Any successful leader will attribute their success to their people. They know that getting things done depends on those who are committed to the overall goals, understand their role, and are willing to follow the principles, procedures and expectations of the organization. They are accountable and engaged. They care about one another and the organization. They are responsible and ask good questions to ensure that the expectations are understood. They feel important and connected to the workplace. To these employees, there are more positives associated with work than negatives. Typically, there is more laughter and support than angst and avoidance in conversations and directions.
Unfortunately, many leaders inherit people who have not worked in an environment that supports the above workplace culture descriptions. These workers are used to being told what to do with few opportunities for input; there is more response when something goes wrong than when things go well. In this culture, people learn to avoid constructive conversations and create subgroups that resist rather than cooperate.
The successful leader breaks up this culture by displaying and recognizing the behaviors that they want rather than only reprimanding the behaviors they don’t want.
The successful leader asks themselves how they are connected to the workplace. Then, they talk to their workforce about their answers. Hopefully, discussions about fulfilling work, being able to support their family and good people to work with come to mind — and this type of information is frequently shared within conversations.
The successful leader also asks themselves if they care about their workforce and is that caring apparent in their conversations with others. Do they know their people? Do they spend time with them talking about things other than just work? Do they share a part of themselves while at the same time being interested in the conversations and questions of their workforce? Do they thank them frequently?
The successful leader frequently talks about goals and expectations. Most organizations dedicate a portion of their web presence to missions, visions, goals, etc. The successful leader incorporates some of that language into their formal communication meetings. They also spend time with their workforce to fine-tune workplace expectations so that everyone knows them.
The successful leader talks about responsibility and accountability so that everyone feels a sense of ownership for the results of the group. No one is left out. There are different jobs, but everyone has responsibility for quality and accomplishment.
The successful leader spends a great deal of time looking for things that they want and recognizing people positively when they find the workforce doing those things.
When the above leadership behaviors are frequently found in the workplace, the workforce has an opportunity to become like-minded.
About the author: Alan R. Crnko is an Alliance Safety Council board member and business consultant in the Baton Rouge, LA, area. He has spent his career providing workforce development services. He can be contacted at alancrnko@gmail.com.
