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Today’s leaders increasingly embrace purpose beyond profit

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Today’s leaders increasingly embrace purpose beyond profit

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https://fortune.com/2020/10/19/president-trump-has-failed-the-test-of-modern-leadership-ceo-daily/

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Neuroscience Says These Are the 8 Best Ways to Build Trust in the Workplace

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Neuroscience Says These Are the 8 Best Ways to Build Trust in the Workplace

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Lead
Neuroscience Says These Are the 8 Best Ways to Build Trust in the Workplace

Trust is the key ingredient to all successful relationships. Here's how to get it.

It's the foundation behind the happiest marriages and the intangible quality that makes the best teams click. Put simply, it's the key ingredient to all successful relationships.

But how do you really gain another person's trust?

Paul J. Zak, professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University, set out to answer that question. 10 years ago, he began measuring the brain activity of working people "in an effort to understand how company culture affects performance."

He shares the details of these experiments in a recent article for the Harvard Business Review entitled, The Neuroscience of Trust.

Zak theorized there must be a neurologic signal that indicates when we should trust someone. Knowing that a rodent's brain exhibits a chemical called oxytocin when it deems that another animal is safe to approach, he wondered if something similar happened with people.

By means of numerous experiments, Zak and his team discovered that it did: The amount of oxytocin a person's brain produced predicted how trustworthy they would be. Further, when subjects received synthetic oxytocin (through nasal spray), they increased greater levels of trust. For example, one experiment called for participants to send money to a stranger, knowing whatever amount they sent would triple and that the recipient could then choose whether or not to share the reward with the giver. Giving people 24 IU of synthetic oxytocin more than doubled the amount of money they sent.

Zak and his team then spent the following years studying the promoters and inhibitors of oxytocin. In doing so, they identified eight factors leading to increased levels of trust:

1. Recognize excellence.

According to the data, "recognition has the largest effect on trust when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met, when it comes from peers, and when it's tangible, unexpected, personal, and public." Public recognition also provides opportunity for high-performers to share best practices.

2. Provide a challenge.

"When a manager assigns a team a difficult but achievable job, the moderate stress of the task releases neurochemicals, including oxytocin and adrenocorticotropin, that intensify people's focus and strengthen social connections," writes Zak. "When team members need to work together to reach a goal, brain activity coordinates their behaviors efficiently."

A word of caution, though: This only works "if challenges are attainable and have a concrete end point; vague or impossible goals cause people to give up before they even start."

3. Give people freedom.

Trust begets trust: A 2014 Citigroup and LinkedIn survey indicated almost half of employees would forego up to a 20% raise for greater control over how they work.

4. Provide ample choice.

When employees can choose their projects, they take on greater ownership and are more focused in their work.

5. Be transparent.

Every company says they want it, but few are doing it right: Only 40% of employees say they're well informed of their company's goals, strategy, and tactics.

"This uncertainty about the company's direction leads to chronic stress, which inhibits the release of oxytocin and undermines teamwork," writes Zak. "Openness is the antidote."

There's nothing worse than the feeling that leaders don't care about keeping you in the loop, or even worse, that they're keeping secrets. Make sure your vision, intentions, and methods are clear to everyone on your team--and that they have access to the information they need to do their best work.

6. Go beyond work.

The data indicates that the most revered managers show interest in what happens in their teams' lives, outside of work. This contributes to feeling the manager or team lead is invested in him or her as a real person.

Additionally, work lunches and team-building activities help deepen connections and foster trust.

7. Provide opportunities to grow.

"High-trust companies adopt a growth mindset when developing talent," writes Zak.

The best business leaders work together with employees to help them reach their personal and professional goals. Frequent and consistent communication, along with proper follow-through, can help make sure that happens.

8. Show vulnerability.

Simply by asking others for help, leaders help stimulate oxytocin production in others, according to Zak's research. In turn, this increases trust and cooperation.

By following these eight steps, you put your people's best interests front-and-center. Do it consistently, and the trust will surely follow.

It's the foundation behind the happiest marriages and the intangible quality that makes the best teams click. Put simply, it's the key ingredient to all successful relationships.

But how do you really gain another person's trust?

Paul J. Zak, professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University, set out to answer that question. 10 years ago, he began measuring the brain activity of working people "in an effort to understand how company culture affects performance."

He shares the details of these experiments in a recent article for the Harvard Business Review entitled, The Neuroscience of Trust.

Zak theorized there must be a neurologic signal that indicates when we should trust someone. Knowing that a rodent's brain exhibits a chemical called oxytocin when it deems that another animal is safe to approach, he wondered if something similar happened with people.

By means of numerous experiments, Zak and his team discovered that it did: The amount of oxytocin a person's brain produced predicted how trustworthy they would be. Further, when subjects received synthetic oxytocin (through nasal spray), they increased greater levels of trust. For example, one experiment called for participants to send money to a stranger, knowing whatever amount they sent would triple and that the recipient could then choose whether or not to share the reward with the giver. Giving people 24 IU of synthetic oxytocin more than doubled the amount of money they sent.

Zak and his team then spent the following years studying the promoters and inhibitors of oxytocin. In doing so, they identified eight factors leading to increased levels of trust:

1. Recognize excellence.

According to the data, "recognition has the largest effect on trust when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met, when it comes from peers, and when it's tangible, unexpected, personal, and public." Public recognition also provides opportunity for high-performers to share best practices.

2. Provide a challenge.

"When a manager assigns a team a difficult but achievable job, the moderate stress of the task releases neurochemicals, including oxytocin and adrenocorticotropin, that intensify people's focus and strengthen social connections," writes Zak. "When team members need to work together to reach a goal, brain activity coordinates their behaviors efficiently."

