Every leader wants to be successful. But sometimes, the results achieved come at the cost of character. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. suggested that the most dangerous person is likely gifted with reason but no morals. A blind passion for results damages a leader's reputation and the organization. Evidence from workplace studies on the benefits of character suggests that leaders with high character scores outperform others on company key performance metrics. Leadership behaviors guide actions, but a leader's character determines how and if the leader acts. Great leadership is a combination of competence, character, and commitment. Here are three practical steps to help develop your character strength and how you can ace your next character test. Why is leadership character important to success? Leadership creates moments not defined by policy or procedures—situations where leaders have to choose between right and right. Every day, you make character decisions, consciously or unconsciously, such as between speed or quality and long-term or short-term results. The impact of these decisions either reinforces your team's desired or undesired thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr. In a two-year study of executive leaders and their organizations, CEOs who scored high on aspects of character had an average return on assets (ROA) of 9.35%, in contrast to CEOs with low ratings, who had a ROA of 1.93%. Leadership character is shown to align the leader-follower relationship, increasing both leader and follower productivity, effectiveness, and creativity. Leadership character plays a vital role in unifying a team. Followers will give more when they respect the leader's character. A focus on helping others is essential to providing effective strategic leadership. Also, character helps leaders navigate change more effectively. What is Leadership Character? Leadership character is doing the right thing for the right reasons and with the right feelings. It is the inner game of leadership. While leadership behaviors are observable, a leader's inner game quietly controls the leader's behaviors. Character is the unique combination of internalized beliefs and moral habits that motivates and shapes how that you relate to others. Fred Kiel Evidence suggests that there are four universal leadership character principles: Integrity – Being honest, acting consistently with principles, standing up for what is right, and keeping promises. Responsibility – Owning personal decisions, admitting mistakes, and showing concern for the common good. Forgiveness – Letting go of self and others' mistakes, focused on what is right versus only what is wrong. Compassion – Empathizing with others, empowering others, actively caring for others, and committing to others' growth. A leader's character determines how knowledge, skills, and abilities are applied. Leadership decisions are often based on values, worldviews, and past experiences. Your past, even as a child, has shaped your current perception of what is right or wrong. Family members, friends, religious leaders, and the community where you live and work reinforce your character. How to Measure and Assess Your Leadership Character Although character can seem complex to understand, it can be reliably defined and measured. Character does not need to be considered subjective. In fact, the more self-aware you are of your character strengths and those of your team, the better you can lead. VIA Character Strength Survey The VIA Character Strength Survey is a validated instrument for assessing character strengths. It has been completed by over 15 million people globally, and all of the scales have satisfactory reliability (> 0.70 alphas). The free VIA Character Strength Survey provides insights into your 24-character strengths in rank order. Character strengths are values in action or positive thinking, feeling, and behaving traits that benefit the leader and others. For more information regarding the VIA Character Strengths Survey, visit www.viacharacter.org. Accidental Habit Assessment Few leaders seek to develop bad habits. Everyone I know strives for good habits. That is why this quiz is labeled the Accidental Habit Assessment (AHA). It helps you uncover possible leadership bad habits that are keeping you from getting the most out of life and work. The free quiz includes a customized report and guide that will provide you with an "aha" moment as you reflect on your leadership to understand your strengths and accidental habits needing improvement. You can also use the report as a personalized reading plan to access researched and field-tested leadership resources and transformational tools in the book Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. 3 Practical steps to develop leadership character in your company Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King, Jr. Most leadership development programs focus on building competence, and the leader's character is often left out. A lack of attention to character harms both the leader and the organization's performance. Character Development Step #1: Making the invisible visible The conversation of leadership character development in the workplace is lacking and needs to be raised to the same level as developing leadership competence. The desired goal is to increase character development investments, not replace them. Start with clarifying leadership inner game and outer game expectations: What should leaders do? You might already have these leadership behaviors defined in performance reviews or leadership competency models. What kind of leaders should they be? If you are unsure where to begin, research-based books and articles like those mentioned and cited in this post can be great resources. Character Development Step #2: Make it experiential Leadership character development should involve challenging simulation experiences that involve everyday decisions between right and right. These experiences should also include time for guided reflection with each participant. Additionally, the development should include teaching leaders specific habits for dealing with challenging issues. Character Development Step #3: Assessment and coaching Character development is a process, not an event. A proven way to develop character is to combine self-assessment with executive coaching. The combination of enhanced self-awareness and a thought-provoking, creative executive coaching program inspires transformation and growth. How You Can Ace Your Next Character Test Choosing between what is best for yourself or what is best for others creates very different outcomes for you and your business. Leadership character matters, and it is difficult to regain trust once lost. Acing your next character test is possible by being deliberate and persevering. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr. Passing a test of character begins with knowing your non-negotiables. You will do your best when you have a clear picture of what leading with character looks like for you. List your leadership inner game and outer game principles. Then, expand on each of these by writing a brief, vivid description of how each principle guides you in a given situation. Surround yourself with accountability partners. Share the list of principles you have defined and invite people close enough to know you well to hold you accountable if you start to get off track. The influence of others is powerful on performance. Leaders tend to become more isolated the higher they move in a company, and the role of a coach and mentor becomes even more critical. Making the next right choice in a test of character is simply making the next right choice. You build leadership character like you build physical endurance. Training helps create character muscle memory, making the right decision automatically. Attend a leadership development program that focuses on both the inner and outer game of leadership. Key Summary Points Great leadership is a combination of competence, character, and commitment. Character is an individual’s unique combination of internalized beliefs and moral habits that motivates and shapes how that individual relates to others. Leadership character is shown to align the leader-follower relationship, increasing both leader and follower productivity, effectiveness, and creativity. Leadership character can be measured, and feedback can be provided through executive coaching as part of a leadership development process that targets the leader's inner and outer game. Character development needs to be raised within organizations to the same level as leadership competencies. Striving for better habits is a competitive advantage available to any leader looking for a powerful point of differentiation. Our transformational executive coaching, leadership development, and organizational consulting help you achieve your goals and get more out of life and work. References: Badaracco, J. (1997). Defining moments: When managers must choose between right and right. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. Beerel, A. (1997). The strategic planner as prophet and leader: a case study concerning a leading seminary illustrates the new planning skills required. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 18 (3) pp. 136 -144. Claar, V.V., Jackson, L.L., & TenHaken, V.R. (2014). Are Servant Leaders Born or Made? Servant Leadership Theory & Practice, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 46-52. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Kiel, F. (2015). Return on character: The real reason leaders and their companies win. Harvard Business Review. Kim, J.H., Keck, P., McMahon, M.C., Vo, A., Gonzalez, R., Lee, D.H., Barbir, L., & Maree, K. (2018). Strengths based rehabilitation assessment: Adapted Inventory of Virtues and Strengths. Work: Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 61(3), 421-435. doi:10.3233/WOR-182807 Kim, J. H., Reid, C. A., McMahon, B., Gonzalez, R., Lee, D. H., & Keck, P. (2016). Measuring the virtues and character traits of rehabilitation clients: The adapted inventory of virtues and strengths. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 26(1), 32-44. doi:10.1007/s10926-015-9619-9 Norzailan, Z., Othman, R. B., & Ishizaki, H. (2016). Strategic leadership competencies: What is it and how to develop it? Industrial and Commercial Training, 48(8), 394-399. doi:10.1108/ICT-04-2016-0020 Seijts, G., Crossan, M., & Carleton, E. (2017). Embedding leader character into HR practices to achieve sustained excellence. Organizational Dynamics, 46(1), 30-39. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.02.001

One emotion that often defines work is stress. It can be productive, motivating you to innovate, or draining, leading to burnout. Recent evidence suggests that five in ten employees are experiencing significant negative impacts from long-term workplace stress. Stress is an emotional contagion. Given the significant challenges increased workplace uncertainty poses, from decision-making and strategic planning to employee engagement and personal well-being, leaders need to reduce stress proactively. The good news? Now is the perfect time to get started. Here is how to begin. Why you need a workplace stress reduction strategy Managing long-term stress can lower your risk for conditions like heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression. According to a study by the Mayo Clinic, the personal and organizational side-effects of executives experiencing long-term stress and burnout include: broken relationships substance abuse depression decreased customer satisfaction reduced productivity increased employee turnover Employees are stressed out. A global study of 14,800 knowledge workers across 25 countries revealed: 49% of leaders and 42% of non-managers are struggling with anxiety 74% of those surveyed are looking to company leadership for help dealing with workplace stress. The costs of workplace stress and burnout are severe for individuals and organizations. Manufacturing organizations like General Motors report spending more on healthcare than they do on raw materials for their products. A recent study, in an effort to quantify the costs of workplace stress, found that workplace stressors in the United States account for more than 120,000 deaths per year and approximately 5-8% of annual healthcare costs. Also, we are more connected to each other than we may recognize, and stress is an emotional contagion. Evidence suggests that co-workers can spread stress within a workgroup. For example, someone on your team who is feeling down enters a meeting. Within a few minutes, the entire team's emotions begin to mimic their behaviors and non-verbal expressions. The following short NPR video discusses how emotions are contagious. How gratitude makes a difference Grateful leaders experience less stress, and expressing gratitude helps both the giver and the receiver. Gratitude is a positive emotion that balances a negative mindset. Many studies link gratitude with improved health, increased happiness, and decreased feelings of anxiety and depression. An interesting recent study found that those who wrote gratitude letters showed greater activation in their brain's medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude in the fMRI scanner three months later. This evidence indicates that simply expressing gratitude may have lasting positive effects on your brain. Similar to the saying, you are what you eat. If you allow only negative thoughts and feelings into your life, it is harmful to your well-being. Consider the negative emotion of envy. It is impossible to be both envious and grateful at the same time. Gratitude helps create a barrier to negative thoughts and feelings. The following short video explains some of the science behind why gratitude matters. Feeling appreciated is linked to well-being and employee performance. A study involving over 1700 working adults revealed that those who feel valued by their leader are more likely to report higher levels of physical and mental health, engagement, satisfaction, and motivation than those who do not. What is gratitude? According to the American Psychological Association, gratitude is a sense of thankfulness and happiness in response to receiving a gift, either a tangible benefit given by someone or a fortunate happenstance. