To have a good relationship is one thing; to have a good partnership is another. One view of integrative leadership encourages leaders to (1) cultivate good relationships and then (2) nurture these relationships into “full-fledged partners.”
In the March/April 2016 issue of EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, Bonnie Horrigan provided tips for building good relationships (see my previous blog) and then tips for developing those relationships into partners. Here I summarize her tips for leaders concerning partnerships.
My take-aways:
#1. To have engaged employees, people should understand and embrace both the mission and the vision. The Society for Human Resource Management differentiates mission and vision as follows:
A mission statement explains reason for existence, what organization does, its intent, purpose. "A vision statement describes the organization as it would appear in a future successful state . . . An effective vision statement is inspirational and aspirational.”
My guess is that there are enormous differences here among organizations. Do you have a mission statement? A vision statement? Are they current? Still valid? Do people truly understand the mission? The vision? Is it more than words on a business card or sign? Have you hired, developed, and rewarded to create an environment where people want to be part of achieving the mission and vision? Leaders create buy-in and engaged employees.
#2. Part of experiencing the vision is recognizing those moments, those events, in accomplishing the mission where the vision can be glimpsed. Perception is important here. Without the leader acknowledging or communicating how the current outcome represents what we want to achieve, those experiences of the vision might not be recognized. There will be times when people or teams far exceed current expectations and demonstrate what is indeed possible, the vision. Leaders praise, reward, and communicate these moments.
#3. This seems straightforward but in my consulting experience it was not. I consistently found people had great ideas to solve problems, to innovate, but management was not receptive. A common remark from managers: “If they had good ideas, then why aren’t they in this job and not me.” Leaders build organizational climates and cultures where people share insights and ideas and are rewarded for them.
#4. Empowering employees by letting them make decisions can be motivating for many. In Decoding the Workplace (pp. 33-34) I tell the story of a hotel clerk who did not have the authority to make relatively small decisions that would increase customer satisfaction. Her supervisor had approval authority and was often not available. When the hotel became part of a different hotel chain, she was given that authority and her job satisfaction greatly increased – and probably resulted in more satisfied customers. Even so, it should be noted that not everyone wants their jobs enriched.
#5 Herbert Shepard had eight “rules of thumb for change agents.” In a 2012 blog I proposed a ninth, Rule IX: Celebrate the moment. It is easy to let moments, big and small, pass by without celebrating when celebrating would have been good. In that blog I wrote: “Sometimes leaders fail to celebrate the successes of their units. I had a student who led an organization that had a very successful year. After we discussed celebrating the moment, he realized that he had not done so with his company, that he barely acknowledged the great year before focusing on the next. The next Monday when he went to work, he corrected that situation. They celebrated the moment. Celebrate the moments, large and small, that unfold to you.”
Horrigan, B. (2016). Integrative leadership means partnering. EXPLORE, 12 (2), 139-140.
Image by Gerd Altman from https://pixabay.com/en/meeting-businessmen-personal-1219530/. In Public Domain. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
© John Ballard, PhD, 2015. All rights reserved.
__________________________
Author of Decoding the Workplace.
"Decoding the Workplace: 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations is as informed and informative a read as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. . . . An absolute 'must' for community, corporate, and academic library Business Management Studies collections, Decoding the Workplace should be considered critically important reading for anyone working in a corporate environment." —Midwest Book Review
Available at leading online bookstores such as Amazon.com
________________________
Follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/johnballardphd
On Twitter: @johnballardphd
In the March/April 2016 issue of EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, Bonnie Horrigan provided tips for building good relationships (see my previous blog) and then tips for developing those relationships into partners. Here I summarize her tips for leaders concerning partnerships.
- Ensure people understand and embrace the organization’s vision. “Explain the benefits that will be derived when the vision is realized” (p. 139).
- “Create opportunities for others to experience the vision,” to own it.
- “Encourage new ideas about old things and promote innovation.”
- “Extend people the space and authority to do their jobs”. . . thus creating “active ‘partners’ rather than passive ‘employees.’ “
- “Celebrate accomplishments” both big and small, saying thanks “for jobs well done.”
My take-aways:
#1. To have engaged employees, people should understand and embrace both the mission and the vision. The Society for Human Resource Management differentiates mission and vision as follows:
A mission statement explains reason for existence, what organization does, its intent, purpose. "A vision statement describes the organization as it would appear in a future successful state . . . An effective vision statement is inspirational and aspirational.”
My guess is that there are enormous differences here among organizations. Do you have a mission statement? A vision statement? Are they current? Still valid? Do people truly understand the mission? The vision? Is it more than words on a business card or sign? Have you hired, developed, and rewarded to create an environment where people want to be part of achieving the mission and vision? Leaders create buy-in and engaged employees.
#2. Part of experiencing the vision is recognizing those moments, those events, in accomplishing the mission where the vision can be glimpsed. Perception is important here. Without the leader acknowledging or communicating how the current outcome represents what we want to achieve, those experiences of the vision might not be recognized. There will be times when people or teams far exceed current expectations and demonstrate what is indeed possible, the vision. Leaders praise, reward, and communicate these moments.
#3. This seems straightforward but in my consulting experience it was not. I consistently found people had great ideas to solve problems, to innovate, but management was not receptive. A common remark from managers: “If they had good ideas, then why aren’t they in this job and not me.” Leaders build organizational climates and cultures where people share insights and ideas and are rewarded for them.
#4. Empowering employees by letting them make decisions can be motivating for many. In Decoding the Workplace (pp. 33-34) I tell the story of a hotel clerk who did not have the authority to make relatively small decisions that would increase customer satisfaction. Her supervisor had approval authority and was often not available. When the hotel became part of a different hotel chain, she was given that authority and her job satisfaction greatly increased – and probably resulted in more satisfied customers. Even so, it should be noted that not everyone wants their jobs enriched.
#5 Herbert Shepard had eight “rules of thumb for change agents.” In a 2012 blog I proposed a ninth, Rule IX: Celebrate the moment. It is easy to let moments, big and small, pass by without celebrating when celebrating would have been good. In that blog I wrote: “Sometimes leaders fail to celebrate the successes of their units. I had a student who led an organization that had a very successful year. After we discussed celebrating the moment, he realized that he had not done so with his company, that he barely acknowledged the great year before focusing on the next. The next Monday when he went to work, he corrected that situation. They celebrated the moment. Celebrate the moments, large and small, that unfold to you.”
Horrigan, B. (2016). Integrative leadership means partnering. EXPLORE, 12 (2), 139-140.
Image by Gerd Altman from https://pixabay.com/en/meeting-businessmen-personal-1219530/. In Public Domain. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
© John Ballard, PhD, 2015. All rights reserved.
__________________________
Author of Decoding the Workplace.
"Decoding the Workplace: 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations is as informed and informative a read as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. . . . An absolute 'must' for community, corporate, and academic library Business Management Studies collections, Decoding the Workplace should be considered critically important reading for anyone working in a corporate environment." —Midwest Book Review
Available at leading online bookstores such as Amazon.com
________________________
Follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/johnballardphd
On Twitter: @johnballardphd
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