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LUL020 - Bosses Depend On Authority – Leaders Depend On Goodwill
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There are millions of memes and clichés about leadership floating around the internet. There are also hundreds of thousands of books written on leadership, advanced degree programs, and a wide array of resources and assessments.
A meme is, "A humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users." I've observed this meme over the past few months and read a number of comments that strongly agree with this comparison. It's really an unfair comparison and shows that some people don't understand the true nature of leadership. Leadership is tough and the qualities listed above sound good in theory, but are unrealistic in some ways.
Bosses depend on authority and leaders on goodwill sounds good, but it doesn’t take into account the other 99.95% of the equation. The trustworthiness of the people they are leading and the culture of the organization.
To create goodwill amongst a group of people takes an extended period of time. You have to build trust, reputation and credibility. It also takes just as much growth on the part of the employee as it does the leader.
Early in my career, there was a mid-grade manager (Tony) that called in sick regularly. When questioned by leadership on his whereabouts, my supervisor would look like a deer in the headlights because he didn’t know. O_O This happened at least once a week and was embarrassing to all involved, and caused anxiety for my supervisor.
Tony was a valuable asset to the office for his expertise and 10+ career span. His illnesses of choice were pink eye and strep throat, and although he was out sick a few times a month, he never missed a basketball or golf tournament. He looked down on himself, and was becoming depressed and non-productive at work.
Tony felt used up, and started to take advantage of the system that allowed him to. When he called in to work, it created stress and anxiety for the leaders since he was a valuable asset. When he was held accountable for taking advantage of the system with low evaluations, this affected his promotions, he responded with lower performance. This created a cycle where the leaders and Tony looked bad. It was a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
Nearly 8 months after coaching Tony, we shifted from authority to goodwill.
A few keys in shifting from authority to goodwill with your personnel:
- Have an open conversation
- Set clear expectations of their performance
- Get feedback on their short and long-term goals
- Express appreciation of who they are
- Tell people how they fit in the overall picture
- Give them room to grow
- Coach them on the goals they set for themselves.
For the most part, people love to feel needed and as a valuable part of the team. A low performing employee or poor culture can be turned around with a few tweaks. This has been proven time and time again.
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