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others." – Cicero. Gratitude consists of an affirmation of goodness and a source outside of ourselves. Gratitude involves both the ability to acknowledge the good in your life and feeling a sense of thankfulness. Empathy, kindness, and love are closely related to the virtue of gratitude. Take the following six-question survey to determine and benchmark your likelihood of experiencing gratitude. The following video is from Robert Emmons, the creator of the survey. In it, he addresses what gratitude means. Getting Started Step #1: Cultivating Your Attitude of Gratitude Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is something we can all do and is a healthy leadership habit. The best way to get started is to make gathering and giving gratitude easy and gradually increase the practice. Gratefulness.io is an app that makes getting started easy. I have used it for a few years and found it effective in cultivating an attitude of gratefulness. The app will send you a simple daily prompt asking you about what you are grateful for, and it stores your responses in a private online journal. What you record can be as simple as what comes to your mind or a purposeful reflection on something good that happened that day and why you felt good. I find scrolling through my journal very encouraging, and it also serves as a way for me to track my progress. Stop. Look. Go. The following video explains how to get started practicing gratitude. It begins by getting quiet, looking through our senses, and then taking the opportunity presented. If you are feeling stuck about how to get started or have tried to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, executive coaching can help. Coaches work with their clients to foster a mindset shift and implement practical strategies toward meaningful goals, including those related to gratitude. Through thought-provoking partnerships, coaches guide clients to reflect on achievements and strengths while deepening awareness and appreciation. Getting Started Step #2: Expressing Gratitude to Others Giving gratitude reduces your stress, makes you happier, and improves relationships. After listing what you are grateful for each day, take a few moments to practice giving gratitude. Not only will the act of reflecting and journaling what you are thankful for make you happier, but giving appreciation will multiply the positive effects on your emotions. Simply send a thank you note or, better yet, deliver the thank you note and say thank you in person. Here is a simple template from Mental Health America. Key Summary Points: Given the increased complexity of decision-making in a crisis-driven workplace, leaders need to be proactive, or stress can harm physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. The costs of workplace stress and burnout are severe for individuals and organizations. Grateful leaders have less stress. The best way to get started is by making gathering and giving gratitude easy, then gradually increasing the habit. References: Adecco. (2021). Resetting normal: Defining the new era of work 2021[PDF]. The Adecco Group. APA. (2012). APA survey finds feeling valued at work linked to well-being and performance. APA. (2023). 2023 Work in America Survey: Workplaces as engines of psychological health and well-being. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Goh, J., Pfeffer, J., & Zenios, S. (2016). The relationship between workplace stressors and mortality and health costs in the United States [PDF]. Management Science. Harvard Medical School. (2021). Giving thanks can make you happier. Harvard Health Publishing. McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 112-127. The Gratefulness Team. (2021). What is Gratitude? A Network for Grateful Living

Is low organizational commitment the new normal in the workplace? The uncertainty of the past few years has shaken industry verticals worldwide. Businesses defend layoffs and downsizings, telling employees, "It's not personal, it's business. We have to make difficult decisions to survive." In an economy with stable and low unemployment, employees now tell leaders, "It's not personal. I have to make difficult decisions for my family and career." A committed team is a huge competitive advantage in an uncertain environment. While weak leaders blame employees for their lack of organizational commitment, effective leaders know their responsibility is to build it. Here are three proven organizational commitment accelerators that will maximize the value of your business and make it uber-attractive to employees. Why Organizational Commitment Matters Organizational commitment benefits employees, teams, and their companies. Evidence links higher levels of organizational commitment with: Increased employee productivity Increased revenue Increased employee retention Decreased operating costs Decreased absenteeism In addition to increasing expected behavior, organizational commitment unlocks discretionary effort. Evidence suggests that committed employees are more likely to contribute in unexpected ways. Discretionary effort or organizational citizenship behavior is considered the ultimate type of performance. For example, two employees walking down a hall see a piece of paper on the floor, but only one employee stops to pick it up. Even though it is neither an employee's job nor responsibility. When an employee goes beyond what is expected for the benefit of your organization without being asked, that is discretionary effort. What is Organizational Commitment? Organizational commitment is an employee's dedication to an organization, which results in their intent to stay. The Three-Component Model is one of the most popular ways to describe organizational commitment. This framework suggests there are three distinct types of organizational commitment: Affective commitment: An emotional attachment toward the organization. Continuance commitment: A belief that leaving the organization would be too costly (golden handcuffs). Normative commitment: A feeling of obligation to stay because it is the right thing to do. Recognizing that the degree of commitment depends on multiple factors the individual defines is essential. For example, consider an employee working for a family-run business with a strong culture and attractive long-term incentives. In this situation, the employee would likely have affective commitment, being happy about staying in the company, but also continuance commitment because they don't want to give up the long-term benefits that the job provides. Finally, given the nature of the job, the individual would feel an obligation to the family, which would lead to normative commitment. What influences organizational commitment? Research has identified various factors that affect the direction and strength of organizational commitment, such as: Job satisfaction Have you ever wondered if your job is right for you? Job satisfaction is your positive or negative feelings and emotions toward your work. When employees commit more to their organization, they are more likely to experience a greater sense of job satisfaction. Studies have demonstrated that satisfied employees are more productive, have higher retention rates, increase company revenue, and lower costs. Employee Empowerment Many leaders can achieve their goals and even increase company revenue. But, in a world of constant change, organizations and leaders need employees who proactively engage in problem-solving, change, innovation, and challenging the status quo. Senior leaders need followers who take charge to create a competitive advantage. Evidence suggests a positive correlation between employee emotional and psychological empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Workplace Stress Role ambiguity and role conflict are two typical workplace stressors linked to employee burnout. Role ambiguity refers to unclear roles and responsibilities. Role conflict means starting your day feeling you cannot win. Research suggests that organizational commitment moderates workplace stressors. When leaders build organizational commitment within the workforce, workplace stressors have a lesser effect on employee stress levels and burnout. Organizational Commitment Accelerators Here are a few practical steps leaders can take today to accelerate organizational commitment within their team without breaking the bank. Accelerator 1: Leadership style How you lead matters. Compelling evidence indicates that how you lead moderates organizational commitment and results. For example, Laissez-faire leadership has a negative correlation with organizational commitment. Laissez-faire leadership is where leaders let employees do as they wish. I also call these country club leaders. They want everyone to like them, so they avoid difficult conversations. Servant leadership is an example of a leadership style that increases leader and follower commitment, yielding increased intrinsic motivation that amplifies workforce alignment and business strategy benefits. Servant leaders serve others. When employees feel supported by leadership, it significantly enhances organizational commitment. Humility is a core characteristic of a servant leader. You can show humility and vulnerability in challenging conversations by: Being transparent: Keep the conversation genuine, especially when it involves your mistakes. This does not mean sharing personal secrets. Asking for feedback and being willing to learn: Vulnerability is about being weak to defend your point of view and desiring to listen and learn something new. Putting followers first: It is not about winning or having the best answer but caring so much about followers and the desired outcome of the conversation that you are willing to risk failing. Demonstrating selfless love: Selfless love is to will the good of another. As a leader, being vulnerable in a difficult conversation requires showing self-awareness, empathy, and compassion rather than speaking from positional power. Taking action. Difficult conversations are costly when neglected. After you check your motivation, vision, and paradigm for effect, you will want to consider the conversation's what, where, how, and when. To identify your tendency—to be a servant leader— take this free leadership style quiz. Accelerator 2: Organizational Culture A recent study suggests organizational culture is the most potent driver behind the Great Resignation. No leader strives to create a toxic culture. However, when a gap exists between perceived and stated values, the employee's organizational commitment suffers. Especially when the disconnect involves values that are people-oriented or ethical behavior, you can architect a positive company culture that accelerates organizational commitment by: Being the change: Demonstrate good behavior and ask for feedback from followers about what you do that bothers them. Evaluate the ethical consequences of your decisions and create an open-door policy allowing employees to provide input where their voices and concerns can be heard. Architecting a positive culture: Hire and fire employees to create and reinforce the desired company culture. Share stories about how followers should respond in different situations and the costs when they don't. Reinforce and communicate the importance of trust and teamwork—reward employees who live the desired culture. Accelerator 3: Development Opportunities Providing opportunities to participate in training improves skills, job performance, feelings of self-worth, and affective commitment to the organization. Development doesn't have to take the form of sending an employee to an expensive conference to accelerate organizational commitment. Simply letting employees practice and try new tasks or take reasonable risks and make decisions positively affects organizational commitment. Here are a few additional lower-cost, high-impact development opportunities: Coaching: Use existing coaching relationships to provide employee development feedback. Coaching with a development focus leads to improved morale and overall productivity. Social media: Integrating social media and networking into ongoing development is an inexpensive means of supporting employee development. Employee Networks: These networks create an inclusive environment, allowing people from diverse backgrounds to collaborate toward mastery. Mentoring: Mentoring creates a reciprocal and collaborative relationship that improves employee performance, sense of value, retention, and internal career progression. Conclusion: How to build organizational commitment Depending on your situation, these organizational commitment accelerators may be the most important, or you may need to work on others. It takes time to build organizational commitment, but taking steps in this direction is good for everyone—you, your employees, and your customers. What is your real organizational commitment challenge? References Ahmad, & Oranye, N. (2010). Empowerment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment: a comparative analysis of nurses working in Malaysia and England. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(5), 582–591. Bulut, C., & Culha, O. (2010). The effects of organizational training on organizational commitment. International journal of training and development, 14(4), 309-322. Caillier, J. G. (2013). Satisfaction With Work-Life Benefits and Organizational Commitment/Job Involvement: Is There a Connection? Review of Public Personnel Administration, 33(4), 340–364. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. King, R., Sethi, V. The moderating effect of organizational commitment on burnout in information systems professionals. Eur J Inf Syst 6, 86–96 (1997). Meyer, J.P., & Allen, N.J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research and application. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Ortega-Parra, & Ángel Sastre-Castillo, M. (2013). Impact of perceived corporate culture on organizational commitment. Management Decision, 51(5), 1071–1083. Ramdani Bayu Putra, & Hasmaynelis Fitri. (2021). The Effects of Mediating Job Satisfaction on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors with Servant Leadership and Human Relations as Antecedent Variables. Andalas Management Review, 5(1). Walumbwa, F., Hartnell, C., & Oke, A. (2010). Servant-leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3).

