Leadership Matters
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By Vanessa Judelman

A senior executive who is struggling at work, David, constantly feels overwhelmed and overworked. He has been in a leadership role in his company for 15 years and used to love coming to work every day. Now, David dreads Monday morning.

So, what has changed? When asked for his perspective, David said that the demands of the business have changed, his role has changed and the business environment has dramatically changed. It’s faster and more complex than ever before.

Many of us who have been working for more than 10 years have noticed this shift. The new world of work is having a significant impact on leadership. Why? In the “good old days,” a top-down leadership approach was the norm. Our leadership role models, like Donald Trump and Jack Welch, taught us that it was okay to be autocratic, hierarchical and demanding.

However, part of this workplace shift is that “old school” leadership is no longer working. A top-down approach is incongruous with the culture that employees desire. People want their leaders to be authentic. They want their leaders to care about them. They expect their leaders to help them develop, learn and grow. After all, our benchmark for an engaged workforce is no longer GE, but rather people-centric cultures like Google.

These changing expectations for leaders are certainly desirable. But in reality, many leaders are finding it difficult to adapt. After all, like David, they have been very successful for many years leveraging an “old school” leadership style.

Unfortunately, what worked in the past is no longer enough. It is no longer okay to focus on tasks and objectives and ignore your people. It is no longer okay to be demanding and controlling. In the new world of work, leaders need to use a balanced approach. They need to focus equally on executing their tasks and managing their people. This is a critical success factor for effective leadership in 2014.

So, how can our swamped and often overworked leaders develop a culture that ensures their team is happy and engaged? Here is my list of the top three ways leaders can excel in the new world of work:

1. Be nice. This may seem obvious; however, some managers get too focused on ego, power and control and they forget to treat people with care and consideration. Other managers get so focused on the task at hand that they forget basic manners, like saying “thank you” for a job well done.
2. Set a clear direction. Leaders need to provide their team with a clear and inspiring vision. This helps people to feel a sense of purpose and understand how their work contributes to the success of the organization. It is also important to ensure that each team member understands the expectations of their role. Consequently, everyone is focused on what is important and feels confident that they are spending their time on the right things.
3. Give your people an opportunity to learn and grow. Research indicates that if people are learning, they are more likely to be engaged at work. In fact, if employees feel they are being paid fairly, career development is more important to most people than money. So, if leaders want their team to be engaged, they must encourage their development. For example, leaders can create opportunities to place people on special projects. Leaders also need to learn to delegate work that will allow others to grow and develop new skills.

Maintaining happiness

Recently, a longtime employee at a certain company left his job. Why? It wasn’t because he didn’t like the work he was doing. Nor was it because he didn’t like his organization. Rather, it was because his manager was making his life miserable. Have you been there before? Working for a disrespectful manager can be a miserable experience.

Do we assume that it is a manger’s role to ensure his or her team is happy? Absolutely! After all, in many cases, people leave managers, not companies.

Being a leader is not easy. Yet, it is critically important that if you choose to manage other people that you learn how to balance both people and the execution of tasks. After all, people will only work hard for a leader who they like, trust and respect.

Does that mean that employees get a free ride? Not a chance! While leaders need to create a culture that people enjoy, employees have a role to play, too. Employees need to come to work with a positive attitude, a desire to work hard and a willingness to grow and develop as their organization evolves. Employees need to be resilient. They need to be willing to adapt to organizational change.

So, for executives like David, adjusting to the expectations of a changing workplace can be difficult. However, leaders need to realize that this change is necessary. Although learning to be a different type of leader can be hard, it is the key to a happier, more productive work experience.

Vanessa Judelman is president of People Mosaic Development.

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