of other’s satisfaction

Immanuel Kant, philosopher, placed our ability to be concerned for other’s wellbeing and humanity as important to meaningful work. Such a belief places an emphasis on a strong, united team supporting others’ ability to flourish.

Recognized, give recognition for good work

For meaningful work to emerge, employees’ efforts are recognized in manners important to the person. Furthermore, giving recognition is believed to matter, creating a cycle of reciprocity that is genuine.

In today’s workplace, meaningful work is radical. For some managers, to influence a meaningful workplace environment is heretical. This is precisely what our workplaces need.

Image by Shawn Murphy

Our next interview in the HR Thought Leadership series features Ed Shaw, Global Lead of Talent Development, on the topic of leadership. Ed offers his insights and advice on how to create and lead a high functioning team and how to inspire others to achieve success and innovation.

Q: How would you define a great leader?

I think a great leader is someone who is able to understand and listen to the needs of the employees, helping them to develop their career and skills. Great leaders also need to have clarity on their expectations, in-line with business goals, support they can provide, availability to the team and individuals, and have strong written and verbal communication skills, alongside listening skills. I think the formal approach, setting up a cadence of one-on-one and team meetings, is important but that this also needs to be supplemented with informal elements, such as dropping someone a SMS to thank them or to check in periodically. If people know that you’re thinking about them and that you are there if they do need you, you empower them to go ahead and take a few more risks because they know they have your support. And when they are not sure about something, they know they can come and check in with you in the moment that they need you.

Q: What leadership practices do you feel are most helpful in achieving team success and innovation?

I think encouraging innovation is about initially challenging your team to aim high and acknowledge that we can occasionally fail. You can almost say that you need to make mistakes in order to progress. Something my boss has been very good at is allowing me the freedom to make mistakes. And, as long as I was clear on the learning from that mistake, it was accepted. Obviously if you continue to make the same mistake, you’re not progressing and not gaining wisdom that you can apply to the next lesson. When you’re allowing people the freedom to innovate, the reality is on occasion they’re going to make the wrong choice.

Mistakes can only be made if we’re cognizant of the risks. People can’t go off in isolation and make decisions on something that actually can have a risk to the company or from a legal standpoint. So the risk must be clear, and agreed upfront, otherwise it could be too dangerous. Also, there must be no surprises. I think giving people the safety net of your support, but allowing them the empowerment to go and define their own approach and their own way of achieving a goal is great. But there cannot be surprises because that’s how you disrupt a business. If the consideration for risk has been discussed then I always try to encourage my team to find their own path, and bring their own flair – this, in turn, leads to the team member stretching their ability to succeed.

I believe that my role is to help the team become successful and I think my boss considers my success when the team over-delivers on everything they should. Therefore, if the team is successful, that’s what ultimately makes me successful.

Q: What are the key elements to a successful team?

The team leader’s first role is to define their perspective on leadership and their part in the team. For instance, how they will operate, what is their leadership and personal style, what is their expectation of the team or individuals, what will they do for the team and what will they not. So once the scope, boundaries and framework for the team are established, you can then define the roles, how people are going to be organized and rewarded, and how they will be evaluated based on those criteria.

Hopefully by defining the ground rules of how you’re going to operate will allow people the freedom to succeed, as long as you’re open in your communication; whether those receiving praise or those receiving constructive feedback. I think that’s what encourages people to go off and surpass obstacles because once they see someone make a mistake and their mistake is called out, not because that person has made an error but more around the learning we can all take from it, people will feel they have a safe environment in which they can go and take a little risk, potentially to achieve greater results, knowing they have your support. The worse thing a leader can do is purposely have their own agenda – you’re the keeper of the team, you’re not the team.

The other element the leader brings, to ensure tangible success, is the vision from the outset – being able to clearly define the end state, though not necessarily the steps to achieve the goal; the team’s diversity can ensure the delivery, once the vision is crystalised for all.

So my view is that great leaders contribute to a team’s success by setting the vision clearly to all, encouraging participation in building the steps to achieve, surrounding themselves by a diverse group of individuals with complementary skills that cause creative abrasion, and then ensure the team’s success is visible, clearly communicated and recognized, to the team’s credit versus their own.

Q: Do you think good leadership qualities are innate in people or can they be taught?

I think people can be born with the tendency towards strong leadership, or possess natural leadership skills – this puts them in a stronger position for leadership roles and makes others naturally gravitate towards them. I think certain people possess qualities and strengths in their personality make-ups that contribute towards a tendency to display more strengths and skills of leadership – they will still need to hone these skills and ensure they are cognizant of other’s perceptions, but these in-born qualities of communication, or visionary ability, make them leaders more readily or more obviously. However, I think you can teach someone and anyone to be a better leader. Leadership skills may be inherent but they can also be developed. In an established company, you need to take a combination of both. Find positions for your natural leaders that play to their strengths, but built a robust leadership development portfolio to expand aspiring leadership capability in parallel; obviously this portfolio can also be utilized to improve existing natural leaders as much as those who wish to emulate them.

Q: Any last words?

To become a great leader, your self-awareness needs to be a key priority. You cannot have blind spots as a leader, because if they’re blind to you, you can almost guarantee that they’re not blind to other people. You need to make sure you establish a feedback network early, to make sure you understand which pieces are maintained and which pieces you may have lost focused. That continual self-awareness and reflection is what allows people to become the best leaders and reduces the risks of allowing key leadership skills to decline or be eliminated.

Ed believes a great leader gives their team the freedom to take calculated risks, and stresses the importance of risk taking in the creative and problem-solving process. While Ed believes some people may have natural leadership qualities, the best leaders can and must develop their leadership through continued learning and reflection.

Do you agree with Ed that leaders should encourage an environment of autonomy to take calculated risks? What are some of the admirable qualities you respect in a leader?

 This post originally appeared on SCN and was republished with permission.