Did you wake up this morning looking forward to work? Work plays a significant role in the lives of most Americans. In a large study over three years, Gallup sought to understand the emotional needs of engaged and committed employees. The most powerful question they found was about the future. Evidence suggests that 69% of employees who strongly agree their leaders make them feel enthusiastic about the future are engaged. Compared to only 1% of those who disagree are engaged. This is significant for leaders because there is a well-established positive connection between employee engagement and key performance outcomes. Given the uncertainty in the workplace, feeling enthusiastic about work might seem unrealistic. So, I'd like to make a case for hope. If you are a leader that purposefully builds hope, this article explains why you have made a smart decision. If you haven't considered it, this article will make the case for why it's crucial to build hopefulness and four practical steps to take – and the sooner, the better. "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope." Martin Luther Why hope matters in the workplace Evidence is clear that being hopeful translates to business results. Numerous studies have linked hope with many individual, team, and organizational benefits fundamental to growth: Increased revenue and decreased operating costs Improved employee retention Enhanced ability to deal with ambiguity Job satisfaction and organizational commitment Sustaining innovation during significant changes such as mergers and acquisitions Lower levels of stress Improved employee and team performance Increased organization citizenship behaviors Positive relationships In the following Tedx, Dr. Hellman explains the science and power of hope. What is hope? Hope is often considered an emotion and can be challenging to define. However, hope is both an emotion and a way of thinking. Hope Theory suggests that hopefulness is a human strength comprised of three distinct, interrelated components: Goals Thinking – identification of valuable goals Pathways Thinking –specific strategies to reach those goals Agency Thinking – motivation to apply strategies Concerning leadership, hope is a positive state that contributes to leaders and followers pursuing, expecting, and achieving organizational goals. Hope is not optimism. It is related but distinctly different. Hope emphasizes setting goals and following through on them to attain a positive future outcome. It is not self-esteem or self-efficacy thinking. Hope involves a belief that a goal is possible and the willpower to pursue it continuously. How hopeful are you? Hope plays a vital role in employees' well-being and facilitates change. Measuring hope can be especially beneficial as a pre-post measure for large-scale change initiatives. Levels of hope can vary dramatically depending on the person and the situation. People generally considered hopeful can still experience low levels of hope when facing significant stressors. The Adult State Hope Scale is a valid short survey that takes less than two minutes to complete and measures the degree of hope at the moment. Higher scores correlate to a more significant state of hopefulness. Respondents use an eight-point Likert agreement scale where one is definitely false, and eight is definitely true for each of the following six questions: If I should find myself in a jam, I could think of many ways to get out of it. At present, I am energetically pursuing my goals. There are lots of ways around any problem that I am facing now. Right now, I see myself as being pretty successful. I can think of many ways to reach my current goals. At this time, I am meeting the goals that I have set for myself. 4 Practical ways leaders build hope in others Effective leaders are organizational hope dealers. In a crisis-driven workplace, influential leaders engage followers in hopeful thinking to account for increased goal difficulty and effort. Although hope can not be taught, the following are four proven strategies leaders can use to build hope in the workplace: Hope Builder 1: Vision Articulating a compelling vision clarifies direction, inspires confidence and action, and coordinates efforts. Evidence suggests that a compelling vision is directly and positively related to creative performance. To be considered compelling, a vision needs to be desired, beneficial to others, challenging, and visual. Stories and metaphors are powerful ways to connect with others. How well followers can visualize the future is fundamental to hopefulness. "Developing a vision is an exercise of both the head and the heart, it takes some time, it always involves a group of people, and it is tough to do well." Kotter Hope Builder 2: Positive Reinforcement Make recognition a leadership habit. What happens to employees after doing their work has the most significant impact on influencing future behavior. Leaders can build hope by reinforcing the value of organizational goals to the employee and the organization through reward and recognition. Effective reward and recognition systems have five characteristics: Targeted toward specific behaviors Applied immediately or frequently Customized to what the individual values Focused on what is achieved and how it is achieved Present everyone with the same opportunity to receive a reward or recognition. "Bringing out the best in followers requires purposeful performance reinforcement rather than management of poor performance." Doolittle Hope Builder 3: Collaboration In a crisis, leaders can build hope by working with followers to identify alternative paths to achieve goals and reset priorities. Change imposed is change opposed. Leaders support collaboration with employees by active listening, providing frequent and open communication, and creating access to information. "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." Henry Ford. Hope Builder 4: Coaching Coaching is partnering with followers in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. High-quality trust-based leader-follower coaching relationships build hope by creating new possibilities. Evidence suggests that 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence. Over 70% of coaching relationships result in improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. 86% of companies that provide coaching for employees report that they recouped their investment in coaching and more. Hope is more than a wishful way of thinking; it is a leadership habit. Although hope can not be explicitly taught, evidence suggests leaders can build hopefulness through a compelling vision, positive reinforcement, collaboration, and coaching. How can you actively build hope within others today? References Adams, V. H., Snyder, C. R., Rand, K. L., King, E. A., Sigman, D. R., & Pulvers, K. M. (2002). Hope in the workplace, in Giacolone, R. & Jurkiewicz, C. (Eds.), Workplace Spirituality and Organization Performance, NY: Sharpe. Brim, B. (2021). Strengths-based leadership: The 4 things followers need. Gallup. Daniels, A. (2016). Bringing out the best in people: How to apply the astonishing power of positive reinforcement (3rd edition). McGraw-Hill. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gwinn, C. and Hellman, C. (2019) Hope Rising, How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life. Morgan James Publishing Helland, M., & Winston, B. (2005). Towards a deeper understanding of hope and leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. Vol. 12 (2). Kirk, S., & Koeske, G. (1995). The fate of optimism: a longitudinal study of case leaders' hopefulness and subsequent morale. Research in Social Work Practice, 5, 47-61. Ludema, J. D., Wilmot, T. B., & Srivastva, S. (August, 1997). Organization hope: Reaffirming the constructive task of social and organizational inquiry. Human Relations, 50:8, 1015-1053. Luthans. F., & Jensen, S. M. (2003). Hope: A new positive strength for human resources development. Human Resources Development Review. Mukherjee, U. & Sharma, P. (2020). Hope at workplace: A review of the literature. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Vol. 24, Issue 06. Sitten, T., Mutonyi, B., & Lien, G. (2021). Does organizational vision really matter? An empirical examination of factors related to organizational vision integration among hospital employees. BMC Health Services Research. Snyder, & Snyder, C. R. (2000). Handbook of hope theory, measures, & applications. Academic. Snyder, Sympson, S., Ybasco, F., Borders, T., Babyak, M., & Higgins, R. (1996). Development and Validation of the State Hope Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(2), 321–335. White-Zappa, B (2001). Hopeful corporate citizenship: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the relationship between organizational hope, appreciative inquiry, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Dissertation Abstracts International, (UMI No. 3012630)

Have you ever overestimated your ability? I have. I've committed to projects and timelines but later wondered how I could be so off in the first place. It has taken me more than a few years to realize that my point of view is not always the best. Evidence suggests that poor-performing businesses have 20% more leaders with blind spots than high-performing businesses. A lack of self-awareness is hazardous to your career and organization's success. Feedback is the most effective way to gain awareness of hidden strengths and blind spots. However, more is not necessarily better. With a little effort, you can understand yourself better – and not regret it later – by keeping these three qualities in mind that differentiate between useful and useless feedback. Why self-awareness matters in leadership To know yourself means that you can see yourself objectively, you are aware of similarities and differences from others, and you understand the perspective from which you see others and the world. "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." Socrates Leadership is a relationship, and it is vital to know what others think. If you only consider your perspective, you have an incomplete picture. Like trying to navigate a ship on the open seas without a sextant or GPS, lacking self-awareness limits a leader’s ability to realize professional and personal goals. Self-aware leaders are not naive about their habits and are able to develop better habits. The importance of self-awareness is not new. However, a recent study of 486 companies demonstrated that the most self-aware leaders populate the best organizations. Poor-performing businesses had 20% more leaders with blind spots than high-performing businesses. Additional studies have linked greater self-awareness with: improved leadership relationships self-control