The most common problem organizations have is related to communication. Which has direct impact of profitability! We hear, that even the Z-generation wants to have constructive feedback. World wide 13 % of employees are truly engaged (and in Finland it is only 12 %, the happiest country in the world). Something is not functioning.
Leaders communicate. That is they listen to, talk with and give feedback to people. They also want and use the feedback people give them. Most leaders say they do. And they are honest with that! In communication there are couple of things where leaders fail. They don’t fail because they are mean, ignorant or stupid. They fail because the forget, or don’t know, how to connect on emotional level. They also fail, because they don’t understand the need of repeating the message. As a leader, have you ever thought about your processing of the some new solution? When you review backwards, you probably can see, that you have been through that 20 – 40 times, before you present it to people. Here our brain fools us! When the leader feels, that he/she communicates enough, it is their brain that says ”this has been discussed enough”. The one thing our subconscious mind does not do, is thinking about a certain target group. If there is enough inner talk, talk in the management group, the brain is happy.
At the same time people feel they are not listened to and/or they are not given information enough. Most likely there are people who feel they have never heard about something. Because saying once doesn’t create long lasting memory (what we only hear, two weeks later we remember about 5% of it). So sharing messages and information means, that you need to repeat what you are saying. And not put too much information on one thing. Do you hear people? Actually, you need to ask yourself the question ”did I give feedback to people on what they said on a later moment”? If not, you are likely to be seen as one not hearing. Failing in these means, that anyone, who will communicate more, will steal your leadership power!
About 75 % of the reason leaders fail, is due to Emotional Intelligence. At work one major part of that is failing in communication. Failing in ensuring that people take ownership over the new thing. Failing in connecting and engaging on emotional level. The best leaders are mostly worried about how people can understand and commit the future. That can only take place, when you focus on listening to understand, sharing often enough so that people remember and understand.
These mean that you need to ensure that three rules are present: 1. never deliver more than one core message at a time 2. ask for people to give feedback and improvement ideas 3. discuss everything with people more than 20 times. You might cover something daily, so you have done that 20 times in a month. If it is covered with your people weekly, it is about half a year. Have you ever wondered, why they say, that implementing a new strategy can take up to 3 years? In most corporations communication to people takes place on monthly level. Three years, with vacations in it, hits the 30 mark.
Are you talking to your boss about your great idea, and nothing happens? The same rule applies, when we are talking about leading ones boss. Present one thing at a time, repeat it often enough. Then it will start to grow, to deliver results!
Leading strategic well being, which is the outcome of good use of emotional intelligence, has been proven to give back anything from 6 to 12 euros for every euro spent. Would you make the investment, if someone would guarantee you, that if you put in a 1 000 € today, a year from now you would have earned 6 000 €? Why don’t we do it? The answer is simple, we have learnt to survive with the poor behaviour. If you are happy with the survival mode, no problem. If you are interested to A) make your business better and/or B) build yourself a high level career, then it is time to take action.
The action is pretty easy. First you need to take an assessment to really learn where you are in comparison with other people. I’ve heard about a thousand times leaders say ”I know where I am”. And after the assessment they all have said ”I didn’t realise I am so far from most people in this area”. Finding the true you gives you the ability to listen to how others truly see and get your message. After all, success is only made possible by you, but delivered by your people. Remember Richard Branson’s words ”take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers”.
There are multiple trainings to use, as there are multiple assessments. From the assessment point of view, with 9 certificates on assessment and over 30 assessments taken, I have found the #EBW, Emotions and Behaviors at Work to be the best. When talking about the trainings (and assessment), check out https://holvi.com/shop/johtajuustaito/
Do it now, give yourself the Xmas present you’ll be happy for the rest of your life!
Your partner in making change happen, Kari I. Mattila, emotional intelligence advisor