A word of caution, though: This only works "if challenges are attainable and have a concrete end point; vague or impossible goals cause people to give up before they even start."

3. Give people freedom.

Trust begets trust: A 2014 Citigroup and LinkedIn survey indicated almost half of employees would forego up to a 20% raise for greater control over how they work.

4. Provide ample choice.

When employees can choose their projects, they take on greater ownership and are more focused in their work.

5. Be transparent.

Every company says they want it, but few are doing it right: Only 40% of employees say they're well informed of their company's goals, strategy, and tactics.

"This uncertainty about the company's direction leads to chronic stress, which inhibits the release of oxytocin and undermines teamwork," writes Zak. "Openness is the antidote."

There's nothing worse than the feeling that leaders don't care about keeping you in the loop, or even worse, that they're keeping secrets. Make sure your vision, intentions, and methods are clear to everyone on your team--and that they have access to the information they need to do their best work.

6. Go beyond work.

The data indicates that the most revered managers show interest in what happens in their teams' lives, outside of work. This contributes to feeling the manager or team lead is invested in him or her as a real person.

Additionally, work lunches and team-building activities help deepen connections and foster trust.

7. Provide opportunities to grow.

"High-trust companies adopt a growth mindset when developing talent," writes Zak.

The best business leaders work together with employees to help them reach their personal and professional goals. Frequent and consistent communication, along with proper follow-through, can help make sure that happens.

8. Show vulnerability.

Simply by asking others for help, leaders help stimulate oxytocin production in others, according to Zak's research. In turn, this increases trust and cooperation.

By following these eight steps, you put your people's best interests front-and-center. Do it consistently, and the trust will surely follow.

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Neuroscience Says These Are the 8 Best Ways to Build Trust in the Workplace

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Lead It's the foundation behind the happiest marriages and the intangible quality that makes the best teams click. Put simply, it's the key ingredient to all successful relationships. But how do you really gain another person's trust? Paul J. Zak, professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University, set out to answer that question.

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Empowering employees requires more than giving them the freedom to make decisions.

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Empowering employees requires more than giving them the freedom to make decisions.

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A number of times each game, Tom Brady calls a different play at the line of scrimmage than he did in the huddle. Even though the New England Patriots offensive coordinator called the original play, Brady has the latitude to make a different decision.

Brady makes those on-the-spot decisions based on a game plan put in place by the coaching staff during the prior week. He has latitude to operate within an overall framework and shared set of objectives. Patriots coaches trust him to make great decisions because he operates as an extension of the team.

NFL quarterbacks serve as a classic example of empowerment: giving people the authority and latitude to make smart decisions.

But why stop there; What if you took the next step? What if, instead of only empowering your employees to make difficult decisions, you also empowered them to take on difficult challenges?

Employee engagement and satisfaction would increase because engagement and satisfaction are largely based on independence and autonomy. People care more when something feels like it's "theirs."

People also care more when they feel they're allowed to find their own solutions. What's more satisfying: being told what to do, or figuring out what to do -- and then getting recognized for a job well done?

So how do you start empowering your employees to take on difficult challenges? Start with these four strategies:

1. Don't dictate solutions. Ask questions.

Feel free to state a problem or issue in detail, but limit your question to one sentence. "How can we increase throughput?" "How can we reduce errors?" "What do you think we should do?"

The key is to allow your employees to come up with their own thoughts, not react to yours. If you provide options right away, the focus is on those options -- and not on things you you haven't thought of. Make sure you stay open-ended. Do your best to avoid giving even a hint of what you think the might approach could be.

Remember, you already know what you know. So ask questions, and then just listen.

2. Focus on the end result.

While you want your employees to develop a great solution on their own, you must make sure they solve the actual problem. Unless you're very clear on the ultimate goal, sometimes a team will wind up solving a different problem. And while you're setting expectations...

3. Put guard rails in place.

Maybe you can only budget a limited amount of money. Maybe you don't want an individual or a team to spend more than eight to ten hours on the problem. Maybe the solution must take into account the impact on a downstream function.

Don't be afraid to set constraints. The fewer resources you have, the more you have to rely on creativity and ingenuity. (Besides: How many startups have unlimited resources?)

4. Always stay positive.

It's easy to spot the negatives. Most of us are great at identifying potential pitfalls and missteps.

Don't. Focus on giving positive feedback whenever you can. Focus on finding and emphasizing what is right.

Employees who aren't used to being empowered to tackle difficult challenges will naturally feel hesitant and uncertain. Will you really give them the latitude to develop their own solutions? Will you really give them the authority to make necessary changes?

Prove that you will. Be positive. Be supportive. Give constructive feedback without appearing to take over. If you see a problem, don't just propose a different solution. Ask questions. Ask why, or how. Or ask "What if?" questions.

In short, feel free to shape, but don't guide. Support, but don't direct. Help your employees feel comfortable about proposing new ways to get things done. And if an idea or approach isn't feasible, always take the time to explain why.

When you do -- and when you empower employees to tackle difficult challenges -- you help them feel a part of something bigger, and to feel not just valued as individuals, but as a key member of a real team.

These are some great ways I've learned to empower my team and lead. I don't use these tactics all the time -- sometimes you need to give more direction. But overall, to be a great leader in a fast-paced environment, follow these principles.

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Employee Empowerment Means Encouraging Your Team to Do This 1 Thing

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A number of times each game, Tom Brady calls a different play at the line of scrimmage than he did in the huddle. Even though the New England Patriots offensive coordinator called the original play, Brady has the latitude to make a different decision.

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Why empowering frontline workers is a key element to a safe reopening

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Why empowering frontline workers is a key element to a safe reopening

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Commentary: Why empowering frontline workers is a key element to a safe reopening

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Commentary: Frontline workers should be empowered to speak up about workplace health and safety to help combat coronavirus.

