There seems to be a trend developing among a growing number of leaders that Leadership is about demanding performance and beating people until you get it.  It is the belief that if they yell loud enough and stamp their feet, fire a few people and are publicly mean and nasty, people will perform – behaviors based on the premise of fear being the best motivator. 

Historically, of course, that IS where we came from.  In eras gone by leaders were often in an unchallenged position.  They were the central figure in their kingdom and could do as they pleased, from killing unruly serfs to banishing them from the kingdom.  Ruling was all about demonstrations of power.  Individuals had no power against these rulers.  They had few choices of places to live.  They had little education and skills to take elsewhere.  It has only been in the last one hundred years or so that concepts and theories of leadership have evolved to focus on the means of utilizing interpersonal and technical business skills to influence and motivate people to achieve goals.

The promise of that future, in which you as the leader are consistently understanding and meeting the needs of your employees, forms the foundation of commitment to you as a leader and to the goals and objectives of the business. 

Unfortunately, in recent years there has been a resurgence of the motivation by fear mentality among the less enlightened in leadership positions.  The flaw in this thinking is the belief that the populace will tolerate this type of behavior.  Not true.  Education, communication, transportation, and competition have enabled great mobility in the workforce.  Individuals have many options.  Movement between markets is easy.  Technologies are often transferable.  Competition has made skills salable and valuable.  So, individuals do not have to tolerate mistreatment and incompetence in their leaders.

As a result of this behavior, organizations are having to come to terms with the financial and operational impact of high turnover among employees.  Not only does it mean rehiring and training which costs time and money, but also high turnover sends a warning signal of instability and uncertainty to customers and investors. 

The leadership challenge has become how to build commitment among employees to the goals and objectives of the business?  Building that commitment brings with it stability, continuity and performance.  Building commitment among your employees is earned by understanding and meeting their needs. 

- The extent to which you meet their needs, in any given situation, satisfies those needs FOR THE MOMENT. 

- The extent to which you consistently understand and meet their needs over time creates a history and a pattern of meeting those needs. 

- With that history comes an expectation that you will continue to meet those needs in the future. 

- The promise of that future, in which you as the leader are consistently understanding and meeting the needs of your employees, forms the foundation of commitment to you as a leader and to the goals and objectives of the business.  Therefore, it follows that the primary objective of a leader is to manage the level of commitment of his/her employees to the goals and objectives of the business. 

Just to elevate this concept a step or two, now consider this…employees are only one set of several sets of followers or constituents whose needs must be met to achieve sustainable performance.  That is a subject for another Post.

A common reason for failure among leaders is the inability to adapt to change.  Ironically, most leaders see themselves as THE agent of change and believe that NO change will happen in the organization without their knowledge or direction.  That is absolutely NOT the case!  

Unfortunately, most of us do not recognize our limitations in this area.  We see ourselves as adaptable.  However, the truth of the matter is that we all have our comfort zones and we tend to operate within them as much as possible.  Even worse is the fact that the higher we are in the leadership hierarchy, the less flexible and adaptable we become…because we don’t have to be!!!  We are in control and we can manage the world around us to a significant degree.  If circumstances change in a manner adverse to our interests, we often have the power to change other variables to keep it all within our control and comfort zone.  This is not adapting to change, this is interpreting the change or limiting the reality of the change to something we can deal with.  It is like saying “I am not fat, I am just short for my weight”.  As a result, we remain fixed in our own perspectives and reliant upon those skills which have gotten us where we are.  It is this inability to adapt to change that can lead to our ultimate demise.  

This is an easy one to check with those around you.  Just ask them.  Do you think I am adaptable…easily able to cope with changing circumstances…easily able to modify plans due to unforeseen circumstances…not easily upset by changes in plans…willing to listen to and embrace ideas that are not my own? 

…being an effective leader does NOT mean making ALL the decisions but rather enabling the organization to arrive at the correct solutions by involving the right people at the right time. 

In this Post, I explore the importance of INCLUSION in developing the ability to be adaptable and sustain business performance in an ever-changing business environment.

When a leader begins working with an organization, they are faced with a set of goals or expectations.   They also face a set of underlying circumstances that stand in the way of them achieving those goals.  If they are lucky, or were well selected for the job, they have the skills necessary to address those problems.  In fact, they were likely selected precisely because of the skills they have demonstrated in similar positions or situations in the past.

However, all leaders have a limited set of skills.  The skills they possess are the ones that they have relied upon and been successful with over the years.  As with any other such asset, they have come to lean on those skills as their primary skills for leading a business – a cornerstone concept of the Peter Principle.  Unfortunately, as is often the case, they have not been required to “learn new tricks.”  If their role is a very limited one with a defined short term outcome, those skill limitations may not pose a threat.  “Hatchetmen” are a perfect example of such limited skill sets well assigned.  Hatchetmen are expert at coming into an organization and cutting expenses, repositioning the organization for profitable operations, and leaving.  They have no interest in the future of the business or the impact of the changes they are making in the sustainability of the business.  They need no other set of skills than finding all possible means of cutting expenses. 

However, if the role is to be long term, leaders must have the versatility and adaptability to recognize and address the changing needs of the organization.  They must recognize that as one set of problems is fixed others WILL emerge.  Chances are that these new problems will either be problems that they are not able to easily notice or will be problems that they are not accustomed to fixing.   This is true because problems are not likely to arise in a leader’s area of strength.  Leaders tend to be attentive to those areas in which they have particular skills, and they apply their skills in those areas more than other areas simply because it is their comfort zone.  Consequently, new problems that arise will likely be problems with which the leaders are less familiar and which they do not have the appropriate skill set to resolve.  It is at this critical juncture that the leader must adapt.  How do they do that?

There are many answers to that question…many ways to adapt to change.  But, one that is readily available is Inclusion.  In this case, inclusion means involving other members of the team.  By doing so leaders supplement their own set of skills and abilities, they use the insights of their team members to identify the ills of the business, and they draw on the strengths of their team members to find the best solutions.  As a result, those solutions also represent a broad array of perpectives which gains them support and makes them more able to stand up under scrutiny and challenge. 

Fundamentally, inclusion enables a leader to adapt to new situations by drawing on different skills – the skills of their team members.  This concept speaks to the importance of being open to differing opinions.  This concept requires the leader to put their Ego aside and recognize that being an effective leader does NOT mean making all the decisions but rather enabling the organization to arrive at the correct solutions by involving the right peope at the right time.

No doubt you have heard the maxim that great leaders surround themselves with a great team.  This does not mean that great leaders are lazy and find a group of experts to do the job for them.  It simply means that a leader cannot be expert at everything.  Therefore, they must have a strong team working with them.  They must recognize that their role as leader is to enable that team to arrive at the right solutions.  This is not consensus!  This is inclusion.  It enables leaders to adapt to an ever changing business environment.

Now, think about this…subject of a future Post.  How does a diverse workforce effect the Adaptability of a leadership team?