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High Performance Leadership

Leadership -1 Minute Wisdom for Transforming your Leadership Behaviors to create high performance teams and organisations

If you aspire to be in a leadership , or if you are already in a leadership position, these leadership enhancing behaviors will help you to transition from positional leadership, or leadership title, or greedership or bleedership to becoming a REAL High Performance Leader.

High performance leadership focusses on 2 aspects of business

  • Business Results – Outcomes
  • People –  Process

Many leaders have great technical or business skills to go with their leadership title or position…. but few are true LEADERS who have the SMARTS to handle the people aspects well.   Many leaders are hired to IQ and fired for lack of EQ or the people dynamics element. Recent research revels that at least 50%-70% of leaders are ineffectivem inept or destructive.

 

Here are some LeaderShift  1 Minute Wisdom tips and insights to use to begin to shift from greeder or leader-by-title to leader-by-respect, attraction, trust and credibility.

1. We all have needs along the design of Maslows’ hierarchy of needs. We want to belong and be accepted and bond in our tribes, teams or groups.

Smart leaders understands the human dynamics and needs of their followers. At least 50% of a real leaders’ time is allocated to connecting, bonding, inspiring, listening, aligning and energizing.  How much time do you spend onthe people connection aspect of your leadership behaviors?

Make sure you take the time to get to know your team or tribe. Truly get to understand what makes them tick, what drives their passions, talents, hopes and dreams. Discover how you can frame and align their values with the organisations values and direction.

2. Leadership is a Position of POWER.

Leadership power controls culture and climate… which affects followers’ self-worth, self esteem, confidence, feelings and behaviors. The biggest mistake greeders, bleeders or pleaders make is to be “Above, aloof and unavailable.

Make sure you stay connected and caring, Avoid creating feelings of abandonment, insecurity or inferiority. Remember the NEUROSCIENCE Leadership insights based on SCARF (Dr David Rock’s excellent work), that  builds or destroys relationships, certainty, commitment and energy.

  • Status – Our social status, if a  change lowers social status it triggers a threat response.
  • Certainty – The human brain likes familiar, certainty and safe  situations, this allows the brain to run on      autopilot, but when a situation changes it requires the brain to focus on      the immediate task and change.
  • Autonomy – The degree to which an   individual can adapt or control either their environment, or their  responses to the environment. When people can make their own choices, the  feeling of certainty increases and reduces stress.
  • Relatedness – Healthy relationships are   caused by trust and empathy. The human brain groups others as friend or      foe. When a person is considered different (foe) the brain generates  feelings of being uncomfortable, which triggers a threat response and      makes people unlikely to accept the change.
  • Fairness – The perception of unfairness generates hostility, and undermines trust. The important key is that it is a perception of fairness. Unfairness in an environment prevents.

3. Quality Staff is vital for a high performing team or tribe. 

Whilst one of the leaders primary roles is to drive the achievement of organisational or company goals, They must take cognizance  of the prevailing human need; Learning, growing and contribution/Meaning.

Younger generations, more than most… want to enhance skills, experience and competencies.  By inculcating a values of development, learning and growth, you support people to achieve their potential at  and through work.  REAL smart leaders, nurture, grow, develop and retain their talented team members.

Quality, resilient, proactive, energetic, conscious, competent staff are required as the other leg of high performance organisations.
4. Feed forward and feedback is the breakfast of High performance

Unless you have an :honest mirror”  to reflect and reveal the truth about performance, effectiveness and impacts – it very hard to constantly improve. The key to mediocrity is to avoid giving any feedback.  By providing feedback in an APPRECIATIVE inquiry based approach, leaders can avoid negatively impacting mindset, attitudes and ego’s. a REAL leader is caring and honest and provides an honest mirror to assist and guide in BUILDING not breaking people’s spirit, commitment and engagement

 

5.  Left & right brain thinking…

Once a leader understands how the human mind works, reacts and operates in the workplace, they can understand the role of emotions, energy and attitudes. The Neuro Leadership research included above relating to SCARF, provides high performance leaders with valuable insights, tools and perspective to avoid missing the role emotions/ energy and moods play in determining attitudes, commitment, engagement, happiness at work and achieving  potential.

people are driven by two core perspectives, fear of loss and hope of gain.. towards some positive situation and away from some painful situation. Pain and fear are stronger and longer lasting “motivators than pleasure.

 

6. Managing engagement and conflict.

Staff Engagement is a leadership responsibility, Happiness at work is the individuals responsibility… By combining the 2 perspectives in a co-creative partnership optimum effort, impact and results can be achieved.

people and leaders need skills for both sides, emotion management / happiness at work and conflict resolution and management.

 

Conflicts creates and exacerbates stress, tension,  negative emotions, fear, uncertainty, connection, engagement and performance. Few people love conflict.

Leaders who ignore conflicts and “the elephants in the room, destroy their teams, energy, cohesion, connection and performance. REAL smart high performance leaders understand that conflict is a natural aspect of the workplace and they have tools, skills and awareness to balance and resolve conflicts in a manner that builds everyone and avoids a winner / loser scenario.

7. Leaders are drivers of potential and achieving results- 

Change is now the new norm. Leaders drive innovation, engagement and change. By creating a big WHY to shift focus, energy and commitment, high performance leaders create an exciting challenge and opportunities for growth, significance, and achievement at a higher level.  Smart leaders understand that resistance is a natural aspect of fear and uncertainty with respect to change in the workplace. So they use inclusive approach like Appreciative Inquiry to involve, engage and energise all staff and stakeholders.

 

8. Fear based culture – Unsafe, limited intelligent risk taking.

Your amygdala in your brain,  primary focus is based upon  defensive, protect and risk averse.  Many  Bleeders and Greeders build an organizational culture that is unsafe to make intelligent mistakes, innovate or explore new possibilities.  People therefore are “playing not to lose.”  Smart high performance leaders build trust and a culture  where thier teams feel safe, supported to are able to take risks  and  shift from gear to thrive and “play to win.”

 

Head based and not also heart based. 

People are driven by  their values or “intrinsic motivators”.So values like being  challenged, learning something new, making an important difference or developing  their talents. Too many leaders miss the opportunity to capitalize on this  internal guidance system and instead focus on “extrinsic motivators” like  bonuses, promotions, money and artificial rewards. Sure, you need to pay people  fairly. Keep in mind, however, that such external carrots and sticks distort the  internal motivation system. You will be a better leader when you focus on  inspiring people and tap into what they truly desire to achieve in terms of  growth and contribution.

10. Managing activities rather  than leading people.

People hate it when they are treated like cogs in a machine. Why then is so much of management about controlling, administering and  planning activities, and, by extension, people?

Leadership,  involves inspiring, encouraging and bringing out the very best in people by  building a sense of trust and by challenging them to take positive risks. To be  a leader and not just a manager, you need to really focus, on people as  people. That takes time and attention, and takes us back to the basic of  caring enough and bonding—the antidote to People Mistake number 1.

George  Kohlrieser is a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD, a  former hostage negotiator, and author of the award-winning bestseller Hostage at  the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others and Raise  Performance. His new book is Care to Dare: Unleashing Astonishing Potential  through Secure Base Leadership.

Read more:  http://forbesindia.com/article/imd/people-mistakes-leader-make/33895/1#ixzz2DVs7omXQ

For leadership development, Organisational Culture Change Manageement, coaching and consulting contact Tony Dovale on 083-447-6300