Ambiguity is no longer an occasional condition of work; it is now embedded in how most organizations operate. Yet the greatest risk is not uncertainty itself, but the persistence of ambiguity in roles, priorities, and decision-making authority. When expectations are unclear, organizations do not simply slow down—they fragment. Accountability diffuses, priorities diverge, and effort increases without corresponding impact. Role ambiguity is one of the most preventable sources of organizational strain. When individuals are unclear about what they own, how success is evaluated, or whose decisions take precedence, stress rises, and performance degrades. Whether being asked to do more with less or reporting to a new leader, when employees feel unsure how to prioritize their work, it increases stress. Evidence from a global study by Gallup revealed that 49% of leaders and 42% of non-managers are struggling with anxiety at work.  This is not a resilience failure on the part of employees; it is an architectural failure in how work is designed and governed. Without a reliable mechanism for clarifying roles and responsibilities, ambiguity compounds quietly, increasing execution risk and avoidable error across the business. The costly effects of not dealing with workplace ambiguity As the world changes, businesses and individuals must change too. Organizational change s increase the opportunity for role ambiguity and workplace stress. Role ambiguity is described as one employee's understanding of their job or organizational objectives being different from another's, leading to an unproductive workplace conflict or wasted efforts. Poor communications, unclear policies, or a general lack of workplace relationships are typical sources of role ambiguity. Several studies have demonstrated that role ambiguity has significant negative personal and workplace results. One such study within the Big Four Public Accounting Firms showed that organizational role ambiguity led to: decreased performance increased work stress increased employee turnover In this study, role ambiguity significantly increased anxiety and physical and psychological stress at an individual level. Role ambiguity increases non-productive conflict and employee burnout even when a team has good working relationships. How to deal with ambiguity A RACI matrix is a simple and powerful tool for effectively dealing with role ambiguity. I have used this tool at the organization, team, and individual levels, enhancing role clarity, improved workload balance, and improved decision-making. RACI is an acronym for responsible, accountable, consult with, and informed. Each letter represents the roles and degree of involvement for a given organizational role or task: R esponsible: Who is ultimately responsible for doing the task? A ccountable: Who is the decision-maker accountable for ensuring that the job is successfully completed? C onsult with: Who needs to know the details and requirements so they can provide meaningful input to the task I nformed: Who needs to be kept aware of task updates? An essential part of organizational consulting is helping individuals and teams gain clarity during change and dealing with role ambiguity created by the changes. Applying a RACI template to a given change initiative is not intended to replace a robust change management plan. Instead, this tool raises awareness and understanding to support change. 4 Steps to create a powerful RACI Matrix Here are four steps to creating a RACI matrix for dealing with role ambiguity. RACI Creation Step 1: Select a team As with most initiatives, selecting the right team members to be involved is essential to creating the most value. A critical quality step is to engage those closest to the work in creating the RACI. Additionally, you will want to include the manager and potentially the executive sponsor for the role. RACI Creation Step 2: Identify tasks associated with the target role Start with a high-level outline. A job description can be a good starting point. Then, go back and break down the tasks into subtasks. For example, you could argue that an essential task for a knowledge worker is to turn on their computer. However, is it worthwhile to clarify who is responsible for this activity? This likely goes without saying. Getting too granular too early in creating the RACI can paralyze the team and overcomplicate the work. RACI Creation Step 3: Align groups and individuals with RACI designations Review each task and identify the individual or group associated with each RACI designation. At this step, there will likely be differences of opinion. It is crucial to surface these differences and pursue consensus. A common cause of the differences can come from differences of opinion on what is meant by definitions such as responsible vs. accountable. To help the team work through the differences, it is a good practice to write down the definitions and have them available to the team. RACI Creation Step 4: Walk the matrix After you create the RACI matrix, it is helpful to have those involved simulate a task and confirm with each responsible group that their level of involvement is appropriate and that no groups or essential details were left out. It is easy to forget tasks when building these in a meeting. It's like taking the same route to work every day and forgetting the railroad tracks or stoplights you pass. When conflict is associated with ambiguity, consider using an external facilitator. Establishing trust and clarifying expectations are essential starting points for achieving a valuable outcome. The following short video provides a good overview and example of using a RACI matrix. RACI Matrix example I am a fan of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. In the table below, I have used some key season one episode events to explain the RACI Matrix. "This is the way." Role ambiguity rarely resolves itself. Left unaddressed, it becomes embedded in how decisions are made, how work is prioritized, and how accountability is avoided. Over time, leaders compensate for the lack of clarity through personal effort, informal influence, or escalation—none of which scale. The practical question for senior leaders is not whether ambiguity exists, but where it is no longer acceptable. That requires making role expectations, decision rights, and ownership explicit—especially during periods of change. If ambiguity is showing up as repeated friction, stalled decisions, or uneven execution, it is time to examine the underlying design of roles and authority. Clarifying these conditions is a leadership act. Addressing them deliberately is how organizations restore coherence and reduce unnecessary strain. References: Amiruddin, A. (2019). The mediating effect of work stress on the influence of time pressure, work-family conflict, and role ambiguity on audit quality reduction behavior. International Journal of Law and Management, 61(2), 434-454. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. McCormak, N. (2013). Managing burnout in the workplace: A guide for information professionals. Science Direct. Chandos Publishing. Wigert, B., & Pendell, R. (2023). 6 Trends Leaders Need to Navigate This Year. Gallup Workplace.

