The culture of your organization dictates how employees will act, treat each other, produce work and the amount of effort they will give the organization.
And that culture is shaped in a large part by leaders. Employees work in the environment that leaders create and mold their behaviour to match it.
As Wayne Lukas said, “The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack.”
While they play a crucial role in deciding the actions and behaviours of their teams, many leaders are not well-equipped for their roles. Much of the time, leaders are elevated to their positions because they are good at their job. However, once in a leadership position, they are now judged on how well they can get other people to do their jobs. It is now their people skills, not their technical skills, that are most important.
People skills are crucial to leadership. What separates a mediocre (or worse) leader from a great leader is their skills in communication, conflict resolution, performance management and teambuilding.
Employees don’t quit companies, they quit leaders.
Here are some questions for you to consider about the type of culture you are creating for your team as the leader:
What is my purpose as the leader of this team? What am I doing daily to work towards it?
What are my values? Are my actions and behaviours aligned with these values?
What are my strengths as a leader? How do I exercise these regularly?
Where might I be weak as a leader? How might this impact my team? What can I do to improve or manage this weakness?
What are the driving forces motivating my different team members? How can I help contribute to these to keep people excited and engaged?
Have I created open channels of communication with my team that they feel comfortable and safe using?
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of questions, it is one you can start using to see what type of culture you are creating for your team as the leader.
A TEAM HUMAN CONVERSATION
Fight workplace zombies in your organization and join Team Human! Gather a group of fellow workplace zombie hunters to discuss our most recent blog post. Use the questions below to kick start your conversation.
Who was the best leader you’ve ever had and why?
Who was the worst leader you’ve ever had and why?
What do you think is the most important aspect of being a leader and why?
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