better decision-making life satisfaction In today's increasingly complex and culturally diverse workplace, leaders who are able to perceive, assess, and regulate their own and others' emotions accurately can better leverage diversity and create team cohesion⁠. Evidence also suggests that leaders with a lack of self-awareness are more likely to be unable to regulate their emotions and behaviors effectively, contributing to poor physical health, work performance, and social interactions. The difference between useful and useless feedback The difference between useful and useless feedback is its reliability, validity, and fairness. Key 1: Feedback Reliability Reliable feedback has a high probability that the same actions lead to the same feedback in the future. When feedback lacks reliability, it creates confusion and can slow your development. Reliability is important because it helps reveal key themes for improvement. Reliability helps you focus, especially when using structured feedback tools like 360 surveys that increase the amount of feedback you receive. It may be tempting to try to put development plans in place for every piece of feedback, but you will see the most growth in building better habits when you pick one small change and then gradually improve. Key 2: Feedback Validity Feedback based on a deep understanding is most valid. Validity relates to the extent to which the feedback takes into consideration the subject matter expertise of the topic, your situation, and the context. The validity of the feedback is crucial because it directly affects the quality of any insights or conclusions that you can draw. When you use feedback that is inaccurate or incomplete, the conclusions you make will be unreliable and potentially misleading. Poor validity can lead to faulty decision-making, inaccurate predictions, and, ultimately, wasted time and resources. Key 3: Feedback Fairness Feedback bias happens when personal experiences shape the feedback. We all have bias, and likewise, all forms of feedback have some degree of bias. The greater the bias, the less useful and fair the feedback. I like asking my mom for feedback, but I must realize that she has a vested interest in being my mom. Likewise, the higher you ascend within your organization, the more challenging it becomes to receive fair feedback. When you receive feedback, it is important to test it for reliability, validity, and fairness. Ask yourself: How consistent and dependable is the feedback? How logical is the feedback and factually informed is the source of the feedback? How impartial and free from bias is the feedback? Rather than responding with a yes or no, score each question using a scale of one to ten. A rating of one is not at all, and ten is to a great extent. To become more self-aware, it is best to get curious, embrace the variability of feedback as a path to improvement, take the valuable parts of the feedback, and disregard the rest. “Look outside, and you will see yourself. Look inside, and you will find yourself.” Drew Gerald Discover Your Leadership Habits “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s lethal.” Paolo Coelho The greatest threat to your career and business success is the routine practices performed automatically in daily life. My hypothesis is that leadership habits are life-changing. It is easy to get the need for better habits in theory, but in practice still fall into unintentional patterns and accidental habits. We don’t set out to develop bad habits. We don’t need to just want it more. While you may be aware of some leadership habits, there are likely others that you are completely unaware of - those accidental habits that go unnoticed but significantly impact your leadership effectiveness. Part of the answer is greater awareness of proven principles. That is why I wrote Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. If you want access to the latest research and practical tools to help you get better every day, pick up your ebook or print copy on Amazon or anywhere you buy books. To help you uncover these life-changing leadership habits, I've created the leadership accidental habit assessment (AHA). By taking this free survey, you'll gain valuable insights into your leadership and identify areas for improvement. Take the assessment now and start your journey to becoming a more effective and self-aware leader. What is your real self-awareness challenge? References Bratton, V., Dodd, N., & Brown, F. (2011). The impact of emotional intelligence on the accuracy of self-awareness and leadership performance. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32(2), 127-149. Brickhouse, Thomas C.; Smith, Nicholas D. (1994). Plato's Socrates. Oxford University Press. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Goldstein, G., Allen, D. N., & Deluca, J. (2019). Handbook of psychological assessment. Elsevier Science & Technology. Oltmanns, T., Gleason, M., Klonsky, E., & Turkheimer, E. (2005). Meta-perception for pathological personality traits: Do we know when others think that we are difficult? Consciousness and Cognition, 14(4), 739-751. Pekaar, K., Bakker, A. B., van der Linden, D., & Born, M. (2018). Self- and other-focused emotional intelligence: Development and validation of the Rotterdam emotional intelligence scale (REIS). Personality and Individual Differences, 120, 222-233. Wilson, T., & Gilbert, D. (2005). Affective forecasting: Knowing what to want. Current Directions in Psychological Science: A Journal of the American Psychological Society, 14(3), 131-134. Zes, D., & Landis, D. (2013). A better return on self-awareness. Korn Ferry Institute.

We can all agree nothing is certain except death and taxes. Is it time for executives and teams to say goodbye to strategic planning? Annual off-site meetings to change dates on unsuccessful strategies don't make sense. One of the most significant downfalls of contemporary strategic planning is the failure to account for a growing uncertainty in a fast-paced, generative AI environment. I am not suggesting leaders give up on strategic planning and accept gambling on their company’s future. I'm suggesting that a new approach is desperately needed. As the world changes, businesses and leaders must change too. Organizations and leaders need to evolve strategic thinking and planning approaches to go beyond what is already understood. So, how can organizations and teams account for uncertainty and make progress on what matters? This is where the good news comes in. Here is a practical strategic planning method that can push your organization and team toward positive actions. Scenario Planning: A flexible strategic planning method Scenario planning helps organizations focus on likely and critical external elements impacting the business and think creatively about their situation. The benefits of scenario planning are changed thinking, informed narratives or stories about possible futures, improved decision-making about the future, and enhanced organizational learning and imagination. Scenario planning is a decision-making tool for exploring and understanding various issues impacting your business. Since you cannot predict the future, both learning and preparation are essential. The goal is for leadership teams to become more informed by broadening ideas about what multiple futures might bring. Scenario planning involves identifying a specific set of uncertainties and different realities of what might happen in the future. Wind tunneling is a metaphor for the basic concept. Scenario planning allows the organization to be tested in various turbulent times. As with any strategic planning process, you must carefully consider identifying vital internal stakeholders. It helps to have inclusive representation from a cross-section of departments, functions, and subject matter expertise. The most threatening competitor leadership teams face is themself. The typical approach to scenario planning involves the following eight steps: Identify a focus question: When selecting a question, it needs to help focus on the uncertainty you want to prepare. For example, you could ask, “How may generative AI affect our organization, what should we do, and when? Identify critical environmental factors: This is where you brainstorm anything related to your focus question happening in your surrounding environment. Identify driving forces: These underlying forces could shape your focal question. Using a Futures Wheel aligned with the STEEP (Societal, Technological, Economic, Ecological, or Political/Legal) framework can help brainstorm these forces. Rank critical uncertainties: Scenario planning is often more qualitative than quantitative, and it is easy to be influenced by optimism bias. Ranking helps avoid cognitive errors in scenario planning. Choose the central theme: These are the most uncertain and essential driving forces selected from the ranking in the prior step. Develop scenarios: This step can be sped up by selecting already developed scenarios. If you decide to build your scenarios, you should aim for four. This is a good number because it provides a variety of plausible futures. Examine the implications of the scenarios: This is where the team assesses the current state using tools like a SWOT analysis to identify impacts and potential adjustments to your strategy. Identify ways to monitor changes: Monitoring helps account for risks and opportunities in your strategic planning. Start by identifying what signals movement in each driver and scenario. Leaders facing environmental conditions like today without scenario planning will likely either stop strategic planning and only operate in the short term or take too much risk and gamble on one specific future. How can your organization move beyond what is already known and evolve your strategic planning approach? References: Chermack, T. (2011). Scenario planning in organizations: How to create, use, and assess scenarios. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Cornish, E. (2005). Futuring: The exploration of the future (First Paperback ed.). World Future Society. Lewis, K., (2019). Preparing for the 2030 labor market. HR Magazine. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Ludwig, L., Giesecke, J.,& Walton, L. (2010), Scenario planning: a tool for academic health sciences libraries. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 27: 28-36. Lund, S., Manyika, J., Segel, L., Dua, A., Hancock, B., Rutherford, S., and Macon, B. (2019). The future of work in America: People and places, today and tomorrow. McKinsey & Company. Nugent, T. (2020). 9 trends that will shape business education in 2020. Business Because. Tibbs, H. (2000). Making the future visible: Psychology, scenarios, and strategy. Global Business Network.