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6 Ways to create a positive work culture for remote teams

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6 Ways to create a positive work culture for remote teams

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Company Culture
6 Ways to Create a Positive Work Culture for Remote Teams

Company culture may have an organic component, but there are ways CEOs can foster positive engagement -- and boost morale.

By Jeff Steen, Content marketer and author @jeffophilus

Remote work is a popular subject in 2020, but conversations have veered largely toward day-to-day efficiencies: how to create a professional background for videoconference calls, what to communicate via low-bandwidth channels like email and chat versus Zoom meetings, what the etiquette is for internal versus external conferences, and so on.

Remote work, however, offers bigger challenges, including the loss of passive knowledge sharing during downtimes, emotional disconnection, and disintegrating work cultures. This last one, in particular, can affect morale and motivation. In some cases, in fact, productivity is hampered. MIT called this out in a recent highlight of remote work hurdles, observing that "as team members operate from physically distanced desks and possibly even in different time zones, opportunities for disconnect abound."

For those who have been riding the remote work train for years, this isn't news. Harvard Business Review spotlighted the issue back in 2017, conducting a poll to see how then-remote teams felt about their work interactions compared with those in physical offices. The results were telling:

We polled 1,153 employees, and 52 percent said they work, at least some of the time, from their home office. And when they do, many feel their colleagues don't treat them equally. Remote employees are more likely to report feeling that colleagues mistreat them and leave them out. Specifically, they worry that co-workers say bad things behind their backs, make changes to projects without telling them in advance, lobby against them, and don't fight for their priorities.

MIT pinned some of this on the lack of in-person physical and visual cues that provide context for our communication, but there is also an undeniable sense of isolation that leaves one feeling like they're lacking broader support within their team and company.

So how do you address this? As remote work becomes more widespread and a more permanent reality for many, it's important that CEOs and managers foster healthy communication and, concomitantly, a richer work culture. Here's how:

1. Spend time emphasizing employees' influence on business success.

This can be as simple as reiterating their role in specific projects or as elaborate as pointing to all success metrics (ROI, revenue, profits, site traffic, etc.) positively affected by their work.

2. Offer video and low-bandwidth channels for casual catch-ups and chat.

Not everything needs a formal meeting, but telecommuting is often highly dependent on structured audio or video calls. In an effort to offer channels for "hallway chat," create spaces where informal conversations can happen -- separate video chat rooms, collaboration tools like Slack, or internal IM networks.

3. Encourage employees to consult one another for advice and guidance.

The top-down approach to instruction and guidance-giving has its place, but many problems and questions can be addressed among your employees. Encourage them to work with one another to find solutions and answers; this builds bonds that otherwise remain weak.

4. Ask your employees to provide rationale for meetings with ample context and clear agendas.

Meetings are, of course, important from time to time. Ensure they are successful by providing all participants ample context and a full agenda so they can come prepared to engage -- instead of feeling out of the loop.

5. If your team is split between onsite and remote, make sure onsite employees are folded into regular meetings via video.

In other words, try not to play favorites -- make sure there's engagement happening among all employees, regardless of remote work status. This can take the form of optional "happy hours" via video, Slack channel conversations, or time that you set aside for employees to conduct one-on-one meet-and-greets.

6. Experiment with companywide newsletters.

These can be print or digital, but should highlight the work of teams across the company while also folding in profiles of employees (remote and onsite).

Remote work is a popular subject in 2020, but conversations have veered largely toward day-to-day efficiencies: how to create a professional background for videoconference calls, what to communicate via low-bandwidth channels like email and chat versus Zoom meetings, what the etiquette is for internal versus external conferences, and so on.

Remote work, however, offers bigger challenges, including the loss of passive knowledge sharing during downtimes, emotional disconnection, and disintegrating work cultures. This last one, in particular, can affect morale and motivation. In some cases, in fact, productivity is hampered. MIT called this out in a recent highlight of remote work hurdles, observing that "as team members operate from physically distanced desks and possibly even in different time zones, opportunities for disconnect abound."

For those who have been riding the remote work train for years, this isn't news. Harvard Business Review spotlighted the issue back in 2017, conducting a poll to see how then-remote teams felt about their work interactions compared with those in physical offices. The results were telling:

We polled 1,153 employees, and 52 percent said they work, at least some of the time, from their home office. And when they do, many feel their colleagues don't treat them equally. Remote employees are more likely to report feeling that colleagues mistreat them and leave them out. Specifically, they worry that co-workers say bad things behind their backs, make changes to projects without telling them in advance, lobby against them, and don't fight for their priorities.

MIT pinned some of this on the lack of in-person physical and visual cues that provide context for our communication, but there is also an undeniable sense of isolation that leaves one feeling like they're lacking broader support within their team and company.

So how do you address this? As remote work becomes more widespread and a more permanent reality for many, it's important that CEOs and managers foster healthy communication and, concomitantly, a richer work culture. Here's how:

This can be as simple as reiterating their role in specific projects or as elaborate as pointing to all success metrics (ROI, revenue, profits, site traffic, etc.) positively affected by their work.

Not everything needs a formal meeting, but telecommuting is often highly dependent on structured audio or video calls. In an effort to offer channels for "hallway chat," create spaces where informal conversations can happen -- separate video chat rooms, collaboration tools like Slack, or internal IM networks.

The top-down approach to instruction and guidance-giving has its place, but many problems and questions can be addressed among your employees. Encourage them to work with one another to find solutions and answers; this builds bonds that otherwise remain weak.

