|
|
|
|
While the journey to the top of one's career is the same for all leaders, managers and supervisors, there are many paths. There's much recent research indicating that whatever path one chooses, there is but one single, common denominator, a single thread that characterizes extraordinary success, namely, a laser-like, single-minded focus on making those around you successful. In fact, it's becoming more apparent that those who achieve extraordinary success do not fight or claw their way to the top. On the contrary, others in whom they place their trust carry them there.
Such research findings provide a welcome wake-up call for leaders, managers and supervisors to support their colleagues to achieve success by creating a coaching and mentoring environment and culture where the focus is on cooperative, not competitive, interactions and interrelationships with colleagues, peers, direct reports and customers. This notion of "cooperation, not competition" may very well give leaders, managers and supervisors sleepless nights and unfomfortable days. Leaders and managers actually helping others be successful? Direct reports, peers and colleagues responsible for "my" success! Trust? Wait a minute! It might appear that in 2004, with so much emphasis on, and obsession with, immediate results and bottom-line numbers, trust and mutual support might appear as quite contrary to "business as usual" models and strategies. Outsourcing, off-shoring, globalization, layoffs, and intense competition are producing a workplace culture and workforce that seems to be increasingly characterized by the mantra "survival of the fittest." Traditionally, the concept of competition among colleagues, not cooperation or support, paved the road to career advancement. In reality, the belief that competition breeds success actually fosters behaviors that are inconsistent with the core values of ethics and integrity. There's a growing body of research focusing on the factors that separate those leaders, managers and supervisors who achieve extraordinary career success from others, equally talented, who never quite reach their aspirations. One of those factors is an environment where leaders, managers and supervisors actually assume coaching and mentoring roles, themselves, as they proactively take responsibility to support others to be their best. Leaders, managers and supervisors take an active role to create a culture where coaching and mentoring for cooperation takes a front seat in day-to-day operations. Another major factor, benevolent leadership, is a leadership and management style that continually emerges as perhaps the most important, and one of the most captivating, behavior patterns accounting for career success. Consider Ed Woolard, who began his career at a DuPont plant in Kinston, N.C. From these humble beginnings, he ascended over the next 40 years to ultimately become DuPont’s chairman and CEO. When asked to what he attributed his extraordinarily successful career, Woolard replied: “A good ‘B player’ can surround himself with a lot of ‘A players." My job was really just to nurture them and make them successful.” It was his approach to leading and managing that made Woolard an "A player", creating an environment and culture in which to attract and retain the best people by supporting their ideas, bringing them along, taking a proactive interest in their professional growth and development, fostering their creativity, and encouraging them to do their best. Woolard’s focus was on creating a positive workplace environment, supporting and consolidating a loyal team of professionals. Wollard's leadership and management styles exemplify the notion that extraordinary success is achieved by proactively making those around you successful. Thus, there's little doubt that leaders, managers and supervisors, in their own capacities as coaches and mentors can have an advantageous effect on their colleagues by creating an environment or culture of cooperation and mutual support. Another example focuses on the results achieved by Cendian, a chemical logistics outsourcing company. CEO Mark Kaiser, in turn, also demonstrates benevolent leadership in action. Kaiser has created a workplace culture on the principle of success through others, that is, open and honest communication, broad-based delegation, mutual trust, support and respect for employees, and alignment of organizational and individual success.“ Creating such a culture makes intuitive sense,” says Kaiser, “but it is much more difficult to put it into practice. In the end, it requires much more than leadership by example. It requires rethinking your structure, appraisal and incentive systems, hiring practices?anything that impacts organizational behavior.” Cendian has realized a profound impact. Based on its benevolent leadership and management approaches, the company has become the leader in its sector in only three years, growing annual revenues to approximately $500 million and retaining every key executive along the way. Unfortunately, the lack of benevolence and true and real worker support in the workplace stems from years of upheaval, scandal, competition and disequilibrium within the workplace. On the other hand, there is room for optimism. Recent reports of scandal and chaos in today's corporate arena would demonstrate a growing unease among the work force with professionals who recklessly seek advancement at any cost. Recent corporate scandals are but one source of compelling data demonstrating an aggressive, self-centric approach to corporate leadership to be negatively correlated with long-term success. There's no question the potential foundation for benevolent leadership still exists. In many of our traditional organizations, we are quite used to hierarchy and bureaucracy, to giving orders, holding meetings, tracking deliverables, and meeting deadlines. In a benevolent leadership organization, leading, managing and supervising evolve from proactive involvement with our workplace community. In a benevolent leadership organization, coaches and mentors can provide an integral support structure for the manifestation of the spirit of cooperation and ensure its ripple effect throughout the organization. In benevolent leadership organizations, for example, it behooves leaders, mangers and supervisors to coach and mentor their colleagues to improve the workplace community by supporting and being committed to one another's growth and development, by aligning organizational goals and employees' goals, by supporting peers and colleagues to become good leaders, by supporting employees to bring wholeness to their lives, by being tolerant and accepting of others' mistakes and imperfections, by listening to understand before being understood, by having a vision and passion that raises the strengths of others, and by creating an environment where coaches and mentors support leaders, mangers and supervisors to "walk the talk" of benevolent leadership. These characteristics of benevolent leadership can be identified in those we hire, developed in those we employ, and woven into the fabric of our organization's cultures, allowing individuals to achieve extraordinary success. And if we do achieve such success, so, too, will our companies and organizations. So, a few $10 food for thought questions are: Would you say your personal and professional leadership, management or supervisory style within your organization exemplifies more a culture of cooperation or a culture of competition? As a leader, manager or supervisor, on a scale of 1(low) to 10 (high), how much time and energy do you invest in bringing your employees along in their professional development? Do you know what your direct reports' professional goals are? If not, why not? Would you say your colleagues feel you are a good listener? How do you know? Are you envious, jealous, complimentary or congratulatory when you hear or read about other leaders', managers' or supervisors' accomplishments in your group, unit, department or organization? Are you passionate about your and your organization's mission and goals? Do you feel others are affected by your passion? How do you know? What thoughts, feelings or emotions do you experience when you consider the notion of "benevolent leadership?" What do you think accounts for your reactions? Does your leadership, managing or supervisory style support an environment in which coaching and mentoring efforts support one another to "walk the talk" of benevolent leadership? Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D., C.P.C is a personal and executive coach, speaker and facilitator who works with individuals who are re-careering and transitioning into the entrepreneurial arena of life. His business is SpiritHeart at Work, the Experts in Well-BE-ing and you can contact him by email.
|
|