The 5 Principles of Authentic Leadership

.................& The American Workplace Dilemma

We’re entering a new age of expectation for both employer and employee in the workplace; and the expense of corporate leadership training and the focus on employee quality, sourcing, morale and benefits are at an all time high! Given the age of ‘corporate enlightenment’, it would seem that the majority of American employees would be happy, if not satisfied with their job, right? Well if you’re among the majority of Americans (63%) you’re actually unhappy at work, with some even miserable enough to sabotage and defy the very organizations that compensate them! According to the research reports by SHRM, Gallup and the Conference Board, (which is a nonprofit research group based in New York), American workforce has never been unhappier in the workplace.

Looking at research over the past three decades, much has changed it seems as in 1985, 61.1% of workers said they liked their jobs. That number has slid in the thirty years since and has now reached an all-time low following the Great Recession. As recently as 2011, only 42.5% of workers said they were satisfied in their jobs. The latest surveys have seen increase to 70% in 2015!

The surveys explore the way in which American employees feel, regarding various aspects of their employment experience. This list of qualifiers includes wages of course, opportunity for promotion, job security, vacation time and policy, allowable sick leave, as well as health and retirement plan options. Given this critical list of the most important aspects of equality, satisfaction and optimism, employees as it turns out were happier in 1987 than they are now.

There were a couple of bright spots in the report, as employers scored higher relative to the physical environment and quality of equipment that employees work with, but clearly these are inanimate based improvements. The authors of one of these report’s speculates that an increase in telecommuting over the past decade years offers a partial explanation. It seems remote work has trended higher during the past ten-years, and employees simply enjoy working from home more than commuting or spending time with their co-workers and spending time in an office. Employers in turn, are responding by rethinking employee logistics, work attendance policies and adding flex-schedules in the workspaces.

The survey’s improvement numbers regarding equipment results, might seem surprising as machines (including computers) are faster and more powerful today versus the their capacity in the 1990s, when they were notoriously slow and complicated, but there’s more to the story. But what is happening is the converse, as technology is now moving so fast and changing so rapidly, that we’ve left many of our elders and the baby boomers behind, and training via new technology constantly trails the installation of new equipment and the acumen to use it efficiently. Moreover, Others may feel differently, but my experience is that the memory required to run many new programs is such that even my new Apple laptop crashes frequently enough that it becomes an annoyance at times.

As the era of the gold watch and retirement plan has all but evaporated, and working for one employer for one’s entre career is a now a foreign concept, loyalties and continuities are as rare in corporate America as they are in the NBA! While the stability of “career path” and the need for succession plans has diminished, the challenges placed on leadership, productivity and culture have become the Achilles heel of the American workplace. Moreover, employees are now burdened with escalating health plan deductibles, tax related payroll deductions - the two categories in which survey satisfaction fell precipitously were job security and health plan security, both declining by 11+ points since the 1980’s.

In reviewing the gains within the research and reports regarding the short-term satisfaction of employees, there were also alarming trends. Regarding income, the results were clear in the gap in satisfaction between high earners, and those at the bottom of the compensation ladder. Workers earning in excess of $125,000 were most satisfied with their income, while, 64% stating that they were happy with their compensation (as compared to 59.6% in 2013), while only 24.4% making under $15,000 were satisfied, shocker, right!

And these numbers are down from the 27% in that same group who expressed their satisfaction given the same question in 2012. Regarding the middle tier of income, the report says that 44.4% of those who earned between $50,000 to $75,000 respectively, were satisfied, as opposed to just fewer than 46% in 2012. Though not a huge disparity, first, the work force is larger today than it was then, and second, one would expect improvements as we’ve become better trained, more profitable in many industries and we’ve realized the International reach in jobs, trade and employment equality, if you believe what you read.

So the million-dollar question then is what would it take for employees to be happiest at work? Survey says….an Interest in the work they’re doing! An astonishing 59% said that work worth doing, and that was fulfilling satisfied them and secondly, just under 61% said that they enjoyed those they worked with as a key satisfaction metric! So what worries the national workforce most you wonder: RIF’s and layoffs. Even though the economy has ticked up and hiring has strengthened, , it seems that just 46.5% of employees are satisfied with job security, this compares with a 48.5% number before the recession. Flinch response to the mass layoffs, Reduction in Force, closings, and jobs going overseas for the past 10 to 15 years, very possibly. This number is also significantly lower than the 59.4% who said they felt secure in their employment in the late1980’s.

 The Conference Board report also pointed to the comparison of satisfaction of men and women at work. It seems that men are happier in the workplace and in their jobs, with 48% stating that they are satisfied, versus 44% of women. There are also signs of concern and continued tension regarding the difference in satisfaction ratings relative to promotion and compensation. Among men, there are 26.1% who say they’re satisfied with promotion prospects as opposed to just 21.4% of women who responded. Further, 38% of men are happy with their wages versus 34% of women when asked the same question! We haven’t even mentioned that women are still paid $0.73 vs. every $1.00 that men are paid, but that’s an entire post in and of itself.

This portion of the survey body of data relied on the Nielsen group, which conducted the survey of 5,000 households and received responses from 1,673 participants. *Many say we’ve entered a new age of fairness and equality in the workplace…. unfortunately, the survey says that this isn’t the case.

