It is behaviour and relationship skills that bring out the technical competencies and enable the job of a leader to be done well. At higher levels of leadership (e.g., chief executives), technical skills are even less important than good behaviour and relationship-building ability. The reason for that is the work of senior leaders is more strategic than operational.
Look at the number of highly capable leaders in politics, business, and non-profit sectors who have failed. The root cause has not been their lack of talent, desire, ambition, enthusiasm, passion, agility, and other qualities. What sends these otherwise successful leaders hurtling toward the ground is their poor behaviour. They become so insulated by their sense of self-worth and value that they lose sight of how they relate to others and they get separated from those who can give them honest feedback.
Behavioural attributes (including interrelations ability), commonly and incorrectly referred to as “soft skills,” are really the “hard skills” that enable the leader to become self-aware, collaborative, and connective. Employees’ low morale, refusal to engage in their work, distrust of management, lack of motivation, and poor performance are always linked to their leaders’ consistent display of negative behaviour. In today’s world it is easier to overlook someone’s technical shortcomings than poor interpersonal skills, that is why a leader’s behaviour is the most important predictor of organizational performance.
We do not live or work in isolation. Nearly everything of value we do in our lives requires us to connect and collaborate well with other people in highly effective relationships. This can be no more true for leaders who must develop these highly effective relationships to be individually successful and to lead their organizations to greatness. Research in the neurosciences is confirming the necessity for a new way of thinking and being – the kind that creates positive human energy within us and around us – the kind created using our skill of Positive Presence.
When it comes to relationships, the challenge is that we often expect more from them than we are willing to invest. You do not get the relationships you hope for, rather the relationships you are willing to work for– how people respond to you is a function of how they experience you in your behaviour. Behaviour is a choice so choose wisely!
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.