4 smart things companies do to support their leaders
If you are running a business, a department, or are in an HR role, this message today is for you!
Take care of your leaders!
More than ever before, leadership retention is absolutely critical for businesses.
After all, leaders set the tone, create the culture, and drive the strategy in any organization.
Plus, leaders really make or break people’s experiences at work. Have you ever worked for a bad boss? I have! I think we can all agree that it sucks!!!
So, let’s get practical. What can you do as an executive, senior leader, or member of an HR team to support your leaders?
Here is my list for you.
I call it the 4 C’s of leadership retention.
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Compassion:
It is eighteen months into a global pandemic, and leaders are tired. They are very tired. Many leaders that I speak to are feeling overwhelmed by the rapid speed of change at their organization. They are managing very heavy workloads. Plus, they are shouldering the responsibility of managing the well-being of their people. It’s really important to understand and acknowledge the multitude of responsibilities that leaders have to manage every day. Be compassionate that they are juggling a lot. Be compassionate if their time frame for completing tasks may be a little different than what you expect. Being kind and compassionate is the best way to demonstrate that you understand what another person is feeling and going through.
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Curriculum:
Most people are promoted into leadership positions without any training. I always think about my client Scott. He was amazing at his job – a star performer. So, his boss thought he’d be a great choice for a leadership role. But at 28 years old, Scott had no idea how to give feedback, coach, delegate and develop his team. So, Scott started to feel like a failure in his new role. The good news is that once Scott learned the “nuts and bolts” of leadership, he started to thrive again. Teach people how to lead. Help them to be successful as they take on new responsibilities in your organization.
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Culture.
I like to define culture as “the way we do things around here”. So, what are you doing to demonstrate appreciation for your leaders? Do you give your leaders autonomy to make their own decisions? Do you have shared values and beliefs that are openly communicated and reinforced by the executives at your company? Do you give feedback openly and build high trust relationships at work? While you cannot motivate other people, you can create a motivating environment and culture that brings out the best in your leaders.
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Coaching.
Your leaders need to be coached and need to know how to coach others. Coaching, in my opinion, is the most important leadership competency that is relevant at every level of leadership. Are you coaching your leaders to solve their own problems? Are you coaching them to feel confident to make their own decisions? Are you providing them with the training that they need to coach and develop their people? Creating a coaching culture is really empowering for people and a great retention strategy for leaders.
Too many of us spend our days focusing on our own goals, objectives, issues, and concerns. But in today’s work environment, this will not suffice anymore.
Check in with your leaders.
Take a minute to ask, “How are you doing today?” or say, “How can I support you today?”.
So, which of the 4 C’s of leadership retention resonates most for you?
What can you do to leverage this retention strategy to really engage and motivate your leaders?
In other news
I had a wonderful, funny, and engaging conversation with the fabulous Jeff Livingston on his podcast called Insights @ Work about leadership, the 4 C’s of leadership retention, and much more.
You can listen to this episode on:
- Podbean: https://lnkd.in/gd6gSzJ
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3CtWaG7
- Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3zzakE8
- Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zuTkhY
- Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2ZcLvkF
- Audible: https://bit.ly/3tW267L
Enjoy!!!