What we must now create as a nation and industry is a new age of opportunity and possibility, in creating a fair and equitable workforce environment based on empowering employees and treating them with integrity and a commitment to meaningful work, aligned compensation and personal empowerment. It’s an important distinction to understand that the majority of our workforce do not dislike the companies that they work for, rather, they dislike the culture, behaviors and indifference or organizations seeming lack of ability to align individuals and teams within organizations. It’s time that we focus on individual autonomy and empowerment within teams, to ensure that we’re creating work environments that build bonds, and a culture of excellence for all.

To be sure, the leaders of business in the modern world have a responsibility to continue to develop strategy and oversee execution, but more importantly, they must ensure that team members and their organizational communities receive the guidance and support they need in order to become seasoned and stronger every year. This is how the company’s themselves will become a more attractive workplace as well as more profitable!

The critical nature of authentic leadership is often lost in the scope of top professional and executives, as profit and P&L far more often drives the decision making of today’s corporate board rooms. The reality is that employees are very often overlooked and not provided with the mentorship and coaching they need by their managers. The primary value in “management” is that they focus on adding value to those working with and for them, which adds intrinsic value to the organization itself! Far too often, because this priceless investment can’t be measured on a profit and loss statement, it falls through the cracks and is absent from the company’s culture.

Developing employment communities at every level must receive this guidance and mentorship, or the organization stagnates and progress inevitably begins to recede. Employees need to feel safe and comfortable in speaking openly to their leaders, whether it relates to their career, their home life, their aspirations and inspirations, or just to feel they have a friend and confidant. Guidance by those in decision-making roles simply makes the company better by connecting individuals, divisions and teams! When leaders inspire, positively communicate, direct with purpose and clarity, those in key team roles express themselves with more confidence, engagement and productivity.

It has been proven again and again that those fortunate enough to have quality mentors and powerful leadership guidance early in their careers, go on to pay it forward and provide the same for younger colleagues. Every client that I’ve worked with and every leadership experience that I’ve personally experienced proves beyond a doubt, that leaders and organizations will receive what they invest in their people, teams and organizations! To create maximum return from any joint venture, you must always share risk and the mutual benefit.

It’s also important to understand the distinction between mentoring and coaching. Coaching is based upon specific enumerated goals; developing team development or project management skills, for example. Mentoring on the other hand is primarily a practice in developing an individuals skills and career goals, during succession cycles. Mentoring in the end is a relationship structure rather than a transaction of trade in value. The test is this, individuals don’t forget a mentor that changed the way they think about their profession and the world….or the lessons they teach.

My 5 Guiding Principles for Authentic Leadership Development-

Openly Admit That You Don’t Know All The Answers

Showing that you’re vulnerable can be very powerful in the eyes of others. Admitting absence of knowledge shows confidence, honesty, authenticity and a willingness to collaborate and allow others to contribute and make a difference.

Five Meaningful Questions Are Better Than One Good Answer

The very best leaders always question the status quo. Anyone can execute a known and predictable strategy or outcome. Those who constantly ask, how can we do this more effectively? What would we do to change the outcome if we had no other choice? What would we do if we knew we couldn’t fail? Asking questions and reimagining the way in which we do everything is how progressive companies advance and evolve.

Have The Courage to Make a Decision, Even if You Know It's Wrong

There are times when the speed of your decision is an important as the quality of the decision. Showing a killer instinct, and the confidence to go with your gut, your belief and your intuition has massive value to those within your organization! Malcolm Gladwell references this in his book, Blink. Many companies live and die (but rarely rise to greatness) by the idea that they must have reams of data before making a decision; analysis paralysis rarely leads to innovation or an explosive transformation of industry. Gut feelings have been the calling card for world-class entrepreneurs and top industry leaders for millennia. In fact, waiting for exhaustive data, often puts leaders in a light of being indecisive or weak.

Listen, Stop… Listen Again –  Repeat Back What You Think You Heard.

“What if I fail, and what if we invest these funds and don’t win the account?” …My VP of Marketing said to me years ago when running a specialty retail company? After pausing, focusing on him and his question, I responded ….“Have you succeeded this situation before?” - “Are you asking me because you want permission to fail or are you lacking the support or tools required to ensure success”? I continued. “What could possibly happen if you did fail; wouldn’t it serve as a lesson for future success?” …….Listen, respond thoughtfully and supportively, and let allow the recipient to come to their own conclusion…this is always more powerful than “telling them” what to do or think.

Live Every Day as Though It Will Be Your Last

Don’t treat any day of your life with a lack of respect as though you’re guaranteed a tomorrow. In so doing, you disrespect yourself! Today is all we have, and should always be our only focus. When you live in a sense of purpose and insist on doing whatever you can to change someone else’s life for the better, you’ll never have a bad day! Too often we live in mediocrity in our own mind…

“My job is just a stepping stone to something better.”

“This person doesn’t want or deserve my time and effort.”

“All I have to do is bide my time here and wait for my promotion.”

This is a mind-set of failure and virtual guarantee that you will continue to live in lack as an average individual. You certainly won’t experience the exhilaration of WOW in your life! The reason is that YOU are the only one standing in your way when living with this limiting belief!

What if you instead decided to reinvent your position? What if you decided to create new possibilities instead of living in conformity or predictability? How satisfying would it be to leave a legacy of changing the reality of a position, a team or an organization! If you or your organizations needs a helping hand in creating this culture within your organization, we'd love to chat with you to see if we can can help. The Teambuilder Leadership Institute offers online training platforms for your convenience as well as hands-on leadership immersion training. It's simply the best available training today. 

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

 – Steve Jobs