Meetings are, of course, important from time to time. Ensure they are successful by providing all participants ample context and a full agenda so they can come prepared to engage -- instead of feeling out of the loop.

In other words, try not to play favorites -- make sure there's engagement happening among all employees, regardless of remote work status. This can take the form of optional "happy hours" via video, Slack channel conversations, or time that you set aside for employees to conduct one-on-one meet-and-greets.

These can be print or digital, but should highlight the work of teams across the company while also folding in profiles of employees (remote and onsite).

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6 Ways to Create a Positive Work Culture for Remote Teams

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Company Culture By Jeff Steen, Content marketer and author @jeffophilus Remote work is a popular subject in 2020, but conversations have veered largely toward day-to-day efficiencies: how to create a professional background for videoconference calls, what to communicate via low-bandwidth channels like email and chat versus Zoom meetings, what the etiquette is for internal versus external conferences, and so on.

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Empowering frontline workers  = Safe reopening

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Empowering frontline workers  = Safe reopening

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Earning a paycheck again means risking your life. Medical staff developed life-saving innovations (keeping IV pumps and ventilation control panes outside of patients rooms).

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Commentary: Why empowering frontline workers is a key element to a safe reopening

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Commentary: Frontline workers should be empowered to speak up about workplace health and safety to help combat coronavirus.

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Organizations today are moving and reacting to their environments far more quickly than ever before. While this increased speed has led to tremendous gains in the ability of businesses to take advantage of new opportunities, it has also created a workforce that is increasingly confused, disenfranchised, and out of touch with the fundamental values that mater most to them, their coworkers, and even the organizations itself.

But even as employees look for meaning, many bosses put the primary focus on profits, percentages, and production; their people are secondary, or worse.

This isn't sustainable. To thrive over the long term, leaders must transform their organizations, moving from bureaucratic, profit-centered businesses to empowered, people-centered businesses filled with positive energy. When you put your people first, profits will follow. Here are 7 steps for building a people-centered business.

1. Divine the Organization's True Vision

Every organization has its own unique culture, made up of its values, its attitudes, its history, and its collective consciousness. People-centered leaders are master of divining an organization's culture, and then seeing a true vision of what paths the organization and its members should take to match its culture with its clients, customers, employees, and other business partners.

While it's true that businesses exist primarily to make money for their owners and shareholders, for any company to continue to succeed in the future, leaders must stop focusing on money and profit at the expense of employees and other business partners. Look into your heart to find the values that really count--respect, love, and trust--and strike a balance between the company's need to make a profit and the need of employees and other business partners to prosper in both a spiritual and financial sense.

We have much to learn from those who have walked in the paths we now tread. Employees benefit enormously from mentorship. Great leaders make time for this, knowing that it will be a boon to the productivity and effectiveness not only of those they mentor (or arrange mentorships for), but the entire company.

4. Encourage Self-Leadership

We can all accomplish great things if we simply unleash the energy within us. No matter where they are in an organization's hierarchy, from the lowest-paid mailroom clerk to the highest-paid senior executive, employees must take action themselves and not depend on or expect others to take action on their behalf.

5. Involve Employees in the Transformation

By encouraging cooperation, creating opportunities for teamwork, and making free-and-open communication a reality instead of simply a goal, you will not only create a vision of the future but provide the necessary information and tools to achieve it--enabling every employee to express his or her highest levels of innovation and productivity.

6. Build Bridges of Trust

Effective business relationships are built on a strong foundation of trust. Build bridges of trust among all employees through mutual respect. Guide your people along a path of positive energy comprising mutual support and cooperation rather than a path of negative energy that often hobbles even the best of organizations.

7. Create a Body of Knowledge

As a leader you have a duty to share your knowledge with all the members of the community in which you work. All great leaders not only give their people the tools they need to create positive change within and without them, but they create a body of knowledge that will help others along their own paths in the absence of the leader.

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Empowerment Play: Why You Should Put People First

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Organizations today are moving and reacting to their environments far more quickly than ever before. While this increased speed has led to tremendous gains in the ability of businesses to take advantage of new opportunities, it has also created a workforce that is increasingly confused, disenfranchised, and out of touch with the fundamental values that mater most to them, their coworkers, and even the organizations itself.

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There is recent research that points to the notion that the belief in free will is a significant predictor to personal achievement. It is suggested through this work that one's motivation is often accelerated when they believe that their effort can determine results - and, that their progress will not be slowed or redirected by outside influencers that exist beyond their control.

That said, leaders would be well-served to establish work environments that promote the freedom to excel among their staff? By empowering team members to self-govern and make decisions, you just may create the type of responsible and accomplishment-focused workforce needed to achieve great things for your business.

But, before you toss all leadership duties to your team, there are a few things to consider, including:

1. Are your people ready to be empowered? Staff members need the proper training and experience in order to be endowed with the responsibility to make the call. Be sure that your team has the appropriate skills and knowledge to be empowered - then give them the free will to drive decision-making to lower levels of the organization, where their free will can be leveraged.

2. Do you trust their decisions? Be sure to help everyone know what your expectations are and how you're expecting them to operate. With those basic parameters, an empowered team can be trusted to make the "right" call, at least, most of the time.

3. Do you have the necessary "checks and balances" in place to monitor progress? "Trust, but verify" is a good rule to thumb when transitioning to an empowered workforce. You'll want to be sure that there are appropriate measures and controls in place to verify the quality of the work as its performed.

4. Do you know when to intervene? Just like a teenager doesn't like it when their parents intercede in "their" business, a workforce may not appreciate it much when a leader limits a team member's ability to exercise their own free will. It's a good idea to establish norms around how you, as leader, will get involved in the work of the unit. This way, they'll be no hard feelings when you have to do our job.

