It is inherently about the leaders and their role in the success of any organization. As Simon Sinek brings out in his book, “Leaders Eat Last”, great leadership is all about comprehending the needs of the team, being supportive of them, and creating trust among them.
Today, in this fast-moving corporate world, good leadership develops an engaged and motivated workforce. This post explores the impact of empathetic and supportive leadership and why it matters.
Difference Between a Boss and a Leader
Authority vs. Guidance
A boss may use authority and task management; a leader guides and mentors. Such is the case with the company Microsoft. Satya Nadella, when he first began his work as CEO, changed the philosophy of the company’s leadership from one based upon competitive “know-it-all” to “learn-it-all”.
Nadella actually turned Microsoft around into one of the most innovative and profitable companies in the world by having more collaboration and mentorship. Changes in leadership style show how true leaders work on creating an environment for their employees to bloom.
Building Trust Through Empathy
Empathetic leaders engender trust in their teams. For instance, take the Airbnb COVID-19 pandemic response. When the company had to lay off 25% of its workforce, Brian Chesky, the CEO, introduced the situation with compassion and empathy.
He accounted for this decision personally to the employees and made sure that they also received very nice severance packages and prolonged benefits. This is how the empathetic leader Chesky earned respect and retained trust in his company during a crisis.
Focusing on Needs of a Team
A truly wonderful leader does not forget his team’s needs-each one individually and all as a whole. Managers in Google are trained to listen to employees’ concerns and make evidence-based decisions to improve the work environment.
As such, Google identified what great managers do to facilitate career development and work-life balance, leading to higher satisfaction and better performance from employees.
Why Good Leadership is Crucial to Growth?
Encouraging Personal and Professional Development
Good people thrive on good leadership, which enables employees to grow. At Netflix, it’s about leadership empowering the employees to make a decision and own their work.
The “freedom and responsibility” culture at Netflix enables growth by giving freedom of choice to the employees, feedback, and support for them. It encourages personal and professional growth and benefits the person and organization.
Increasing Employee Engagement
Through better engagement, working people contribute more at work; they make their goals align with the organization’s objectives. For example, Zappos had its CEO, Tony Hsieh attach a great deal of importance to employee engagement.
He allowed the corporate culture to be more fun and provide an atmosphere that was mutually cooperative. Because of such an attitude in the workplace, Zappos became synonymous with the best customer service, courtesy of highly engaged employees who were happy to possess feelings of ownership while working.
Developing the Leaders of Tomorrow
It not only means leading the present team but also grooming the next generation of leaders. In fact, within Procter & Gamble there has always been a tradition of promoting from within and developing leadership.
This places a high bar for employees to be competent in the present times as well as handle more responsibilities in the future, ensuring continuity of success of the organization.
Impact on Organizational Success
Sinek’s “Circle of Safety” explains that leaders who create an atmosphere of safety guarantee innovation and collaboration. Under the leadership of Tim Cook, Apple focused on inclusions and openness.
Cook’s other styles of leadership, with their roots in the aforementioned, go as far as creating a comfortable environment in which employees are free to share their ideas. This led to continuous cycles of innovation that keep Apple ahead of the rest in technological endeavors around the world.
Consequences of Poor Leadership
Frustration and Burnout
It is easy to get frustrated without anyone to lead them. For example, consider the case of *Uber* under the former CEO Travis Kalanick. The high-pressure culture along with the absence of any supportive leadership brought massive burnout among its employees.
Thus, a massive shake-up happened in the leadership and further injured Uber’s corporate reputation, proving that poor leadership may bring long-lasting effects.
High Turnover Rates
Employees don’t leave jobs; they leave because of bad leaders. Wells Fargo serves as that case where, through unethical leadership, high turnover and loss of trust did take place.
The banking scandal in which employees had to open unauthorized accounts not only sent ripples in terms of damage to the company’s reputation but caused massive employee dissatisfaction and departures.
Negative Impact on Company Culture
Poor leadership can dismantle great company culture. In WeWork, for example, the erratic leadership style of its founder, Adam Neumann. He created a toxic workplace environment.
His total lack of concentration on employee well-being meant damage to the company culture, driving WeWork to its failed IPO and major restructuring. It goes to show how bad leadership can disrupt the whole organization.
Stagnation in Professional Growth
Without good leaders, employees can’t grow or develop good careers. Such is the case with Yahoo, when, even with multiple CEOs leading, constant changes in strategy and direction brought it to a standstill.
Employees had less of a chance for development, which affected the innovation and retention of talented employees negatively.
How to Be a Better Leader ?
Encouraging Open Communication
Sinek emphasizes that one should create an environment in which open communication is viewed as part of the norm. In Pixar, this happens organically within the culture via “Braintrust” meetings, where all employees can offer candid feedback, irrespective of rank.
This sort of approach has been crucial in creating some of Pixar’s most successful films and simply reinforces the fact that great leaders encourage dialogue and collaboration.
Predictable and Constructive Feedback
Great leadership is characterized by regular feedback. Adobe removed annual performance reviews for a “check-in” system. Managers can provide feedback continuously now, and that has resulted in more engaged employees who always improve and contribute more effectively.
Supporting Career Development
The leaders should actively support the career concerns of their employees. General Electric is known for their leadership development programs, where employees are rotated through different roles and assigned mentors.
Such commitment towards growth develops leaders while making the talent pool of the company stronger.
Leading by Example
Actions set the pace, and leaders set the tone of the teams they manage. The former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, showed through example that one manages people by treating them with dignity and placing their needs first.
His way of leading actually created a loyal group and a corporate culture based on how well the employees feel, and that has contributed much to Southwest’s present-day success.
Positive Work Environment
A positive work environment doesn’t just magically happen; it is the result of great leadership. Patagonia is a perfect example of a company whose leadership has deliberately created a supportive and environmentally conscious workplace.
By aligning values with values, Patagonia evokes purpose amongst its employees, which fuels engagement and productivity.
Conclusion
As Simon Sinek brings out in “Leaders Eat Last”, leadership is not just about the execution of results but about building an environment where people feel valued, supported, and empowered to grow. Great leadership-from Microsoft and Netflix to Southwest and Patagonia-builds trust, engagement, and collaboration-all important features in any organization.
By focusing on empathy and trying to understand, leaders help create an environment in which everyone will flourish.
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