Organizations and leadership teams rarely fail because they lack intelligence, experience, or ambition. They fail when individual results are achieved in ways that quietly erode trust, consistency, and moral authority. In those moments, character is no longer a personal virtue—it becomes an organizational risk. Leaders must navigate uncertainty—situations when policy, procedure, and precedent offer incomplete guidance or conflict with one another. How decisions are made, and what leaders are willing to compromise under pressure, shape reputation, culture, and long-term performance far more than strategy alone. As Martin Luther King Jr. warned, the most dangerous failure is not a lack of ability, but the absence of moral grounding to guide that ability. Blind pursuit of results may deliver short-term gains, but it damages credibility, fractures alignment, and weakens both leadership legitimacy and enterprise resilience over time. Evidence from workplace studies suggests that leaders with strong character consistently outperform peers on key performance metrics. Character determines whether leadership behaviors are applied with integrity, consistency, and responsibility—especially when no one is watching. Great leadership is the disciplined integration of competence, character, and commitment. 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, with 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 Character is often treated as abstract or subjective. In practice, it can be rigorously defined, examined, and measured. When leaders understand their habits—and how those habits influence decisions under pressure—organizations gain greater predictability and alignment. Assessment is not about labeling leaders as “good” or “bad.” It is about increasing awareness of the internal drivers that shape judgment, behavior, and tradeoffs. Greater self-awareness at the leadership level improves decision quality, strengthens trust, and reduces unintended consequences. Character Strength Assessment Validated assessment instruments can provide insight into a leader’s character profile and dominant tendencies. Tools such as the VIA Character Strength Survey, completed by millions of leaders worldwide, offer a structured way to reliably examine character strengths and patterns. Used appropriately, these assessments create a shared language for discussing character without moralizing or personalizing the conversation. 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 . Leadership Habit Assessment Character is reinforced—or weakened—through habits. Structured reflection tools can surface unintentional patterns that influence leadership effectiveness, particularly under stress or time pressure. Identifying these patterns helps leaders understand where behavior may drift from intent and where greater discipline is required. Assessment alone does not change behavior. When combined with disciplined reflection, feedback, and executive-level dialogue, assessment becomes a mechanism for aligning internal values with external leadership expectations. Treated as part of an ongoing process rather than a one-time event, character assessment supports more consistent leadership behavior and more reliable organizational outcomes. The free quiz includes a personalized report and guide that will provide you with an "aha" moment as you reflect on your leadership habits to identify your strengths and areas for improvement. 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 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. Character is tested not in moments of convenience, but in moments of pressure—when tradeoffs are real and consequences are unavoidable. Organizations that leave character to individual discretion create variability where reliability is required. Acing a test of character begins with clarity. Leaders must know their non-negotiables and understand how those principles guide decisions when incentives, timelines, or personal interests compete. Character becomes durable when expectations are explicit, decisions are examined, and accountability is real. Leadership character does not strengthen by accident. Like physical endurance, it is built through deliberate practice, reflection, and reinforcement. Systems that combine self-awareness, feedback, and disciplined challenge create the conditions for the right decision to become the right decision. Organizations that elevate character to the same level as competence do more than protect their reputation. They improve decision quality, stabilize culture, and build trust that compounds over time. In an environment defined by complexity and scrutiny, character is not a soft advantage—it is a strategic one. Key Summary Points Effective leadership is not defined solely by competence. Sustainable performance emerges from the disciplined integration of competence, character, and commitment—especially under pressure. Leadership character reflects a leader’s internalized beliefs and moral habits, shaping how authority is exercised, decisions are made, and tradeoffs are resolved in ambiguous conditions. Strong leadership character stabilizes the leader–follower relationship by reinforcing trust, alignment, and discretionary effort, resulting in higher productivity, effectiveness, and creativity. Leadership character can be assessed and strengthened when organizations treat it as a decision-quality variable, supported by feedback mechanisms, executive coaching, and accountability systems. Organizations that elevate character to the same level as leadership competence reduce cultural drift, improve decision consistency, and protect long-term enterprise performance. Schedule a conversation when the goal is not improvement for its own sake, but increased reliability, trust, and decision integrity at scale. 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

