Principles of Leadership and Motivation

What makes a good leader?

This question will, at one point or another, confound many of us. 

According to research, an average 28-year-old professional in the UAE will have worked for an average of three companies, i.e. under the tutelage of three different leadership styles in a short span of three years. The primary reason for the multiplicity of job swaps is the dynamic nature of the region and it being a hub of global talent. While many of us are aware, from experience, of what a good leader is not, perhaps it is now time to consolidate a list, a managerial rulebook per se that enables us to navigate the new-leader shoes we might find ourselves filling. 

The concept of a ‘good leader’ has historically been - a hero who saves the day, knows it all, is the smartest person in the room, and is too often driven by power, fame, glory, or money is not appropriate in today’s environment. This is true for several reasons:

• Today’s fast-changing, complex, and unpredictable environment necessitates a different kind of leadership. Nobody can claim to have all the answers to solve the complex crises we’re facing, and the most adaptable organizations are those in which decisions are being decentralized.
• With the idea that a company’s purpose is about far more than making money gaining ground, the hard-charging, profit-optimizing hero-leader model has lost much of its appeal.
• An increasing number of employees now value authenticity and connection over a facade of strength and infallibility.
• The nature of work has changed from the more mechanical, repetitive type to jobs that require ingenuity and creativity.
• Successful hero-leaders can easily start believing that they’re untouchable and, ultimately, indispensable. It’s easy to be seduced by power, fame, glory, and money. It’s easy to become disconnected from reality and from colleagues, surrounded by sycophants and yay-sayers.

The five “Be’s”

High-performing companies inevitably have these attributes at play which in turn enables them to optimise output, retain both customers and in-house talent all while serving the purpose of the organisation.  

Be clear about your purpose 

That is, your purpose, the purpose of those around you, and how that connects to your company’s purpose. The staggering number of employees leaving their jobs or seriously thinking about it over the last several months has shed renewed light on the pre-Covid realization that purpose, both individual and collective, is at the heart of the business. 

Be clear about your role.

A leader’s key role is to create energy and momentum — especially when circumstances are dire. It’s to help others see possibilities and potential, creating energy, inspiration, and hope.

Leadership and motivation

The three main drivers of motivation include — autonomy, competence, and relatedness. People who experience autonomy at their jobs don’t feel micromanaged. Instead, they feel empowered by their managers to pursue objectives and deadlines on their terms.

Autonomy

The first motivational driver is autonomy. Autonomy refers to how much people feel in control of their own lives and able to make their own choices. In the context of work, autonomy means people feel they have a say in what they work on and how they work on it. They don’t feel micromanaged; they feel empowered by their managers to pursue objectives and deadlines on their terms.

Creating a sense of autonomy in an individual or on a team can come in many forms. It could be by mutually assigning objectives and establishing deadlines. It could also be giving people more freedom over where they work or incorporating the team or individuals in decision-making more often. One easy way to judge whether you are leading from a place of autonomy versus control is to pay attention to your feedback or coaching conversations with the team. Specifically, do this: Pay attention to how many times you’re giving them advice vs. asking them questions. If you’re often giving advice or telling people how to do something, you could be diminishing their sense of autonomy. But if you are asking questions designed to guide them to find their own solutions, then you are leaving them in control.

Remind people of the progress they’ve already made — and show them you’re trying to help them make even more progress.

Competence

The second motivational driver is competence. Competence refers to our desires to seek control but also to experience mastery. Competence speaks to our natural human desire to be learners, to be growing and feeling like we’re making progress. It could be progress in our career, progress towards a set of objectives or working for a team or a company that is making progress. Anything that helps individuals feel they are moving toward mastery leverages competence as a motivation.

Creating a sense of competence in an individual or on a team might actually be more about what you don’t do. Much of the job of a team leader is to provide feedback or constructive criticism. But constructive or negative criticism has been found in numerous studies to decrease a person’s feeling of competence, and thus reduce motivation.

So rather than just focusing on constructive feedback, make sure you’re taking the time to celebrate wins, large and small. And make sure that even when you are giving people constructive feedback, you are pairing it with a lot of positive feedback and praise as well. That way it reminds them of the progress they’ve already made — and show them you’re trying to help them make even more progress.

If you can ensure the members of your team know who exactly is being helped by their efforts, you can almost guarantee they’ll be willing to work hard to help those people.

Relatedness

The third and final motivational driver is relatedness. Relatedness refers to our will to connect with others, interact and care for other people. In terms of research, we’ve only just begun to grasp just how important relatedness to others truly is. But we know that humans are much more motivated to take action when they’re seen as pro-social — that is, when they’re seen as being able to help other people.

