Take charge of the talent challenge in 2023! Discover extraordinary leadership ideas and concepts with THE BEST BOSS EVER newsletter by your side. (610 words = 4.7-minute read)
Feb. Key PointsÂ
1.     Purpose is not Your Mission or Vision – ‘Purpose’ is the why – a ‘true north’ or unifying principle that connects everyone in the organization with your stakeholder’s needs.
2.     ‘Convenient’ Purpose Does Not Work – Purpose must be authentic and lived. Employees will leave organizations that promote a fake or convenient purpose.
3.     Aligning Your Purpose Is Important – The power of purpose comes from the alignment between personal purpose and the company’s purpose.
3 New Ideas
# 1 – Low Trust = TurnoverÂ
Teams with low trust have team members thinking about quitting, and they are not putting forth extra effort. On a high-trust team, people are fully engaged. But when trust is low, everyone is on edge. You become unsure about your future and are more likely to think about quitting.
Zenger Folkman’s research shows: 64% of teams with below-average trust have members thinking about quitting. Only 19% of team members are willing to put forth extra effort when team trust is low. Only 27% are engaged on average in a low-trust team.
Patrick Lencioni’s bestseller, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, also showed that the first dysfunction in a team is a lack of trust. Improving trust increases people’s willingness to engage fully.
Trust is experienced when we can let our guard down and be human, not trying to protect our image. Mistakes will be made. The team that can admit their shortcomings is the team that will have trust. Yes, each member must accept responsibility for delivering on all their promises, but without vulnerability, we don’t create deep relationships. Leadership is all about relationships!
Ask Yourself: How can I lead my team to trust each other more? Â
# 2 – Coaching Made Easy
I’m often shocked at how few managers are formally coaching their employees. I am told that they informally coach, but very few consistently conduct monthly coaching. If you want higher engagement and less quiet quitting, implement a formal coaching process.
Formal coaching is easier than it seems. The coach asks questions (without providing answers but is ready to help if needed), and the employee comes prepared with insights. The process encompasses three sets of questions:
1.     What successes did you have this past month?
a.     What did you do to make them happen?
2.     What are your biggest challenges?
a.     What are you doing about them?
3.     What else could you do to solve the challenges that you haven’t done yet?
a.     What help do you need from me?
Ask Yourself:   How can I learn to coach my team (individually & collectively)? Â
# 3 – Energy = Leadership Rocket Fuel
Extraordinary leaders are intentional about sharing energy. You are being watched closely by your employees. They know if you are having a bad day or not. They know when you are down and discouraged. Give away more of yourself – give them every ounce of energy you have.
Leading requires more energy than most other roles, except for teaching… So, you need to have daily renewal practices to restore yourself. Create better renewal practices to enhance your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy. Help your team do the same.
One way to ignite your team’s energy is to help them find opportunities to grow and do something new. You are energized when learning something new, especially when trying to accomplish a stretch goal.
Lastly, energy is created when you share an exciting future vision. Extraordinary leaders light a fuse to the powder keg of potential by talking about the future and what it will be like when you get there.
Ask Yourself: What could I do to create a new energy renewal source for myself?
Want to Know More?
1.     Coaching Your Team as a Collective Makes It Stronger by Sanyin Siang and Michael Canning  – Harvard Business Review February 23, 2023
2.     High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It – Six ways to build trust. By Laura Delizonna – Harvard Business Review August 24, 2017
3.     The Power of Full Engagement – Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
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