5. How do you play on the team? Similarly, you'll need to carve out your role in the everyday interactions and operations of the team. You'll still need to set direction and manage change, be a point of escalation and provide advice and coaching as the team matures and evolves. A leader of an empowered team still needs to be involved and present.

To close, the research points to the fact that people perform better when they believe that they have the free will to choose among options and that they will assume the responsibilities for their actions. It's up to us to create and cultivate the work settings required to let them achieve.

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Empowerment through Free Will: Building a Team with the Freedom to Shine

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There is recent research that points to the notion that the belief in free will is a significant predictor to personal achievement. It is suggested through this work that one's motivation is often accelerated when they believe that their effort can determine results - and, that their progress will not be slowed or redirected by outside influencers that exist beyond their control.

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people want to be involved in moving their organizations forward.

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How Edward Jones Keeps Its Employees Happy to Come to Work

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The Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance are investing in good ideas from people across the organization.

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How to maintain or repair trust during these trying times !?

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How to maintain or repair trust during these trying times !?

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Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Authenticity) / (Perception of Self Interest)

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This moment is a high-stakes test for business leaders. While the Covid-19 pandemic threatens the financial viability of many organizations, an even more fragile and vital resource is at risk: the trust between the leader and the employees.

It is very easy for a leader to lose trust when people are feeling fear. A simple question such as "Will the organization provide daily reports on the health of employees and others working on our buildings?" can erode or build trust. As I wrote in Value Leadership, the leader can build trust by promising to provide such information and then -- crucially -- fulfilling that commitment.

Other responses -- such as writing down the question and hoping it does not recur or promising to provide the information and not following through -- can result in an abrupt erosion of trust. When trust is lost, employees will start looking for a way out.

The good news is that leaders can rebuild lost trust through a formula. According to First Round Capital,
Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Authenticity) / (Perception of Self Interest)
What does this mean? Simply put, people trust you more if they believe that you know what you are talking about, if you do what you promise to do, if you are easy for others to know, and if they see you as putting the organization's interests above your own.

If you have lost trust with your people, here are four ways to use this formula to help you rebuild it.

1. Diagnose and rebuild lost credibility.

Credibility comes from having the knowledge, experience and familiarity to perform a particular role well. The pandemic has certainly put leaders in a situation in which they are forced to deal with problems that require knowledge and experience that they lack.

Leaders who are perceived as losing credibility should ask their employees to explain why. If that loss of credibility comes from a lack of expertise in dealing with a new problem created by the pandemic, the leader should simply admit that weakness and move quickly to hire a colleague who can supply the needed expertise.

2. Jump start your reputation for reliability.

If you've made promises to people and then failed to deliver, you are in a precarious position. If you are lucky, people who depend on you will give you a serious tongue-lashing to make sure you understand that you have made a huge mistake that could cost you your leadership role.

In response, you should admit that you made a mistake and ask for forgiveness. Then begin rebuilding your reputation for reliability. As I wrote in Value Leadership, the key is to promise a measurable outcome for your organization by a specific time and deliver on that promise. Only if you repeat this process consistently can you rebuild your reputation for reliability.

3. Make yourself easier for others to know.

The term authentic leadership gets thrown around frequently these days -- but what does it really mean? In my view, others will perceive you as authentic if you reveal to others what makes you tick by telling stories about yourself.

Last month I had lunch with the CEO of a tech startup who did this well. He was a base guitar player in a punk rock band who had a child and needed to make a living fast. He found his way into a sales job which he loved because all he had to do to excel was to make his sales targets.

In a few minutes, this CEO shared his essential values -- a rebellious, independent nature who does what it takes to take care of people for whom he feels responsible.

4. Act more for others than for yourself.

A leader should be the opposite of command and control -- meaning that the organization revolves around satisfying the ego and obeying the orders of the one in the big office.

For leaders to sustain trust, they must serve the people in the organization. How can you do that? Start by articulating a clear and inspiring purpose that attracts and motivates people. Next, listen to the people you've attracted to your team and remove the obstacles that creep up to impede their initiatives to realize that inspiring mission..

If your interactions with people make them feel that you are putting the organization's interests above your own, you will further enhance the trust you need to lead effectively.

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This moment is a high-stakes test for business leaders. While the Covid-19 pandemic threatens the financial viability of many organizations, an even more fragile and vital resource is at risk: the trust between the leader and the employees. It is very easy for a leader to lose trust when people are feeling fear.

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You know employee engagement is vital to the success of your team. Research has definitely proven employees are more productive and are more likely to expend discretionary effort when they are engaged with your business.

If you don't take steps to create an environment where your employees are more motivated and engaged, you will be missing a vital competitive advantage. So make 2016 the year you make a real difference, by instigating each of these practical and effective strategies to create your dream team.
1 - Check Out Your One On One Time
Today, make sure every individual has regular one-on-one time with their manager and allocate space in the meeting for their suggestions, ideas, problems and issues as well as talking about performance issues and work.
2 - Find Out What Gives Them a Real Buzz
Find a way to ask your team what gets them out of bed in the morning. Start off a staff meeting and make the question fun, or do it as part of a focus group, or even send them an email. The answers may be revealing and lead to you questioning if work has any part in their thinking! It's a way to start the discussion and get focused on discussing motivation.
3 - Give Them the Resources They Need to Do Their Job Well
Ask your team what they need to do their job better. Do they need better equipment? More information? Training? More resources? Better space? Ask the question and test whatever comes up to make sure it will make a tangible difference.
4 - Make Motivational Messages the First Thing They See
Purchase some motivational posters or prints and place them strategically around the workplace. Buy tear off calendars with success/ motivational quotes for the day, or program motivational welcome messages on employee's device screens. These success messages are absorbed in a subliminal way constantly.
5 - Examine Your Beliefs About Your Team
Believing your team members do the best they can with what is going on in their lives is essential to create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Think of your employees one by one and bring to your conscious awareness three positive traits or attributes they have. Whenever you get the opportunity, mention what you admire in them personally.
6 - Initiate A Values Compliance Survey
List each of your company values and ask your employees to give a score between 1 - 10 for each value. If an employee gives less than a 7 for each value, ask them what needs to change to reach a 10. Make an action plan with clear outcomes to make any changes needed.