Creating a sense of relatedness in an individual or on a team means making sure people build connections to each other. But it also means making sure people know the significance of what they’re being asked to do and how it relates to the whole team and the team’s and organization’s larger objectives. Even better, you might frame the team’s work in a way that makes it quite clear exactly who is helped by the organization’s, the team’s and even the individual’s actions.

This is not about reiterating the company’s mission statement — instead, it’s about creating a connection between the mission and the specific people who are served when that mission is accomplished. If you can ensure the members of your team know who exactly is being helped by their efforts, you can almost guarantee they’ll be willing to work hard to help those people.

You cannot choose circumstances, but you can control your mindset. Your mindset determines whether you generate hope, inspiration, and energy around you — or bring everyone down. More generally, your role as a leader is to create the right environment for others to flourish in support of the company’s purpose. For example, under Reed Hastings, Netflix, a company whose purpose is to “entertain the world,” has created a culture of “freedom with responsibility” that values people over process and innovation over efficiency, resulting in growth and reinvention that have defied all expectations.

Be clear about whom you serve.

A fundamental element of purposeful leadership is to be clear about who you serve in your position, both during good and challenging times. As a leader, you must serve the people on the front lines, driving the business. You serve your colleagues. You serve your board of directors. You serve the people around you, by first understanding what they need to give their best so you can do your best to support them.

In fact, view everyone as a customer. The way you treat airline employees or waitstaff, for example, will greatly influence the service you receive. It takes vigilance and a healthy dose of self-awareness to avoid sliding into the trap set by power, fame, glory, and money. Before speaking or acting, be clear about your motivation and whom you’re trying to serve. 

Be driven by values.

For the most part, we all agree on what is right: honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and compassion. On paper, every company has great values. But values are no good if they remain on paper. Being driven by values is doing right, not just knowing or saying what’s right. A leader’s role is to live by these values, explicitly promote them, and make sure they’re part of the fabric of the business.

Johnson & Johnson, for example, is famous for its credo, first written in 1943 by the company founder’s son. Its opening sentence reads: “We believe our first responsibility is to the patients, doctors, and nurses, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.”

The company’s decision in 1982 to quickly stop its production of Tylenol, one of its bestselling products, and voluntarily recall all 31 million bottles that had already been distributed throughout the country, illustrates how the company leaders lived by its credo. The decision was made after several people in the Chicago area had died after ingesting tablets that were found to have been contaminated with cyanide. While the recall was costly in the short term, it is widely remembered as a model of good leadership and crisis management.

Doing what is right is not always simple, of course, particularly during crises, when overwhelming stress and pressure can obscure our sense of values. If you surround yourself with people you trust and whose values align with yours and the organization’s, you don’t have to figure out on your own what’s right in these situations. You will determine the right thing together, and then act on it the best you can.

Being driven by values also means knowing when to leave when you’re not aligned with your environment, be it your colleagues, your boss, your board, or your company’s values and purpose. Have the wisdom to know the difference between what you can and cannot change, as the saying goes.

Be authentic.

As many of us were forced to work from home over video over the past two years, we revealed more of our whole selves — children, dogs, cats, wifi problems, etc. This was not always comfortable or easy. But we all had to see each other in a new light, as full human beings. Employees expect leaders too to be human. This starts with making ourselves vulnerable, including by acknowledging what we do not know. Brené Brown points out that vulnerability is at the heart of social connection. And social connection, in turn, is at the heart of the business.

The way we lead has profound implications for people around us and how we do business. We cannot transform companies, and more generally capitalism unless we reflect on who we are as leaders, and particularly on the following questions:

• Have you decided what kind of leader you want to be?
• How would you describe your purpose?
• How would you describe your role?
• What are you doing to create an environment in which others can thrive and flourish?
• Whom are you serving?
• What values define you?
• Are you doing your best to be authentic, approachable, and vulnerable?

About Dewan Consultants

Since its inception, our unique blend of understating needs, talent management and commercial understanding, offers a complete people management and hiring service. We provide flexibility and access to top-caliber professional HR Advice. Over the years, we have been by recruiting the best talent from countries across the globe. India, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Lithuania, Romania, United Kingdom to name a few. From sourcing to screening to interviewing and immigration, we have perfected the art of getting the right talent to the destination country seamlessly. Presently, we are one of the world’s foremost Indian human resource providers. With our in-depth knowledge, insights and expertise in the talent business, we are on a path of becoming a name to reckon with.

www.dewanconsultants.com | jobs@dewanconsultants.com