One word more than any other seems to sum up what’s really important in the leadership coversations I’m having just now.
Empathy.
Not, ‘Here’s what I would do if I was you’
or
‘Based on my current experience of the world, I’m going to assume yours is the same, or at least similar, and treat you accordingly.’
Empathy.
Tell me about how things are for you at the moment. How can I help? Let’s agree together on the best way to organise / manage / communicate / deliver.
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Attitude, communication, Delegation, empathy, empowerment, engagement, General, Leadership, management, Motivation, performance | Tagged: communication, empathy, Leadership, management | 
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Posted by nick howes
A short but important learning…
Yesterday I was leading a meeting with two members of our team via Zoom and I was having some connection issues as I was out at a client site. After a while trying to make it work I decided to bail out and leave the two others to continue the conversations themselves.
Guess what? I had messages later in the day from both about how great their conversation had been, how inspired they both were and how some great ideas had been hatched as they spoke. It was clear they had connected and opened up to each other in ways that wouldn’t have happened if I’d been leading that call.
It’s great to play a role and contribute where required…but sometimes the best thing you can do as a leader is get out of the way and let people get on with it!
I’m challenged by this. How many occasions are they where my involvement may hinder or stifle others? I’ll definitely be thinking lots about this. When is it best for me to get out of the way, trust others more, empower them fully…and be there to hear about the great results that ensue?
I think the answer might be ‘often’. How about you?
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Posted by nick howes
Right now as England face a World Cup Quarter Final against Sweden in two days, the talk of the town is not the players – usually the focus of most of the hype when it comes to football (Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar etc) – but the England manager, Gareth Southgate. It seems that everyone loves him.
I am very firmly in that camp too – Gareth Southgate comes across as an absolutely top class man. He conducts himself with humility, grace and calmness. He doesn’t make it all about him (take note Jose Mourinho). He encourages his players to fulfil their potential. He speaks honestly. He obviously cares deeply and understands that so many others do too; whether that’s the fans in the stadium whom he takes time to acknowledge after a match, the press corps, the English public etc.
One extraordinary photo, published after England beat Colombia on penalties in the previous match, shows Gareth embracing the Colombian player who missed their crucial penalty. In light of the particularly spikey nature of the on-field contest, this is especially remarkable. Contrast this with the German coaches who invoked the wrath of the Swedish manager earlier in the tournament by celebrating their last minute winning goal wildly right in front of the Swedish bench in an act of gross unsportsmanship which saw then banned by the German Football Federation.
Who knows what will happen in the rest of the tournament but there’s no doubt that the England manager has shone as an outstanding leader and his players (those on the inside) and the rest of the country (those on the outside) are firmly behind him in wishing him every success.
Leadership is about having clear goals, vision, communication, strategy, KPIs, performance measures and the like, but (and it’s a really big but!) it’s at least as much (I would argue more) about character – being a leader others trust and will gladly follow.
It’s why Personal Leadership is step 1 in LMI’s Total Leader process – it comes before Productivity, Motivational Leadership & Strategic Leadership. Leadership is influence through relationships. It’s a people thing. Gareth has got this part of it spot on and, best of all, it seems entirely genuine. He is being authentic, true to himself rather than following some leadership playbook. All leaders take note – the world’s a much happier place and results are much more likely to be good when you have this level of goodwill towards you.
Best of luck Gareth and the team. YOU have won us over and we would be delighted to see you succeed (not sure I could have said this about your predecessor).
P.S. If you’ve not seen it yet, check out the Twitter feed #GarethSouthgateWould for some light entertainment!
Leave a Comment » | Character, empowerment, General, Leadership, Personal Leadership | Tagged: Character, Leadership, southgate, threelions | Permalink
Posted by nick howes
A very brief article today based on this question: “Is it possible to over-encourage people?”
Yes, you need to have the confidence to confront poor behaviour and manager under-performance through clear communication and constructive conversations. Let’s take that as ‘sorted’.
Without that accountability it’s certainly possible to create a culture that is falsely positive, where poor attitudes and slack work habits go unchallenged.
But, assuming that’s in place because you have well-trained managers (if you don’t, give me a call and let’s get them well-trained!), is it possible to over-encourage or is it the case that the more praise, encouragement and generally positive inputs to the work environment, the better?
What do you reckon? And what will you stop doing, start doing and continue doing as a result?
I’m genuinely really interested to hear your thoughts.
Leave a Comment » | Character, communication, confidence, empowerment, General, Leadership, Learning & Development, management, Managing People, performance, Team Dynamics, Training | Tagged: culture, encouragement, Leadership, management, performance management | Permalink
Posted by nick howes
This morning I was with a company in the Midlands for the course end presentations / graduation of a group of managers and team leaders who were completing the LMI Effective Leadership Development programme.
