Two separate studies reveal that employees spend one third of their working time complaining about management.  Every leader I share this staggering statistic with quickly replies:  “That wouldn’t be true in my company.”  I wonder how well they know their employees?

You’ll never completely stop your employees from finding fault in the way their company is run.  A recent Harvard Business Review article on ‘gossip’ suggests that leaders pay more attention to what’s being said behind closed doors as it is symptomatic of a larger problem.

If leaders were doing their job to the best of their ability, then there would be little room to complain.  In this economy, many leaders have become worn down or lazy.  Anyone can get by as a leader when the times are good, but times are tough for leaders today.

Additionally, few new leaders are taught the art of leadership. Most are promoted because they are good at something, and not necessarily good at what it takes to be a great leader: communication, compassion, focus, motivation or big picture thinking. This is a learned art.  

Studies show that as many as 40 percent of newly promoted leaders fail within the
first year.

Today, more than ever, you need your employees to perform at their highest capacity. This means that you need to perform at your highest capacity. 

Below are some highly effective changes my ‘leader’ clients have made to attain greater results in their respective companies:
• Get over yourself.  Leadership is not about a power or ego trip.  It’s about being an inspiring conduit between your company goals and the good people who report to you.
• See each worker as an individual.  Don’t group them together as one big disappointment or success story.  Each has his own strengths.  Each needs to feel individually seen, encouraged and valued by you.
• Focus on the positive.  I hear too often about staff meetings that ramble on about the woes of their particular market.  Your people don’t need to hear this from you.  They need a positive picture of where you are headed with their assistance.
• Show employees where they fit into the larger picture.  One client created a gigantic diagram on a white board in their conference room portraying how each role (name and title) relates to the others in supporting corporate goals. Now that’s motivating.
• Reward employees’ creativity.  Another client rewards employee’s ‘dumbest’ idea at their monthly meeting with a lunch with the CEO to explore the idea.  Often times this ‘dumb’ idea turns into something great that management would not have considered.

If you are a leader at any level in your organization (and you don’t have to have the title to be a leader) please take this role seriously.  In doing so with an eye on constantly improving your skills, you’ll soon learn that the rewards of leadership far outweigh the challenges.

I challenge you to immediately select one of the above approaches to strengthen your leadership effectiveness.  You know where you can improve.  Do it today.

Ann Golden Eglé, MCC, President of Golden Visions & Associates, LLC, has consulted with and coached executives, leaders, high profile individuals and up-and-coming professionals to greater levels of success since 1998. She can be reached at www.GVAsuccess.com or 541-385-8887 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            541-385-8887      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Subscribe to Ann’s weekly ‘Success Thoughts’ e-zine on her website.