By: Gina Angeli
It was announced last week that the national unemployment rate fell to 3.9%. This means, chances are very likely that you have the challenge every day of making sure you have enough good people to serve your customers. You also have the challenge of keeping your good people as they are being recruited every day. The future of your organization is dependent on your ability to create an environment where people choose to do three things: be at, stay at and give their all to.
This happens because of one thing and one thing only: leadership and its ability to scale to meet the growing needs of your business. Liz Wiseman, researcher, executive advisor and bestselling author describes the extremes of leadership that, more than likely, we have all experienced. She describes the Diminisher who is condescending, has a need to be the smartest person in the room and makes you question your own intelligence/competency. The other side of the coin is the Multiplier who has a serving spirit, helps us to feel important, and makes us feel smarter/more capable.
The impact of these two different types of leaders is dramatic. Think back to your own experiences. Chances are that, when working with a Diminisher, your “output” was not stellar- you may have felt exhausted but it was not because you were delivering what you were capable of. Your energy went into managing the negativity of the relationship. On the other hand, when working with a Multiplier, you gave everything you had and wanted to give more. You were exhausted and energized at the same time.
Go back to our dilemma of needing to create an environment of choice for our people. Whether we know it or not, we do it. If we are being intentional about the choice we want our people to make, we must look at how we are leading them and face the realities of how our style impacts their choice.
See Liz Wiseman’s keynote to Willow Creek on Vimeo or go to thewisemangroup.com.