A while back, someone asked me what a great work culture means to me. Ever since I was a teenager, I was a strong believer in creating a healthy and positive culture around me, where people would feel empowered to be their best version of themselves.
You can’t have that culture, unless you appreciate authenticity in the workplace and encourage open discussion amongst all team members. And let’s face it, there are many organizations with great values on the wall, however they’re not being embraced through their actions and the way they operate. On the other side, there are lots of organizations out there, which do embrace their true values and you can see that in overall satisfaction and employees engagement.
We spend more time in the workplace than we spend at home. It is a reality! It is extremely important to feel safe, empowered and be part of an environment where growth, development and trust are key values. Most importantly a place where everyone is included, appreciated and supported to succeed in their role, while embracing our differences.
In my career, I had the chance to work with many great leaders, whom I admire and appreciate. However I also had some not so great experiences, which taught me a lot about, who I am and what type of leader I want to be. I am extremely grateful for those experiences too.
There is a motto “It takes a village to raise a child” which I find very applicable to leaders too. It takes a village of mentors, coaches and leaders to help people become the best leaders they can possibly be.
Thinking about leadership, here are a few things I appreciate in a leader.
- Open feedback and honesty. Nothing is worse than getting positive feedback on your performance, and then not knowing what you need to work on to grow and develop, so you can move up. You may ask and be told everything is great, however in reality that may not be the case. I heard so many cases like this. You can’t help a staff member, unless you are open about what works and what doesn’t work. The only way you can improve performance is by being truly candid, and there are ways to deliver feedback in a very positive way, while supporting the employee growth and self-confidence.
- Building trust. Knowing your team. I am not saying, I am perfect as a leader. I made many mistakes especially in the early days of my career, however one thing that I did was to know my team outside of the workplace. Their likes, hobbies, names of their family members, what they enjoy, where they go on vacation, motivation, interests, future plans etc. Even if I worked in a very busy environment, I always found time to connect on a personal level. Building trust with the team starts with personal connection. I believe that building trust goes both ways, and to make it work there is a need to build relationships on both ends.
- Learning from failures. As people and leaders, we often make mistakes. However, I am surprised that very few leaders accept those failures and talk about them. The fear of accepting that a decision, may not have been the best one can be frightening and I’ve seen many leaders who are not talking about those not so great decisions they made. I am wondering, if we as a society expect too much perfection from a leader. I appreciate when leaders acknowledge they could have made a better decision. It shows vulnerability and encourages others to do the same. The world is tired of perfect people and let’s face it, to lead people is never easy. The reality is that the best lessons we learn in life come from failures, therefore the more we discuss about our failures, the better.
- Integrity. Integrity is a strong quality and it is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. This means what you say you do. It is not always what you do but also how you do it. Working for a business with high integrity and moral values are key and important for any respectable business leader looking to make a difference.
- Empathy, understanding and wisdom. As a leader empathy and understanding various situations and perspectives are key. I find reputable organizations invest in leaders with great leadership skills which is glad to see. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen and heard was to hire in leadership roles, results driven people with little empathy for the other people. It is a way for some businesses to drive results fast, however the impact on the overall culture is obvious in the employees engagement. Leaders with less empathy skills may deliver great financial results, however badly affect culture of the organization. When I think of a leader, I think of the head of a village in the ancient time, who was often consulted by villagers whenever there was a challenge between team members. The leader’s role is to be there as support and help the team solve problems. Do you have a wise leader on your team?
- Give back time and never forget where you started. Giving back time to your employees is key. Often all staff need is to be heard and understood. And there is nothing worse, than not giving enough time to guide or spend with your team. As people the best way to serve is finding time and serving others, and most importantly never forget where you started. I say this, because I always admired leaders, who despite being in top position, take their time to stop and chat with their team members.
