Leadership trust

For leaders and organizations to differentiate themselves and win the hearts and minds of their employees during this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment, they must reestablish trust at all levels of the organization. Expecting parents create an environment—a nursery, baby-proofed house, and adapt their lifestyles to ensure their baby has a healthy environment to grow. Like a newborn baby, trust is fragile—it must be nurtured and protected to survive and thrive. Similarly, for leaders to “birth” trust, they must foster the right environment and behaviors that enable the trust to survive.

Woo your team

Think of leaders you will happily work long hours and even weekends for. You will discover these are leaders who care about you as a person, are invested in your growth, and have your back. These leaders make you feel like a priority, not an option, and as a result, you prioritize them.  In the words of John Maxwell, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” It means leaders need to know what matters most to their team members, understand their definition of success, and ask how they can help.

Foster an owner’s community

In the words of Tamlyn Tomita, “If I am more fortunate than others, I need to build a longer table, not a taller fence.” Leadership is a privilege, and leaders create followership when they invite others to join them at the table. Extending the invitation is not enough. Leaders must foster a culture that equips and empowers their followers to become members. The problem with followership is that there is more problem spotting than problem-solving, and it enables a “look-up” culture—get in line, do not challenge the status quo, and do what you are told. On the other hand, membership is about having an owner’s mindset—taking responsibility for the results of a project, proactively anticipating problems before they happen, and finding solutions when encountering challenges.

Leaders can foster an owner’s mindset by leveraging David Rock’s research findings, “SCARF: A Brain-Based Model for Collaborating With and Influencing Others.” According to Rock, there are five social domains that can activate a threat or reward response—status (relative importance to others), certainty (ability to predict the future), autonomy (control the cause of events ), relatedness (feel safe with others), and fairness (the same rules apply to everyone). This tool can be powerful when leaders leverage it to foster cultures where employees feel rewarded and not threatened .

Fight for your people

Have you ever been on a team and felt the leader, manager, supervisor, or stakeholder didn’t have your back? It is energy-draining—you overthink every move and bulletproof your actions. It is only a matter of time before your feet finds the door. Leaders that win the hearts and minds of their teams have a reputation for fighting for their people. If everyone does that, you might ask how we get to the bottom of things? Fighting for your people means assuming good intent and looking for learning opportunities even when things go wrong. And, you facilitate opportunities to rebuild trust when it is broken. No one wants to work for a leader who throws people under the bus, makes you feel like tissue, doesn’t remove roadblocks, or advocate for resources and opportunities. Also, fighting for your people means overcoming your fear by giving feedback that helps the team transform stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

Listen, shape, and build

According to a study from ManpowerGroup Solutions, 40% of global job candidates consider workplace flexibility as crucial in making their career decisions. The pandemic has changed our relationship with how, when, and where work is done. Remote work has come to stay—employees have demonstrated they can succeed doing their jobs anywhere. Leaders have an opportunity to listen to their employees’ concerns and evolving needs and reimagine the employee contract from “work for me” to “work with me.” If organizations don’t listen and change with the times, employees will change jobs—it costs more hiring new employees than retaining old ones. Organizations that embrace workplace flexibility will have broader access to top talent and have a competitive advantage.

Leverage the cumulative power of the intangible

According to several research studies, compensation is not the number one reason why people leave a job. That’s important because it gives smart leaders and organizations an opportunity to distinguish themselves by creating something employees can’t get anywhere else—culture. Leaders must be strategic and focus on creating moments that matter— memorable employee experiences that add up and make a big difference. From onboarding to celebrating work anniversaries, birthdays, life events, and even their exits. You can’t put a price tag on memorable moments and that’s why they matter. Remember the wise words of Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”