I have listened to many horror stories about bad leadership over the years. But now that I have started my own business Global Heart Leaders, more people come to me and share, as well as ask for advice and help. Unfortunately, it is not the managers themselves who make contact and want to grow, but rather desperate, burned-out employees who suffers in their organisations.
How secure and confident a manager can be, something that then spills over to the employees in the organization, is partly governed by the corporate culture. What does your culture really allow and reward? Bottom line vs. employee turnover? Innovation and development vs. tight budgets and control? Partner structures that create rifts in the organization and kill motivation?
In the theory of a perfect market economy, unattractive businesses will find themselves without both customers and great employees. But in the real world, it’s not as easy. What does the economy look like? What opportunities are there for you in your local area? What is family life like? I fully understand that it’s not just a matter of jumping ship as soon as the going gets though. But the question is rather the costs of staying.
In one of my previous CEO assignments, things were chaotic at one point, and I worked around the clock. A part of me was proud that “I could handle the pressure” but the therapist I saw once a week said, ”yes you can handle the pressure, but at what cost?” Body and soul were at breaking point. That sentence has stayed with me ever since.
The successful companies of tomorrow will be those that work with inclusion and really care about their employees. Inclusion creates motivation and increases the sense of responsibility in the team. A forgiving culture where it’s OK to make mistakes sometimes is key. Even research confirms that by iterating, we reach our goals faster. The big companies in Silicon Valley stresses the fact that psychological safety in their teams is absolutely necessary to spark innovation. Google will never be able to take the lead in the AI-race if they don’t allow their employees to test, try and sometimes fail along the way.
One of my lecture modules is called ”Culture and Mandate” and is about you identifying what type of culture and workplace you feel most comfortable in, and then negotiating the mandates to do a good job. Because ideally, if more people put themselves and their careers at centre stage, the unattractive companies will soon be history. They will not be able to keep talented employees, their unhealthy culture will be exposed on social media, it will be game over. And the management team won’t even understand what hit them.
