The biggest challenge for leaders of today is the shift in power away from a command and control, carrot and stick management, to an understanding that their focus needs to be on others. As organisations grow and develop over the next few years, leaders will benefit from concentrating on empowering, team building and coaching their team to handle the increased pressure.
These leaders do not need to think they have all the answers, but are confident enough to encourage and develop skills and diversity within their team. This motivational and engaging focus on others will not only be internal, but are skills relevant to customers and service providers alike.
This is an especially important power shift for senior managers, who will need to embrace internal and external social media as well as the benefits of a highly motivated and engaged workforce. According to CIPDs Employee Outlook Spring 14, there is a significant decrease in levels of trust, respect and confidence in senior management. With only 35% of employees engaged and a significant increase in the number of talent actively job-seeking, there is a call for urgent retention reviews and the development of leadership skills relevant to the fast-approaching business needs.
Can your organisation afford to lose your trained and top talent to your competitors?
In my view, there are a few key aspects that neuroscience has helped us establish over the last few years. The carrot and stick management was perfect for the industrial world, but has been proven to be ineffective for today’s organisations which require creative and innovative thinking. And it’s this continued and out-dated management approach which is frustrating employees, leaving people wondering why only a few will take the initiative or is capable of looking outside the box for solutions.
In some of my previous articles, I’ve touched on motivational needs of individuals and how the leader can motivate (or demotivate) their team members. This identifies how we all look at our environment for opportunities that are rewarding and avoid circumstances that we perceive as threatening (physical or psychological). And leaders can provide or reduce their employees’ motivational opportunities, with significant impact on results.
Take a look at:
- Motivational Needs: Are you Upsetting or Rewarding Employees?
- The Value of Fairness in the Workplace
Additionally, recent advances in Neuroscience have given us an insight into how we can change our own levels of motivation, taking back the responsibility. This could be especially useful if you are working with a boss who doesn’t understand the impact of their actions on others’ motivational needs.
For one example of techniques available, take a look at:
There is so much research available now to demonstrate the benefits of this kind of motivational leadership (including P&L, sales, KPIs, customer service), highlighting the need to prioritise the development of these leadership skills for short, medium and long term results. This may also enable a competitive advantage to those who embrace it sooner rather than later.
However, it can’t all be the organisation’s responsibility to motivate and engage its staff, but it can be the organisation’s responsibility to help people know the techniques available to them – so that everyone benefits, now and in the future.
If you are interested in how coaching can speed up the understanding, experience and practical use of motivational needs and improvement techniques available for leaders and individuals in your organisation, then please get in contact.