Even your worst and most difficult employees are human beings and have a right to dignity and respect. Deal with behavior but not personality. If someone isn't performing or isn't present or has committed some kind of breach of conduct, deal firmly with it, don't broadcast it and be kind, while making sure organizational boundaries and psychological contract are intact.
8 - Create Excitement and Enthusiasm
Create excitement and enthusiasm in your team by being excited and enthusiastic yourself. People find it difficult not to mirror genuine emotion. If you are flat-lining every day, and there is no sparkle or bounce in you, it's likely that's how your employees will show up. If you are quiet and have a thinking personality make sure you employ someone in your team who brings positive sparkle and emotion to the workplace every day.
9 - Create A No-Blame Culture
Encourage people to get to the point where they want critical feedback and they love getting the low-down from customers because they know every bit of feedback is an opportunity to do better. Once you have a solution orientated attitude at work, individuals can't make mistakes, they can only create opportunities for continuous improvement.

Is there friendly banter or friendly rivalry in the team? Good-natured jokes and storytelling are vital to the lifeblood of your workplace. If your employees never laugh or a sense of humor is frowned upon, your team will likely be extremely unmotivated. Do you socialize and have seasonal parties and birthday celebrations? If not get someone with mojo to get the party started.

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Kick-Start 2016 With These 10 Ways to Motivate and Engage Your Team

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You know employee engagement is vital to the success of your team. Research has definitely proven employees are more productive and are more likely to expend discretionary effort when they are engaged with your business. If you don't take steps to create an environment where your employees are more motivated and engaged, you will be missing a vital competitive advantage.

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Company Culture
Who Can You Trust? The Answer Better Be Bigger Than Your Leader

Trust in a leader is just the beginning of what trust is all about and why it matters.

There's an axiom of leadership we rarely pause to appreciate: To be effective, leaders must have trust. "Obviously," you may be thinking. But before you simply move on, ask yourself: What exactly do we mean when we make this statement? Is there more to it than meets the eye? Far more important, are those who lead you less effective than you want or need a leader to be? Are you the leader who's coming up short? If you care about leading well, it's time to take a closer look at trust.

Without Trust, There Is No Such Thing As Leadership.

The link between trust and leading starts simple enough: If the person we call the leader isn't trusted, all is effectively lost. Without trust, those who would support the leader don't. The reverse is just as true - when a leader loses trust they lose their ability to influence. Trust is the connective tissue linking everyone in an organization, group, or society to each other. It's the key ingredient that enables the pathways by which ideas, energy, and effort flow. Without it any group is little more than just a bunch of humans hanging out hoping something good might happen.

Trust Must Include Trusting Others To Lead.

Just as trust isn't one dimensional, neither is leadership. Yet we make a similar error when thinking about leadership. Call it the ' error of one,' in other words, equating leadership with a single person, as though others play no part. In truth, leadership is something that needs to constantly move, wisely shifting a group's reliance to whomever can best lead as circumstances change. While leadership moving is what's necessary for an organization to be an adaptive, vibrant, even innovative, most are built to prevent leadership from moving. Why? Because the individuals who run those organizations don't want to lose control. At least that's the surface answer. The real reason is they lack trust.

This lack of trust in many leading and co-creating is more the exception than the norm in our human history of striving together. Indeed the kind of trust that allows the many to lead has been a vital factor in our ongoing survival. While most human tribes throughout history had a chief, on any particular day the leader might actually be the medicine woman, if the needs and circumstances of the day called for her skills most of all. Under different circumstances that leader could be a warrior, even a subgroup of individuals like the tribe's gathers. And when leadership moved, any chief worth his or her salt didn't quibble about passing the baton. They focused on the need or opportunity at hand and on getting behind the person best equipped to lead in that moment. If they hadn't, there's a good chance our modern-day tribes wouldn't even be around. Trust was the critical factor. What made it work? Shared purpose.

At The Heart of Trust Is The Need To Attend To Shared Purpose.

The most important element fueling collective trust across any group is shared purpose, and the most successful teams of any era not only have one, but attend to it ongoing. Here's how that last statement breaks down. You can't assume a shared purpose. You have to consciously define it. And no doubt, shared purpose is at its most powerful when it is collectively defined. But even more important than defining it together from the start is collectively attending to it ongoing - revisiting it, reshaping it, testing it, reinterpreting it, applying it ... over and over ad infinitum. When shared purpose is at the heart of the organization, leadership moves more effectively because trust in a common purpose is everyone's reason for being, doing, and leading.

Trust And Leadership Thrive When Creativity Is A Cultural Mindset.

Trust is a force constantly in motion, in no small way because people and circumstances are always in motion. This has never been truer than in today's uncertain often volatile environment. It almost goes without saying that openness and creative thinking are vital components in such conditions. But like trust and like leadership, too often we think of creativity as the domain and ability of the few. It's not true, no matter what our myths and habits say. Creativity must be a cultural mindset. And for that to truly happen there must be trust. Yes, creativity can be messy, and messy sounds scary. But it turns out that when our shared capacity for creative thought is recognized, encouraged, and used in a manner of cocreation, cultures actually become more resilient, thrive, and innovate - not in isolated moments, but perpetually.

