People do not quit their jobs. They quit their leader – the boss. Ineffective leaders breed ineffective followers, and performance and productivity suffer as a result. With a positive, emotional connection with your people you send a clear message that you are interested and invested in what your people experience on a daily basis. People in general do not follow just anyone, nor do they follow out of the goodness of their heart. They need good reasons—a motivation – to follow.
You, as a leader, are responsible for giving your followers those reasons by understanding what they want and need to fulfill their work requirements and contribute to a mutual beneficial and meaningful purpose in their work. During the downturn in the so-called bubble, many leaders acquired what the professional literature called ‘learned helplessness’ and became caught in a self-fulfilling prophecy of scarcity and mediocrity. Unfortunately, much of that is still present today causing productivity and other performance factors to wane. Team members get caught in this brain-funk, and simply do whatever the leader says to keep their jobs and stay out of trouble with the boss.
The reality is that inwardly, people still want to make a difference at work. For this to happen, you must build a culture of performance, where you give them control and emancipate them to do their jobs and solve problems at their level. For you this means changing from within. Changing from the outdated and ineffective practices of the past that limit your leadership capacity, and learning to connect as an influential leader. Ask yourself daily if your behaviour is drawing people toward you or away from you? Understanding the elements of what endears your team members to you is essential to understanding the great impact that connection has in driving performance in the workplace.
The art of building a culture for performance through personal connection begins with the skill of Positive Presence, an innovative thought model connecting workplace behaviour to human energy through a systematic, programmatic methodology equipping leaders with the knowledge and understanding necessary for developing and sustaining the mindset and behaviour skills needed for strong and lasting connections.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.