Organizational culture does not fail because leaders lack desire. It fails because the systems that govern decisions, incentives, and authority are allowed to drift. Over time, organizations default toward entropy—misalignment increases, decision quality erodes, and informal norms begin to override formal strategy. Culture is a silent operating system determining what actually happens, regardless of what leaders say they want. Culture architecture is not a discretionary leadership initiative. It is a matter of organizational viability. When leaders do not deliberately design and reinforce the mechanisms that shape behavior—what gets attention, resources, rewards, and advancement—the existing culture will continue to reproduce itself despite any strategic priorities. The challenge leaders face today is not whether culture matters. Organizational culture is everyone's responsibility, and leaders play a central role in influencing and reinforcing the desired culture. Leaders need to be able to operate within and upon the business. The challenge is the professional will to act on the system that produces culture, rather than being constrained by it. The good news is that culture change does not require grand programs or proximity in shared offices. It requires disciplined attention to a small number of levers that quietly govern how people decide, act, and adapt. Here are the six strategies that follow focus on those levers. Why Organizational Culture is Important Organizational culture is the one thing that influences every aspect of your business. It directly impacts the overall success of your organization, your people, your customers, and your communities. The underlying values of an organization influence the behaviors of employees and their decisions. Much has been written on the impact of culture on business effectiveness. Scholarly research has directly linked the effects on customer satisfaction, employee teamwork, cohesion, and employee involvement. Organizational culture creates an internal and external brand identity that influences what and how people think about your organization. Organizational culture is also key to unlocking innovation . Just as some organizational culture characteristics can support innovation, others can also inhibit innovation. For example, a hierarchical organizational culture type has been proven to decrease an organization's ability to innovate. What is Organizational Culture? If you are looking for a good discussion topic at an upcoming meeting, take some time to ask those attending how they would describe your company's culture. You will likely hear many different perspectives on what culture is and is not. The word culture gets used differently by different people at different times. Edgar Schein is considered to be one of the most influential contemporary thought leaders on organizational culture, and below is his organizational culture definition: "a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems." It is easy to focus on the visible things that describe an organization's culture. However, an organizational culture framework consists of artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions: Artifacts: These are the things you can see, feel, or hear in the workplace. Examples include what is displayed, office layouts, uniforms, identification badges, and what is discussed and not discussed. Espoused Values: What you are told and beliefs you can use to make decisions. Examples include a company's vision and values or mission statement. They are explicitly stated official philosophies about the company. Basic Assumptions: These things go without saying or are taken for granted. Examples could include speaking up in meetings, holding a door for someone, smiling, or greeting someone by name when walking down the hall. 3 Strong Organizational Culture Examples Organizations with strong organizational cultures are defined by having their culture deeply rooted in how they operate. The following three companies are frequently recognized for their organizational culture. Southwest Airlines operates within an industry routinely made fun of for its poor customer service; however, it is known for the opposite. Employees at Southwest can do what is needed to make customers happy, and as a result, their customers are loyal. Zappos is an organization that has tightly connected its culture with its hiring practices. Zappos offers new hires $2000 to quit if they feel the job is not the right fit for them within the first week of employment. Check out this Zappos organizational culture video: Keeping culture strong becomes more challenging as the organization grows. Google has faced many challenges on its path to becoming the 5th most valuable company by market capitalization in the world. Businesses have to reinvent themselves to grow and adapt to changes. Google is known for being unique and leveraging data everywhere. Google uses people analytics not just for feedback but also for organizational culture analysis. Explore Google  Project Aristotle   to discover how data drives improvements in teamwork. 