The old maxim is true: leaders must have trust. The distinction today that makes the old new and powerful, is embracing that leading, creating, thriving, and trusting are shared endeavors. Trust me on this one.

There's an axiom of leadership we rarely pause to appreciate: To be effective, leaders must have trust. "Obviously," you may be thinking. But before you simply move on, ask yourself: What exactly do we mean when we make this statement? Is there more to it than meets the eye? Far more important, are those who lead you less effective than you want or need a leader to be? Are you the leader who's coming up short? If you care about leading well, it's time to take a closer look at trust.

Without Trust, There Is No Such Thing As Leadership.

The link between trust and leading starts simple enough: If the person we call the leader isn't trusted, all is effectively lost. Without trust, those who would support the leader don't. The reverse is just as true - when a leader loses trust they lose their ability to influence. Trust is the connective tissue linking everyone in an organization, group, or society to each other. It's the key ingredient that enables the pathways by which ideas, energy, and effort flow. Without it any group is little more than just a bunch of humans hanging out hoping something good might happen.

Trust Must Include Trusting Others To Lead.

Just as trust isn't one dimensional, neither is leadership. Yet we make a similar error when thinking about leadership. Call it the ' error of one,' in other words, equating leadership with a single person, as though others play no part. In truth, leadership is something that needs to constantly move, wisely shifting a group's reliance to whomever can best lead as circumstances change. While leadership moving is what's necessary for an organization to be an adaptive, vibrant, even innovative, most are built to prevent leadership from moving. Why? Because the individuals who run those organizations don't want to lose control. At least that's the surface answer. The real reason is they lack trust.

This lack of trust in many leading and co-creating is more the exception than the norm in our human history of striving together. Indeed the kind of trust that allows the many to lead has been a vital factor in our ongoing survival. While most human tribes throughout history had a chief, on any particular day the leader might actually be the medicine woman, if the needs and circumstances of the day called for her skills most of all. Under different circumstances that leader could be a warrior, even a subgroup of individuals like the tribe's gathers. And when leadership moved, any chief worth his or her salt didn't quibble about passing the baton. They focused on the need or opportunity at hand and on getting behind the person best equipped to lead in that moment. If they hadn't, there's a good chance our modern-day tribes wouldn't even be around. Trust was the critical factor. What made it work? Shared purpose.

At The Heart of Trust Is The Need To Attend To Shared Purpose.

The most important element fueling collective trust across any group is shared purpose, and the most successful teams of any era not only have one, but attend to it ongoing. Here's how that last statement breaks down. You can't assume a shared purpose. You have to consciously define it. And no doubt, shared purpose is at its most powerful when it is collectively defined. But even more important than defining it together from the start is collectively attending to it ongoing - revisiting it, reshaping it, testing it, reinterpreting it, applying it ... over and over ad infinitum. When shared purpose is at the heart of the organization, leadership moves more effectively because trust in a common purpose is everyone's reason for being, doing, and leading.

Trust And Leadership Thrive When Creativity Is A Cultural Mindset.

Trust is a force constantly in motion, in no small way because people and circumstances are always in motion. This has never been truer than in today's uncertain often volatile environment. It almost goes without saying that openness and creative thinking are vital components in such conditions. But like trust and like leadership, too often we think of creativity as the domain and ability of the few. It's not true, no matter what our myths and habits say. Creativity must be a cultural mindset. And for that to truly happen there must be trust. Yes, creativity can be messy, and messy sounds scary. But it turns out that when our shared capacity for creative thought is recognized, encouraged, and used in a manner of cocreation, cultures actually become more resilient, thrive, and innovate - not in isolated moments, but perpetually.

The old maxim is true: leaders must have trust. The distinction today that makes the old new and powerful, is embracing that leading, creating, thriving, and trusting are shared endeavors. Trust me on this one.

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Who Can You Trust? The Answer Better Be Bigger Than Your Leader

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Company Culture There's an axiom of leadership we rarely pause to appreciate: To be effective, leaders must have trust. "Obviously," you may be thinking. But before you simply move on, ask yourself: What exactly do we mean when we make this statement? Is there more to it than meets the eye?

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A number of times each game, Tom Brady calls a different play at the line of scrimmage than he did in the huddle. Even though the New England Patriots offensive coordinator called the original play, Brady has the latitude to make a different decision.

Brady makes those on-the-spot decisions based on a game plan put in place by the coaching staff during the prior week. He has latitude to operate within an overall framework and shared set of objectives. Patriots coaches trust him to make great decisions because he operates as an extension of the team.

NFL quarterbacks serve as a classic example of empowerment: giving people the authority and latitude to make smart decisions.

But why stop there; What if you took the next step? What if, instead of only empowering your employees to make difficult decisions, you also empowered them to take on difficult challenges?

Employee engagement and satisfaction would increase because engagement and satisfaction are largely based on independence and autonomy. People care more when something feels like it's "theirs."

People also care more when they feel they're allowed to find their own solutions. What's more satisfying: being told what to do, or figuring out what to do -- and then getting recognized for a job well done?

So how do you start empowering your employees to take on difficult challenges? Start with these four strategies:

1. Don't dictate solutions. Ask questions.

Feel free to state a problem or issue in detail, but limit your question to one sentence. "How can we increase throughput?" "How can we reduce errors?" "What do you think we should do?"

The key is to allow your employees to come up with their own thoughts, not react to yours. If you provide options right away, the focus is on those options -- and not on things you you haven't thought of. Make sure you stay open-ended. Do your best to avoid giving even a hint of what you think the might approach could be.

Remember, you already know what you know. So ask questions, and then just listen.