What sets a data-driven organization apart? Evidence suggests better revenue and customer value. Data-driven organizations are better equipped to make decisions and take the right actions. Today's generative AI is driving a data revolution. Recent evidence suggests that the percentage of data-driven organizations recently doubled, an increase greater than at any time before. But, unlocking the full potential of what is possible requires a talent strategy tightly aligned with your company's data analytics strategy. Executives with the right analytics infrastructure and the right talent in the right place have a significant competitive advantage. To avoid falling behind and making costly mistakes, here are two essential talent strategy steps you need to take now. Talent Strategy Step #1: Identify the right analytical skill sets After establishing your data-analytics strategy that is tightly aligned with the mission and culture of the ogranization you need to determine the roles and the knowledge, skills and abilities of the talent most critical to meeting the needs. Analytical skills include more than the obvious need for technical competence with applications for modeling, forecasting, and statistical analysis, such as SPSS, R, and Python. Analytical skill sets also need to include: negotiating consulting communication developing others quantitative analysis Also, organizations need analytical leadership at every level, not just in the CTO or IT department. In data-driven organizations, leaders need to: possess a passion for data analytics develop other's analytical capabilities set strategy with analytic performance metrics seek out and exploit quick wins for analytics take a long-term view of analytics grow their analytical networks work across the business Leaders and employees with the right skills are shaping the future of the workplace. There is a high demand for employees with data analytics skills, and it is very challenging to source, recruit, and retain those who possess these analytical attributes. The World Economic Forum suggests that as the utlization of technology increases the in-demand skills across jobs change over the next five to 10 years will continue to shift. The table below shows the expected employee skills from 2015 to 2030. Having the right talent strategy begins with getting clear on the analytical skills your organization need to support the organizations culture and data-analytics strategy so you can effectively source and develop the best and most creative talent. Talent Strategy Step #2: Align your analytical organization An organization's culture and having enough of the right talent with the right skills in the right places is essential. Architecting culture is an essential activity for leaders. Having an analytical orientation within the organization's culture is vital to building a successful analytical organization. An organization's perceived value associated with analytics directly influences decisions on the best way to align analytical resources across the business. The following are six high-impact and low-cost culture levers leaders can pull to build an analytical cutlure orientation. Cutlure Lever #1: What leaders pay attention to regularly. This is one of the most potent mechanisms every leader has in your company. What leaders choose to measure, reward, and control matters, and the opposite is also true. For example, a great starting point is to ask leaders what data they use to make decisions. By asking the question, you reinforce the importance of data-driven decision-making. Culture Lever #2: How leaders react to critical incidents. Much can be revealed when a business or a leader faces a significant challenge. Mike Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan 'til they get punched in the face." These crucible moments in business are like a refining fire. It is the heightened emotional intensity that increases individual and organizational learning. Culture Lever #3: How leaders allocate resources and control costs. Budgets reveal a lot about the organization's assumptions and beliefs. Resources include physical assets such as equipment, tools, and human resources. What gets resourced gets reinforced. Leaders should consider what tools and resources employees have available for data analytics. Culture Lever #4: Deliberate role modeling and training. How leaders act and behave outside of training is more significant than what is said or demonstrated within leadership development events. Leaders looking to build an analytical cultural orientation would benefit by explaining to and showing the organization how they use data to make decisions on a routine basis. Culture Lever #5: How leaders allocate rewards. Rewards and recognition come in many different forms. Also, what is considered a reward varies from person to person. What gets rewarded, how it gets rewarded, and what does not reinforce organizational culture. There are tangible rewards and social rewards. Simply saying thank you for presenting a decision using data analytics is a social reward. Culture Lever #6: How leaders recruit, promote, and excommunicate. Who gets hired, promoted, and fired, and for what creates and reinforces organizational culture. Talent management decisions can be viewed as a more subtle nuance to culture change because decisions are influenced by explicitly stated criteria and unstated value priorities. A leader looking to influence an analytical cultural orientation would benefit from assessing the skill sets needed within the organization and then hiring based on those skills. Having a critical mass of analytical talent across the organization creates a tipping point. The following is a simple tool you can use to perform an organizational evaluation. You can then use the results of this evaluation to set hiring, development, and succession planning activities in support of your strategy. The evaluation involves counting the number of analytical talent resources across your organization and assessing their depth of analytical capability within three categories of tasks: Level 1: capable of workbench, standard reports, and alerts Level 2: capable of multidimensional analysis, analytical applications, and data visualization Level 3: capable of what-if planning, predictive modeling, and statistical analysis Note: This example is adapted from Davenport et al. (2010). It uses a talent competence scale rating from basic to advanced. Once you can visualize the organization's analytical talent structure, capacity, and capability, it is easier to leverage talent strengths and address opportunities. The organizational design challenge is placing the analytical resources close enough to the business to focus on the most critical initiatives while still enabling mutual learning across the analytical resources. This organizational design decision needs to take into consideration the organization's analytical culture orientation and maturity. References: Abina, A., Salaj, A., Cestnik, B., Karalič, A., Ogrinc, M., Lukman, R., & Zidansek, A. (2024). Challenging 21st-Century Competencies for STEM Students: Companies’ Vision in Slovenia and Norway in the Light of Global Initiatives for Competencies Development. Sustainability. 16. 1295. 10.3390/su16031295. Bughin, J., Hazan, E., Lund, S., Daholstrom, P., Wiesinger, A., & Subramaniam, A. (2018, May 23). Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. McKinsey Global Institute. Davenport, T. H., Harris, J. G., & Morison, R. (2010). Analytics at work: Smarter decisions, better results. Harvard Business Press. MA. Deloitte. (2019). Deloitte survey: Analytics and data-driven culture help companies outperform business goals in the age of with’. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Grossman, R. L., & Siegel, K. P. (2014). Organizational models for big data and analytics. Journal of Organization Design (Aarhus), 3(1), 20-25. Indeed.com. (2020, November 23). Analytical skills: definitions and examples. Indeed Career Guide. Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass. Tambe, P. (2014). Big data investment, skills, and firm value. Management Science, 60(6), 1452-1469. Wallace, D. (2022). How Data Maturity and Product Analytics Improve Digital Experiences and Business Outcomes. IDC Research.

Many leaders I speak with have tossed in the towel on managing work-life boundaries. But, evidence suggests that not committing to managing personal and professional boundary expectations leads to increased stress, an absence of joy, and broken relationships. Finding focus in the distraction economy isn't just about where or when you work best but understanding how. Successful leaders know how they work best and consider the different needs of their team. This is not one time to follow the golden rule and treat your employees as you would want to be treated. Managing work-life boundaries helps you and your team perform better and reduces feelings of busyness. Here are the four fundamental work-life boundary styles, a quiz to help you identify your preferred style, and eight tips toward improving your boundary management. Why it's time to establish better work-life boundary habits Healthy leader-follower relationships are based on trust and respect. Don't assume you know your team's boundary management styles. It is best to apply the platinum rule regarding work-life boundary management. Do unto others as they would want to be done. The following are some tips you can use with your team: Demonstrate respect by getting to know your team's boundary management styles. You may want your team to read this blog and use it as a topic for discussion in your next team meeting or one-to-one. Have your team take the Work-Life Boundary Management Checker and share their results with what they agree with from the quiz, what they don't, and why, with examples. Engage your team members in a conversation about the organizational culture and their work-life boundary management style. Where is there alignment, and where are there opportunities to be better? Evidence from multiple studies reveals that blurred boundaries negatively impact the well-being of leaders and employees. When leaders fail to schedule priorities and expectations successfully, it often results in feelings of regret or distress. How leaders and employees manage boundaries has consequences on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and business results. Leaders, followers, organizations, and communities benefit from healthy work-life boundary management habits. Personal Example: Early in my career, I had an opportunity to include my family in a Leadership 360 survey as part of a leadership development program I was taking through my work. My first reaction was to question the value I could get from an online survey about my work performance that involved my family. I knew my family loved me and felt we had open communication. I also debated sending it to my son, given his young age. However, wanting more feedback, I decided to go ahead and send my family the survey. Surprisingly, I learned about hidden strengths and blind spots important to my family. One survey comment I remember from my son was that his dad was always on his mobile device. Yes, it hurt to read that I had a blind spot about dropping the ball on a critical relationship. My first private response as I read the comment was defensive and to challenge the comment. The reality at the time was that my work responsibilities had expanded significantly. I went from site leadership responsibilities to having a team across multiple regions. Also, my young family was growing older and wanted more time from their dad. I failed to consider the impact of growing needs at home and the growing needs at work. Thankfully, my lack of boundary management awareness didn't cost me a relationship, and I could course-correct. I learned an important lesson. Just because you are not hearing concerns or seeing the negative impacts of mismanaging work-life boundaries doesn't mean everything is OK. 4 Boundary management styles Does work-life separation or integration lead to achieving balance? The answer is that it varies by individual. The better you understand your preferred boundary management style and the style of others, the better you can manage personal work-life boundaries and adapt your leadership to the needs of your team. There are four main work-life boundary styles: Integrators make themselves constantly available to work and life needs. Integrators enjoy the freedom of blending their work life and non-work life. They move back and forth between the two as needed. Taking a work call after dinner is OK for an integrator if they can also run an errand during work hours. Cyclers bounce back and forth between periods of solid separation and times of full integration. Separators divide their time and attention between either work or life needs. They set a hard line between personal and professional roles. When they are off the clock, they are done with work. They don't do well with after-work hours work and emails or calls. Hybrid role-first styles have a defined work- or life-first identity, allowing one identity to trump the other. This style can be integrators, cyclers, or separators with a specific hybrid. If you are a work-first hybrid, you will shift work hours or move family events to accommodate work. Discovering your work-life boundary management style The following short survey can help you become more aware of your boundary management style. The survey measures how you perceive boundary control, manage interruptions, balance personal and professional, technology dependence, and time for yourself. Interpreting your results: Integrators: Low personal time scores and tendencies for high technology dependence are integrators. Separators: Moderate personal time and tendencies for low technology dependence are separators. Cyclers: High personal time and tendencies for high technology dependence are cyclers. Role first: High family identity scores identify as a hybrid family first style. High work identity scores determine a hybrid work-first style. 8 Tips to better work-life boundary management Generally, individuals with low scores for boundary control are focused on life or work priorities rather than life and work priorities, and either success or significance is sacrificed. If you received a low score on the Work-Life Boundary Management Checker, taking the following suggestions could improve your low boundary control scores: Use separate devices for work and non-work activities. Turn off alerts from devices during periods. Use the Do Not Disturb option on your IOS device to silence notifications. Restrict access to work and non-work social media access at different times. Use physical space to create separation between activities. Many of us work from home, at least part of the time. To help keep work at work, use a separate location for work to the greatest extent possible. Block time in your calendar for work and non-work priorities Add time buffers to your calendar to create a transition between work and non-work activities. A commute builds a natural buffer. Create a regular check-in with an accountability partner for support, feedback, and encouragement. Hire an executive coach. Given that the ultimate goal of coaching is personal change, the process uses essential questions and client-centered critical thinking to invoke self-awareness and individual responsibility with work-life boundaries. Conclusion: Managing Work-Life Boundaries Taking a work-life separation or integration approach is not always the answer. However, not committing to managing personal and professional expectations leads to increased stress, feelings of busyness, a lack of joy, and broken relationships. Effective leaders manage personal work-life boundaries and lead in alignment with their team's needs. Let's discuss how our transformational executive coaching and organizational consulting solutions can help you achieve your goals. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Foucreault, A., Ollier-Malaterre, A., & Ménard, J. (2018). Organizational culture and work-life integration: A barrier to employees' respite? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(16), 2378-2398. Kossek, E. E. (2016). Managing work-life boundaries in the digital age. Organizational Dynamics, 45(3), 258-270.

