What is Leadership? A simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal or objective. An effective leader has vision and passion for belief in the goal (or mission) and is able to communicate it in such that make other want to follow his or her direction.
Here are two models:
TOP-DOWN
The Leader
The Team
BOTTOM-UP MODEL
The Team
The Leader
The Top-Down Model:
The figure on the left is the classic model of leadership in most companies and corporations – for profit or non-profit. The Boss is at the top some layers of management below. Bottom line, those towards the bottom make the company run. In this environment the “team member” often does not feel valued and has a difficult time working with passion and vision because they don’t feel like they really make a difference. A common result: attrition, low productivity, lack of loyalty, mediocre mission fulfillment and or profitability.
The Bottom-Up Model:
Five tips for creating happy employees and increasing productivity.
1. Be an empowering Leader. In the model to the right the leader is at the bottom of the pyramid and actually has the responsibility to make sure that everyone above him or her has the tools and support necessary to carry out the jobs in the best interests. When team members feel like they matter, like leadership/management is willing to invest in them, loyalty, productivity and other markers spike up!
2. Humility. A leader must be confident enough of his/her “job” that they can lead with humility. Here’s what Webster’s says of Humility: “not proud or haughty; not arrogant or assertive; reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission” What you say! It’s true contrary to what we are taught about “being in charge”, which often moves us to just take control – of people, projects or other work-related situations.
3. Lead by Listening. By far the most effective leaders help those they lead feel valued in who they are and what they think. They are secure enough as leaders to let a team member’s opinion or assessment shape a project, even a company direction. These leaders speak less and (really LISTEN) more. They are inclined “make it about the other person.” The end result of that kind of “listening leadership”: amazing loyalty, incredible productivity and positive, synergistic teamwork! Your team has “ownership”!
4. Create a positive workplace. Research shows that a positive workplace leads to higher performance. Organizations that institute “positive and virtuous practices” achieve higher productivity, customer satisfaction and financial performance, according to research from the University of Michigan. The Harvard Business Review reported on the research, which showed that workplace performance was higher in organizations that displayed positive traits such as: 1) caring for colleagues as friends, 2) avoiding blame, 3) forgiving mistakes, 4) emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work and 5) treating each other with respect, gratitude, trust and integrity.
5. Intermittent reinforcement. I remember being part of a study years ago while a psychology major at Long Beach State University (CA). The goal was to discover what kind of workplace changes made workers happier and more productive. We found that casual days, workout rooms and other permanent additions worked – but only for a while. Then everyone took them for granted. What worked better was the unexpected – like a surprise $10.00 coupon to Starbucks appearing on your desk, or an unannounced Friday afternoon off. In other words the pleasantly unexpected. It works!