2. Focus on the end result.

While you want your employees to develop a great solution on their own, you must make sure they solve the actual problem. Unless you're very clear on the ultimate goal, sometimes a team will wind up solving a different problem. And while you're setting expectations...

3. Put guard rails in place.

Maybe you can only budget a limited amount of money. Maybe you don't want an individual or a team to spend more than eight to ten hours on the problem. Maybe the solution must take into account the impact on a downstream function.

Don't be afraid to set constraints. The fewer resources you have, the more you have to rely on creativity and ingenuity. (Besides: How many startups have unlimited resources?)

4. Always stay positive.

It's easy to spot the negatives. Most of us are great at identifying potential pitfalls and missteps.

Don't. Focus on giving positive feedback whenever you can. Focus on finding and emphasizing what is right.

Employees who aren't used to being empowered to tackle difficult challenges will naturally feel hesitant and uncertain. Will you really give them the latitude to develop their own solutions? Will you really give them the authority to make necessary changes?

Prove that you will. Be positive. Be supportive. Give constructive feedback without appearing to take over. If you see a problem, don't just propose a different solution. Ask questions. Ask why, or how. Or ask "What if?" questions.

In short, feel free to shape, but don't guide. Support, but don't direct. Help your employees feel comfortable about proposing new ways to get things done. And if an idea or approach isn't feasible, always take the time to explain why.

When you do -- and when you empower employees to tackle difficult challenges -- you help them feel a part of something bigger, and to feel not just valued as individuals, but as a key member of a real team.

These are some great ways I've learned to empower my team and lead. I don't use these tactics all the time -- sometimes you need to give more direction. But overall, to be a great leader in a fast-paced environment, follow these principles.

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Employee Empowerment Means Encouraging Your Team to Do This 1 Thing

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A number of times each game, Tom Brady calls a different play at the line of scrimmage than he did in the huddle. Even though the New England Patriots offensive coordinator called the original play, Brady has the latitude to make a different decision.

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9 Ways CEOs Can Become Chief Empowerment Officers

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9 Ways CEOs Can Become Chief Empowerment Officers

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According to a Gallup analysis , only one in three employees strongly agrees that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the previous seven days. The study goes on to say that at any given company, it's not uncommon for employees to feel that their best efforts are routinely ignored.

Unfortunately, we all know firsthand what happens when we're not recognized or appreciated for our efforts. Motivation wanes and eventually we start looking elsewhere. For a CEO, this climate of low morale and outmigration of the best people is hard on the organization, catastrophic for culture and discouraging for individuals.

To fight it, as a leader, you need to rethink your title and think of yourself as the chief empowerment officer. Here are nine things you can start doing today to build a culture of empowerment and recognition:

1. Believe in your people.

The Gallup study finds that "the most effective recognition is honest, authentic and individualized." There are many powerful ways to show recognition--in a private meeting or as part of a larger gathering, in a personal note or card, or with a formalized award or recognition program. They key is to communicate your confidence in them, which in turn grows their self-confidence. commitment and motivation.

Time is short and it's likely you always have a million things to do, but as a CEO you have to make sure not only that your business is running right but also that your employees are happy. The best way to gauge that happiness and contribute to it is by taking the time to have conversations that aren't related to work. Listen to learn about people's circumstances, their thoughts, and their opinions. Attentive listening will always be the best way to show genuine interest.

3. Forgive their mistakes.

The best leaders know that mistakes happen to us all. If you blow employee mistakes out of proportion, you encourage a culture of mistrust and secrecy, one in which people feel they need to prioritize placing blame ahead of solving problems. The smartest thing you can do is to let your employees know they can make a mistake a two and that all you ask is they come and tell you before it ends up being bigger than it has to be.

4. Don't try to fix their problems.

Instead, empower them by helping them navigate their way to a solution. Most leaders know exactly what needs to be done and when and how and where it need to get done. But too many think that means they should tell their employees exactly how to fix the problem, The best leaders instead lead people toward solutions, creating a learning experience and sometimes opening up new possibilities. I talk extensively about this in my new book, The Leadership Gap. Great leaders are navigators; they know that to empower others, you need to coach through a solution instead of fixing the problem.

The most important form of empowerment a leader can provide to their employees is the autonomy to do things on their own. Don't micromanage--it's among the strongest killers of motivation. Give people the freedom that they need and allow them in return to show you want they can accomplish.

6. Give trust to gain trust.

Have you ever worked for someone who made you work for their trust? Leaders from this school of thought are famous for putting you through the wringer and telling you "I can't trust you until you earn it." The best leaders, on the other hand, are quick to give trust. Their message is "I believe in you," and they give employees the confidence they need to be accountable. When you give trust, you get trust.

There are lots of ways you can spend time with your employees--in meetings, in one-on-one conversations, in quick hallway catch-ups. But when you go out of your way and spend personal time with members of your team, whether it's a coffee hour or dinner or a group outing to a local attraction or sporting event, you can really connect.

8. Respect doesn't cost a penny.

If you've ever heard the late comic Rodney Dangerfield wail "I get no respect," it's hard to forget. When employees feel they aren't getting the respect they deserve, it can be hard for them to stay motivated. Smart leaders know that respect is the greatest form of praise. It makes all the long hours and exhausting work worthwhile in a way that few things can.

The most successful people give to others without thinking about getting anything in return. And no leader can truly empower others without a generous spirit. The payback, though, is vast.

CEOs--and leaders at every other level--have numerous tools to show their appreciation. Practice these nine, and everyone around you will benefit greatly.

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9 Ways Ceos Can Become Chief Empowerment Officers

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According to a Gallup analysis , only one in three employees strongly agrees that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the previous seven days. The study goes on to say that at any given company, it's not uncommon for employees to feel that their best efforts are routinely ignored.