Is there anything more unsettling than making huge decisions alone? Thankfully, it's been a while since I've tried. But in the past, I've made my share. I can tell firsthand that having a coach has many benefits beyond better decision-making. Leaders constantly navigate competing priorities. Boards, direct reports, customers, and of course, family and friends all have their unique needs. Leaders must be able to carefully explore and assess new ideas to thrive in an increasingly complex workplace. Executive coaching is a thought-provoking and creative partnership that inspires leaders to maximize their potential. Before you start exploring whether the costs are worth the benefits. The first question you need to wrestle with is if you are entirely ready. Like any development, you will get the most significant return when you can do the work. Here is what you can expect it to cost, five frequent benefits, and what to look for in an executive coach. What executive coaching is and is not? Coaching is not counseling, mentoring, or consulting. Counseling deals with past or current trauma, mental health, and symptoms to restore emotional wellness. Executive coaching focuses on the future and not the client's history. Unlike a coach, a mentor sets the agenda for their client using their experiences to guide the relationship. While that approach can be helpful in reality, we are all created with different strengths and backgrounds. A coach draws out the executive's desire and works to co-create options to achieve the executive's goals with individual and organizational benefits. Consulting involves partnering but differs from coaching by collaborating on the development of comprehensive strategies and tools. A consultant provides answers, and a coach uses questions to help you find the answers to your questions. An executive is a person with senior managerial and leadership responsibility in a business or organization. Executives are the owner, CEO, or Senior Leadership Team at a midsize company. These are generally categorized by revenue between $10 million to $1 billion and 50-250 employees. They can also be a Director or VP or on the Senior Leadership Team at a large organization. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The method of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership. Executive coaching, then, is a coaching relationship between a coach and a person with senior managerial and leadership responsibility in a business or organization. Why do executives and business owners need coaching now more than ever? Today's reality for a senior leader is that the marketplace changes rapidly. You are either ripe and rotting or green and growing. So, how can an executive effectively stay green and grow in such a fast-paced environment? In an extensive quantitative study by Stanley Black & Decker, the Sasha Corporation found that executives receiving coaching increased goal performance by 15% compared to executives not receiving coaching. In a literature review of 81 executive coaching studies, researchers found that executive coaching positively impacts the leader and the organization. These benefits range from becoming more confident to contributing more effectively to empowering employees and improving employee retention. Some of the most admired companies in the Fortune 100 contribute to the $1 billion executive coaching industry. Coaching is a fast-growing sector, and the broad support for executive coaching as a solution to today's challenges and its effectiveness is undeniable. Evidence suggests executive coaching leads to individual and organizational benefits, including: Enhanced self-awareness Improved performance Better communication Stress management Conflict resolution Decision making Career advancement “It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in the happiness of pursuit.” — Denis Waitley What do you get from executive coaching? Outcome 1. Resilience Resilience is a fundamental outcome of executive coaching. Frequently, leaders look for a coach to help adapt their leadership style, deal effectively with change, or build high-quality, trust-based relationships. As executives work to achieve their goals, barriers, and challenges must be overcome. In the process of overcoming these barriers, leaders build resilience and self-confidence. Outcome 2. Shifting Assumptions and Perceptions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are key growth strategies for many organizations: entering new marketplaces, acquiring new technologies, and leveraging scale and size. Culture is critical during notable changes, such as M&A, and executive leaders increasingly work with and lead multicultural teams. Coaching helps leaders shift assumptions and perceptions and adopt positive cross-cultural motivation, vision, and cultural agility. Outcome 3. Improved Emotional Intelligence (EQ) A recent Harvard study revealed that a leader's emotional intelligence (EQ) matters more than their mental ability (IQ). A key outcome of executive coaching is improved emotional intelligence. Often, leaders pressed for time to move from one urgent task to another and miss the advantage of pausing to reflect and become self-aware. An executive coach's use of assessments like a 360-leadership survey and purposeful reflection helps leaders learn and enhance their emotional intelligence. Reflection improves performance. Outcome 4. Growth Focus and Accountability Any road will get you where you want to go if you don't know where you are going. Setting direction is vital to growth as a leader. An executive coach ensures development goals are purposeful and bring perspective to the best areas to focus. Leaders are busy and without accountability, miss opportunities for learning and growth. In the executive coaching relationship, external accountability is a crucial benefit. A coach can help the leader prioritize critical topics to change in the best direction. Outcome 5. Developmental Feedback Executive leaders receive feedback continuously from a wide range of sources on potential areas of development but also can struggle to make sense of the feedback. Proximity to a problem sometimes impacts the leader's clarity on importance. Also, general feedback is often not presented in effective or constructive ways. A coach assists the leader with filtering through various points of critical feedback to return focus on the essential constructive aspects. How much does executive coaching cost? Executive coaching costs and pricing strategies vary widely based on the services offered, the executive coach's experience level, and the client's organizational level. Executive coaches commonly use hourly, value-based, retainer, or productized pricing. Studies by the Harvard Business Review and The Conference Board suggested executive coach rates range from $200 to over $3500 per hour. Some coaches, like Marshall Goldsmith, who is frequently listed as the top-rated executive coach, use a performance-based pricing model. Simply stated, he only gets paid when his clients improve. Ready for the mic drop? He gets $250,000 per client for a year-long engagement. Recently, virtual coaching has become more popular, and offers added convenience, service, and affordability through reduced travel and costs from associated time out of the office. Although these benefits are advantageous, the research does not support replacing face-to-face coaching with virtual coaching. In reality, in-person and virtual coaching both have associated pros and cons. What to look for in an executive coach? A good executive coach is trained and qualified. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is a globally recognized association with evidence-based competency and code of ethics certification requirements. The ICF identifies the following eight core coach competencies updated as of 2019 based on empirical data collected over two years and from job analyses of 1,300 coaches globally: Demonstrates Ethical Practice Embodies a Coaching Mindset Establishes and Maintains Agreements Cultivates Trust and Safety Maintains Presence Listens Actively Evokes Awareness Facilitates Client Growth In addition to the list of coach qualifications, evidence suggests the following additional traits and competencies specific to executive coaching: Self-confidence Assertiveness Goal Orientation Continuous Learning & Development Integrity Business acumen Psychological knowledge Organizational knowledge An excellent executive coach usually refrains from giving advice or sharing personal stories. Instead, the coach asks powerful questions to help the executive clarify their problems in achieving their goals. Conclusion: Is Executive Coaching Really Worth It? The confidence and growth that comes from a creative thought partnership in the executive coaching relationship can't be beaten. Now more than ever, due to the complexity placed on senior leadership roles, executives need coaches who can support their continuous development. Falling behind in a rapidly changing marketplace will not lead to success. The coach-leader relationship fosters a leader's growth through purposeful direction, reflection, feedback, and accountability. See how our goal-oriented executive coaching turns your aspirations into your future. Accelerate your career - Coaching keeps you feeling challenged and increases your blind spot awareness. Live life to the fullest - Coaching facilitates experimentation and self-discovery. Shift your mindset - Coaching helps you challenge your assumptions and views. References: Ahrend, G., Diamond, F., & Webber, P. G. (2010). Virtual coaching: Using technology to boost performance. Chief Learning Officer, 9,44–47. Athanasopoulou, A., & Dopson, S. (2015). Developing leaders: By executive coaching. Oxford Press. Athanasopoulou, A., & Dopson, S. (2018). A systematic review of executive coaching outcomes: Is it the journey or the destination that matters most? The Leadership Quarterly. 29(1), 70-88. Berglas, S. (2002). The very real dangers of executive coaching. Harvard Business Review, 80(6), 86-153. Clark, D., Cohn, A., & Goldsmith, M. (2019). A short guide to pricing your services as a consultant or coach. Harvard Business Review. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. ICF. (2020). 2020 ICF global coaching study: Executive summary. International Coaching Federation.

