Leadership and Staffing
Many of the best, most effective leaders are introverts by nature, schoolyard nerds who grew up to be outstanding at drawing out the best in the people who work for them.
The right genes may help you become an organization's next president or CEO. But the same genes may also hinder your leadership path, according to Kansas State University psychological sciences research.
When was the last time you remember bringing your absolute “A Game” to your work, decisions and relationships? It’s likely that your memories are either too distant or too infrequent to feel satisfying. Given the rapidly changing environments within which we live and work, “overwhelmed” and “stretched too thin” are common sentiments. The irony is that during a time when most are desperately in pursuit of creativity, innovation and emotionally intelligent leadership there is a simultaneous pushing of ourselves and our employees to exhaustion—depletion of the very resources most needed.
Since 2000, according to numerous national surveys, less than one-third of workers in the United States are engaged in their work as measured by their involvement, enthusiasm, and commitment to their work. If you simply reflect on your most recent encounter as a consumer at your local retail store, restaurant, or government agency, your own experience will more than likely validate the reality of these startling statistics.
High performing teams consistently fare better than their competitors, especially when the pressure is on.
In business today, effective influence is essential. Want your ideas implemented? You must influence others to act on them. Want more clients? You must influence people to buy from you. Want more advancement or responsibility? You must influence executives to see the value you offer. And to be an effective leader you must be able to influence others. In all respects, being able to influence others is the ultimate power tool.
You are the manager of a big company and you know your business. Each day, you make important decisions regarding money, policy and strategy. You’re in total control. Without warning, you are confronted with a major crisis: an earthquake, a fire or a reputational risk. Now you find yourself uncertain and unsure. You don’t know what to do and you realize that everybody is looking to you for guidance—and the decision you are about to make will directly affect the survival of your company.
When you walk into the lab, you can feel the tension building. Even though you enjoy your work, interacting with your boss is affecting your overall job satisfaction. You are facing a dilemma: start looking for another job or endure the conflict.
Keeping middle managers happy with their supervisors is the key to retaining the lower-level workers they manage and avoiding expensive turnover costs, according to a Vanderbilt University study.