For the last 18 weeks we have been meeting fortnightly for two hours, reviewing each set of lesson material, sharing goals, tracking progress, dealing with challenges and generally facilitating the process of attitude and behaviour change that leads to performance improvement. Some of the results shared by the participants were incredible – reports delegated that frees the manager up two hours of valuable time each week, 50% reduction in error on the production line, improved atmosphere in the warehouse that is noticeable to every visitor…I could go on but that’s not the main point of this blog.
After each participant shared their own development through the programme and gave examples of how they have applied new ideas, their line manager made some comments. It would be easy to think ‘old school’ and be worried about what your manager might say if you were in this situation. As it happens, each of the line managers present has also been through this same LMI programme and understood the power of public praise!
Their comments were incredibly affirming as each one shared how their direct report had, through the duration of the programme, made huge progress and achieved tangible, significant victories that have resulted in better performance of their teams.
This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day, but it’s incredibly powerful when it does. Each graduate walked out feeling a hundred feet tall – it feels good to receive honest praise and affirmation – but there’s something else I’ve seen happen when this takes place….the relationship between manager and their team member is deepened, trust built and hence their ability to work together effectively and harmoniously in the future is strengthened.
I’m not saying public praise should be an everyday occurrence – but it should be regular. How can you make space for this in a meaningful way? If you do, watch the impact it will have on your team!
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In our house board games are big! We love them!
The old classics – Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble. There are some fantastic new kids on the block, our current favourite being Sequence.
One of the kids’ birthdays recently yielded a new delight – a game called Scotland Yard. There is great excitement in the house when a new game is being unveiled and the learning of the rules followed by those first few run-throughs is an almost-sacred ritual!
On this occasion I was not around when the cellophane was pierced and the game learnt. Neither was I present for the second and third outings. The rest of Team Howes had become fairly well versed in this new entertainment and I was at a significant disadvantage.
Finally I get to play and the kids explain the rules to me. This piece moves here. This card does that. You can’t lay this card when that happens. You must collect six of these before you can do this.
Ok, I think I understand the rules. But what’s the aim of the game? How do I win?
This was the bit that was not so well explained by the kids in their eagerness to get started…and beat me!
I find myself in the middle of the game, asking questions as we go and squinting at the tiny instructions without my glasses to try and make sense as we went along as to how the game eventually gets won.
Work can feel like that. Sometimes for the owners / leaders…often for staff. I know what I’m supposed to be getting on with, but how do we win? What does success look like? How does today, or this week really count?
We want (and for our own well-being, need) to succeed. Victories keep us fresh, energised and creative. Knowing the rules without having a clear and imminent sense of a goal to reach, a finish line to cross, it’s drudgery and no-wonder the productivity levels aren’t what they could be.
Whether it’s for yourself, or for those you lead, make it clear where the next finish lines to cross are, and make a deal of it when the tape is broken. Mine today was a short list of ‘Must do today’ tasks, the last of which was writing this blog. My prize – I’m off to make a fresh pot of very nice coffee!
Leave a Comment » | communication, empowerment, engagement, Goal Setting, Motivation, performance | Tagged: communication, effective management, focus, goal setting, goals, motivation | Permalink
Posted by nick howes
I popped in yesterday to a well-known high street store to get my watch strap repaired. The place also cuts keys. Loud and proud on the wall is a big sign:
We know 10,000 facts about keys.
Wow! That’s a claim. I commented to the only guy staffing the shop that I had no idea there was so much to know about keys. His reply was telling:
“There isn’t. I’ve no idea how they came up with that.”
He was clearly fed up with having to explain this to another customer. ‘They’ had done it again. The very use of the word ‘they’ gives so much away. He – the guy on the front line dealing with customers – had no involvement, connection or ownership of what ‘they’ had done.
People don’t so much like having things done to them, or thrown at them. People generally like to be involved, to feel valued and to be treated with a bit of general kindness – especially if they are the ones who have to live with the consequences of what is decided day-in and day-out…which ‘they’ never do.
I’ve seen this kind of thing happen so many times. To manage and lead well takes more time and requires extra effort but the benefits to be gained and the losses to be avoided by doing so are enormous, both on the happiness of staff and the profitability of the business.
It’s a good reminder to us all – Think very carefully before directing a sign to go up in someone else’s workplace that they have had, and want (as they will gladly tell the customers) nothing to do with.
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Posted by nick howes
Nick Howes 