I had just started a new position in Nebraska. We left family back in Illinois, and a significant snowstorm was heading our way. It dumped almost a foot of fresh snow on our house while I was out of town for work. My wife was stranded at home with a new baby, a three-year-old, and a dog. Without me knowing, my leader called my wife to offer to go to the store and pick up groceries in his truck. Although this took place over twenty years ago, I still get emotional thinking about this act of love by my leader. There is no serious debate that well-designed organizations with clear organizational strategies influence desired behaviors, culture, and performance. However, while organizational alignment is essential, it is not sufficient. Evidence suggests love brings out the best in how people think, act, and feel. Unfortunately, this four-letter word is rarely discussed in the workplace. But this is good news if you're a leader looking for a competitive advantage. Here are two practical ways leaders can bring love into the workplace. The benefits of love in the workplace The well-documented individual and organizational benefits of love include: Intrinsic motivation Increased creativity Discretionary effort Better workplace climate Enhanced employee capacity Enhanced leader-follower alignment Two complex challenges leaders face today are attracting and retaining top talent and creating inclusive workplaces that bring out the best in all employees. Diversity in the world and workplace is increasing. Globalization and technological advances are projected to continue to increase workgroup diversity. This increase in diversity can have many positive workplace effects, such as enhanced performance, creativity, innovation, and decision quality. However, workplace practices rooted in favoritism are costly, leading to increased relational conflict and a lack of team cohesion. In-group favoritism results in actions that favor one group. When leaders demonstrate love, they cultivate an organizational culture where healthy and caring leader-follower relationships break down the adverse effects of in-group and out-group differences. All you have to do is drive down any street or walk through your local retail district to see the signs for help wanted and understand the challenge of attracting and retaining the best and brightest employees. Organizational commitment is a term used to identify an individual with a particular company. Research has directly connected higher levels of organizational commitment with lower employee turnover rates. Studies have demonstrated that love enhances organizational commitment. The following short video from leadership guru Ken Blanchard provides some thoughts on the power of servant leadership in today's workplace. What is selfless love? Selflessness is being more concerned with the needs and desires of others than with your needs. And one of the best definitions I have come across for love in the workplace comes from St. Thomas Aquinas. "To love is to will the good of the other." St. Thomas Aquinas Selfless love in the workplace is to desire and put into action the will for the good of another ahead of your interest. It is a radically different paradigm from a transactional worldview of the workplace. If you have nine minutes, the following video captures the essence of the meaning behind the definition used by St. Thomas Aquinas. Although the video does not use a workplace example, the intent of willing the good of the other is shown. The following poem called "Outwitted" by Edwin Markham captures the belief that love creates a radical sense of belonging for everyone: He drew a circle that shut me out—Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! Aren't empathy and compassion just different words for love? Empathy, compassion, and love are interrelated, but distinct differences exist. Empathy is the ability to be aware of, feel, and take on the emotions of what another person is experiencing. Empathy plays a vital role in moderating the effects of workplace conflict. Research has linked empathy with forgiveness and healing relationships. The following is a short video from Brene Brown that explains empathy and its value within the workplace. Compassion is an empathic understanding with a desire to help another person. Recent studies into the benefits of compassion at work link it to improved job performance, mental health, and leader-follower relationships. Although having awareness (empathy) and a desire to help (compassion) is essential, the world needs leaders who put the will for the good of others ahead of their interest. Leaders who emphasize love bring out the best in how people think, act, and feel in the workplace, leading to success and significance both personally and professionally. How you can love those you lead The answer for bringing love into the workplace is not hiding in metrics or data within the business- but in your routine practices, you perform automatically in your daily life. A traditional transactional leadership style adopts a top-down view of an organization with the leader on the top. Transactional leadership is based on the belief that employees perform best: within a well-formed chain of command rewards and punishments motivate and following the leader's directives is the employee's primary goal. Transactional leaders give employees something they want in exchange for getting something they want. This leadership style adopts a mental model that workers are not self-motivated and require structure, instruction, and monitoring to achieve organizational goals correctly and on time. In stark contrast, when adopting a selfless love worldview, the leader desires to bring out the best in their followers by giving them the best of themself. A servant leadership style aligns well with selfless love. These servant leadership characteristics are tangible ways for a leader to bring love into the workplace: Listening to self and others Showing empathy Healing self and others Being aware Persuasion and not coercion Conceptual thinking, not linear thinking Applying strategic foresight Stewardship of other's needs Commitment to the development of others Building community Are you a servant leader? Maybe you already understand the basic concepts but are unclear on how servant leadership differs from other contemporary leadership styles. The free Servant Leadership Style Checker answers these questions and provides your Servant Leadership Style Score. Take this free quiz to find out. How to cultivate love in the workplace Love may seem complex and challenging to articulate, much less measure; however, validated measurement instruments exist. Like competencies and behaviors, love can be developed and embedded within organizational processes for talent management. Also, like competency development, developing love can have various positive consequences for businesses. Virtue and character development should include the following: knowledge transfer reasoning and practice. Selfless love is primarily developed through role modeling with intentional time for feedback and reflection. Feedback is a gift; most people want more feedback on their performance. However, feedback on character gaps is not commonly provided, given the complexity of these conversations. Additionally, most people spend little to no time reflecting on selfless love experiences because of blind spots. A dedicated and skillful executive coach can improve character feedback and purposeful character reflection. Numerous studies have found that dedicated mentors can also support character development by openly reflecting on insights gained from experience. Research supports that organizations can incorporate love development into existing competency development programs. It is not required for organizations to create separate programs focused only on character and virtue development. Great leaders love those they lead to gain a competitive advantage in an uncertain world. What is your real challenge to bringing love into the workplace? References Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Ferris, R. (1988). How organizational love can improve leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 16(4), 41-51. Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th-anniversary ed.). Lok, P., & Crawford, J. (2004). The effect of organizational culture and leadership style on job satisfaction and organizational commitment: A cross‐national comparison. The Journal of Management Development, 23(4), 321-338. Mulinge, P. (2018). ALTRUISM AND ALTRUISTIC LOVE: Intrinsic motivation for servant-leadership. The International Journal of Servant-Leadership, 12(1), 337-370. Patterson, K. (2003). Servant leadership: A theoretical model [PDF]. Seijts, G., Crossan, M., & Carleton, E. (2017). Embedding leader character into HR practices to achieve sustained excellence. Organizational Dynamics, 46(1), 30-39. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.02.001 Zachary, G. W. (2013). spiritual leadership: Investigating the effects of altruistic love on organizational commitment. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 6(2), 767.

When you think about outstanding military leaders, commanders like Napoleon Bonaparte and inspiring orators like Winston Churchill might come to mind. These leaders accomplished incredible feats against the odds. But like leaders in any successful business, they require the commitment and hard work of others to achieve their goals. In 1941, the US established the first intelligence agency led by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan. The agency's purpose was to coordinate intelligence and conduct counterespionage to destroy an enemy from the inside. Their missions trusted small teams to perform heroic acts of sabotage and train resistance fighters. General Donovan published the Simple Sabotage Field Manual with the ominous instruction not to allow the manual to fall into unauthorized hands. If it is true that teams and organizations can be destroyed from the inside. Then, one of the most important things a leader can do is reverse engineer these now-declassified sabotage tactics. Here are three especially compelling ways to motivate saboteurs and practices busy leaders can use to bring out the best in your team. How to motivate saboteurs (or your team) Wild Bill suggested that engaging others to commit acts of sabotage requires motivation. As stated bluntly in the manual, "purposeful stupidity is contrary to human nature." The manual emphasizes the need to provide the saboteur pressure, assurance, and information. Here are the three motivation tactics identified in the manual that lead to destruction and the leadership practices busy leaders can successfully use. Motivation Tactic #1: Make it Personal The average citizen likely has no reason for sabotage. Make it personal by specifically connecting acts of sabotage with personal gains, show how the saboteur is part of a larger organization, and assign responsibilities for sabotage. Leadership Practices to Make It Personal As a leader, answering "what's in it for me" is one of the best motivation tools in your arsenal for implementing change. The answer to this question ensures others in the organization know the benefits and not just what is changing. When followers recognize how their actions connect to the larger vision, it leads to engagement by creating a sense of belonging. Social Identity Theory suggests that we share identity with individuals we associate with. As a result, followers are more likely to trust those individuals than individuals and groups with whom they do not share an identity. Are you assigning work effectively, also known as delegating? Research has found that effective delegation improves job satisfaction, performance, intrinsic motivation, confidence, and career development. It is thought that delegation signals trust and support from the leader to the delegate, resulting in increased follower effort and performance. Additionally, effective delegation improves the employee's perception of the leader's performance. If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make an impact, learn to delegate. – John C. Maxwell Motivation Tactic #2: Provide Encouragement Saboteurs need to believe they are acting in self-defense by committing acts of destruction. Also, the use of humor can ease tension and reduce fear. Leadership Practices to Encourage Your Team There are many good reasons why leaders should think twice before using humor at work. However, evidence suggests that humor during times of crisis significantly improves employee engagement and organizational performance. Much of the positive influence of humor is due to a biochemical response. Laughing reduces cortisol levels, which have a calming effect, increases endorphins, creating a runner's high, and increases oxytocin, which creates warm feelings toward others. The recipe for getting humor right at work includes: knowing your audience keeping it positive keeping the topic close to you and not others understanding yourself and potential blindspots associated with your natural style In this TEDx, Karyn Buxman expands on the science of humor. Motivation Tactic #3: Minimize Risk Bad news spreads quickly. The number of opportunities and degree of perceived risk limit the effectiveness and efficiency of a saboteur. Leadership Practices to Minimize Performance Risk Observe and eliminate or modify the desired behavior's negative, immediate, inevitable consequences when possible. If followers are required to work in a freezer, you can provide warming jackets to reduce the adverse effects of the cold. After you attempt to reinforce the desired behavior, observe if performance improves. If not, learn and adjust. The ABC model, also known as the three-contingency performance management model, provides a foundational understanding of why people do or do not perform a given behavior. The "A" stands for those things that prompt desired behavior (antecedents). The "B" stands for the desired behavior. The "C" stands for consequences. The consequences that the employee experiences after or during the behavior have the most significant impact on performance. Specific suggestions for sabotage (or leaders) Clear expectations improve a team's understanding of goals and create organizational alignment. The Simple Sabotage Field Manual identified several specific techniques for different types of targets. The following is a selection of tactics identified in the manual specifically for managers and supervisors. Demand it in writing Ask endless questions and use long messages Make objections when possible Do everything possible to create delays Don't provide the team with new tools and resources Demand the most expensive tools and resources and complain if you don't get them Complete unimportant tasks first and give the essential functions to the least skilled team member Insist on perfection and accept defective work Give incomplete or misleading instructions when training new employees Reward poor performance Go to conferences and meetings to avoid getting the work done Create duplicate files Create policies and procedures for everything The leadership countermeasure to deploy for these simple sabotage suggestions is to use this list as a checklist to reflect on your leadership habits. Then, commit to doing the opposite. In addition to individual reflection, you can capture some additional benefits by reviewing this list with your team to identify if they see any of these acts of sabotage within the team or company. You may have laughed nervously and shuddered a little as you recognized some of these tactics and tendencies in your leadership or where you work. The countermeasures for the sabotage tactics that General Donovan made indispensable to intelligence officers can make you a leader indispensable to your team and company. How does the Simple Sabotage Field Manual inspire you as you think about your unique position and opportunities? References Aaker, J., & Bagdonas, N. (2021). How to be funny at work. Harvard Business Review. Chevrier, S., & Viegas-Pires, M. (2013). Delegating effectively across cultures. Journal of World Business: JWB, 48(3), 431-439. Daniels, A. C., & Daniels, J. E. (2006). Performance management: Changing behavior that drives organizational effectiveness. Performance Management Publications. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Drescher, G. (2017). Delegation outcomes: Perceptions of leaders and followers' satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 32(1), 2-15. Joiner, T. A., & Leveson, L. (2015). Effective delegation among Hong Kong Chinese male managers: The mediating effects of LMX. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(6), 728-743. United States. Office of Strategic Services. (1944). Simple Sabotage Field Manual. Project Gutenberg. Yukl, G. and Fu, P. (1999), "Determinants of delegation and consultation by managers," Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 219-232.

Remember being a kid? If you are competitive, you may remember campaigning to be the leader so you could pick your friends or play a particular position. As kids, the motivation to lead often was purely selfish. In the workplace, this motivation can be devastating. Evidence suggests that self-centered and manipulative leaders increase counterproductive behavior. Real leadership doesn't come from a title. Exceptional leaders put their team and its mission first. There are many well-documented stories about extraordinary self-sacrifice that changes the world. But, not all acts of self-sacrifice have a positive impact on leadership in the workplace. Here are two practical ways leaders can tap into the paradoxical power of self-sacrifice and elevate people, profit, and purpose. Why self-sacrifice matters in leadership There is no single definition of what is leadership. However, there is broad agreement that leadership involves the influence of followers toward turning vision into reality. Maybe not too surprisingly, research suggests that self-sacrificing leaders are more influential than self-serving leaders. Leadership self-sacrifice in the workplace is demonstrated to enhance: Intentions to reciprocate the leader's behavior Feelings of team belonging Intentions to give Cooperative behaviors Follower performance Willingness to change Self-Sacrifice is the giving up of one's own interests or wishes in order to help others or advance a cause. Acts of self-sacrifice are inspiring. Many stories of modern world changers involve a common theme of tremendous self-sacrifice. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa represent a couple of these leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. was central to the American civil rights movement. He faced numerous threats to his life and ultimately was assassinated in 1968. His message and his sacrifices galvanized the civil rights movement, leading to significant legislative and social changes in the United States. Mother Teresa, also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, served the poorest in India. She founded a religious congregation that aids those in need, including the sick and orphaned. Despite extreme personal sacrifice and criticism for her commitment, she stayed focused until she died in 1997. As of 1979, she had helped over two million sick, including nearly fifty thousand lepers treated by mobile dispensaries and special clinics. But, not all acts of self-sacrifice in the workplace result in a positive impact. Those most influential involve self-sacrifice that conveys the leader can be trusted to act in a way that benefits the team and its mission. Here is a good discussion by Simon Sinek about the power of self-sacrifice within an organization. It's inspired by Marine Corp General Flynn's account of why senior officers in the military eat last. Self-Sacrifice Strategy #1: Establish Goals that Benefit Your Team and Organization A leader's performance management goals should clearly emphasize a direct benefit for their team and its mission. Too often, leadership goals narrowly focus on the leader's direct contribution to the organization. The key is the use of the word "and." Leadership goals need to go beyond driving individual performance and include their team. Here are a few high-level goal examples focusing on the leader, team, and organization. Create a culture of inclusion in the organizational unit I lead - an environment in which every employee feels valued and has opportunities to contribute and grow. Collaborate with followers to establish robust development plans, provide appropriate support (time, resources), and monitor progress to facilitate successful achievement of plans. Provide followers with regular coaching and timely feedback. Recognize the strong performance of employees I lead through financial and non-financial means, both formally and informally. Be open and honest in communications and cascade business information in a timely manner to my team. President Obama speaking of Medal of Honor recipient Captain Groberg said, "on his very worst day, he managed to summon his very best. That's the nature of courage — not being unafraid but confronting fear and danger and performing in a selfless fashion. He showed his guts, he showed his training; how he would put it all on the line for his teammates." Self-Sacrifice Strategy #2: Cultivate Belonging According to Gallup, two in ten employees rate their mental health as fair to poor. Depression, anxiety, and suicide are common mental health conditions associated with lacking a sense of belonging. Leaders can cultivate high-quality relationships and belonging by developing enhanced self-awareness, asking followers questions grounded in genuine curiosity, offering help, and showing appreciation. Start using these five questions taken from Michael Bungay Stainers' book The Coaching Habit in your next one-to-one meeting: What’s on Your Mind? What’s the real challenge here for you? The spotlight shifts from the problem to the person wrestling with the problem. It invites learning and growth. And what else? (AWE) The recipient hears, keep going. What do you want? This shifts the discussion to consideration of the desired future state. What was most helpful for you? People learn best when given space to reflect on what just happened. Ask them. Leadership self-sacrifice can positively influence follower behaviors, performance, and the willingness to change in ways necessary to thrive in today's complex workplace environment. What ideas do you have for demonstrating self-sacrifice that communicates your commitment to the team and its mission for the greater good? References Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gallup. (2022). State of the global workplace 2022 report. Gallup.; Best Christian Workplace Survey 2022. Hoogervorst, Niek (2012). When do leaders sacrifice? The effects of sense of powerAon leader self-sacrifice. The focusip quarterly (1048-9843), 23 (5), p. 883. Shin, J., & Shin, H. (2022). The effect of self-sacrifice leadership on social capital and job performance in hotels. Sustainability, 14(9), 5509. Van Knippenberg, B. M., & van Knippenberg, D. (2005). Leader self-sacrifice and leadership effectiveness: The moderating role of leader prototypicality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 25-37.