6 Culture Change Strategies The following six proven leadership strategies can change employees' behavior and what they think, feel, and perceive. Culture Change Strategy #1: What leaders pay attention to regularly Your attention is one of the most potent mechanisms for culture change that leaders always have available. What leaders choose to systematically measure, reward systematically, and control matters, and the opposite is also true. For example, suppose an organization wants to build an analytical orientation within the culture. In that case, a great starting point is to ask leaders what data they use to make decisions or reward leaders for making data-driven decisions. Culture Change Strategy #2: How leaders react to critical incidents When a business or a leader faces a significant challenge, much can be revealed. These crucible moments are like refining fires. The heightened emotional intensity increases individual and organizational learning. For example, the recent global pandemic revealed much more about an organization's values than any about page on a website or company orientation ever would. Sodexo is one positive example of an organization demonstrating its commitment to employees through leadership's pandemic response . Culture Change Strategy #3: How leaders allocate resources and control costs Follow the money. Budgets reveal a lot about the organization's assumptions and beliefs. Additionally, resources include physical assets such as equipment and tools, as well as human resources. What gets resourced gets reinforced. Going back to the example of creating an analytical orientation, leaders should consider what tools and resources employees have available for data analytics. Culture Change Strategy #4: Deliberate role modeling and training How leaders act and behave outside training is more significant than what is said or demonstrated in training 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 Change Strategy #5: How leaders allocate rewards Rewards and recognition come in many different forms. What is considered a reward varies from person to person. What gets rewarded, how it gets rewarded, and what does not get rewarded 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 Change Strategy #6: How leaders recruit, promote, and fire Who gets hired, promoted , and fired, and for what, creates and reinforces your organization's culture. Talent management decisions can be viewed as a more subtle nuance to culture change because they 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. How Do You Overcome Culture Change Resistance? Organizations are likely to deny the need for change and become defensive at the suggestion of change. If leaders are not attentive to the resistance, they can be under estimate the change needed. Just mentioning the word change creates anxiety. Creating momentum within the organizations around the desire to survive and thrive reduces learning anxiety by creating psychological safety. Psychological safety is when you feel included, able to learn, contribute, and provide critical feedback without fear of being embarrassed, excluded, or penalized. Leaders increase psychological safety by consistently helping followers comprehend and accept the challenge. A critical takeaway observation from the six strategies for change is that they are about the leader's habits rather than a one-and-done culture change intervention. Also, these strategies tap into critical drivers of organizational change: The inspiration of employees. The involvement is of everyone as much as possible. The internalization of the change. The six strategies discussed in this article are not episodic interventions or change management tactics. They are continuous control mechanisms that operate whether leaders choose to engage them or not. Every organization already has a culture because every organization already reinforces behavior through attention, response, resource allocation, rewards, and talent decisions. The only question is whether those cultural reinforcements are intentional or accidental. Resistance to culture change is often misdiagnosed as emotional reluctance or lack of commitment. More often, it is a rational response to misaligned incentives, unclear authority, or conflicting signals embedded in the system. Psychological safety matters, but it cannot compensate for governance structures that reward the very behaviors leaders claim they want to change. Organizations that succeed at culture change do not attempt to “fix” people. They redesign the conditions under which people make decisions. They clarify what the organization truly values by making those values observable in budgets, promotions, consequences, and executive behavior. Culture changes when the system makes it easier to act differently—and harder not to. For leaders, the real work of culture change begins with an uncomfortable but necessary question: What behaviors does our organization reliably produce—and what system is producing them?   Until that question is addressed directly, culture will remain an outcome of design by default, not by choice. Let’s clarify your culture’s decision levers and remove hidden barriers to reinforce and drive strategic execution. Schedule a Strategic Leadership Conversation References: Büschgens, T., Bausch, A., & Balkin, D. B. (2013). Organizational culture and innovation: A meta‐analytic review. The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 30 (4), 763-781. Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework (Third ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gregory, B. T., Harris, S. G., Armenakis, A. A., & Shook, C. L. (2009). Organizational culture and effectiveness: A study of values, attitudes, and organizational outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 62 (7), 673-679. Nieminen, L., Biermeier-Hanson, B., & Denison, D. (2013). Aligning leadership and organizational culture: The leader-culture fit framework for coaching organizational leaders. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 65 (3), 177-198. Pater, R. (2015). Advanced culture change leadership. Professional Safety, 60 (9), 24. Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. (2016). Organizational culture and leadership, 5th edition (5th ed.) John Wiley & Sons.

Most executives want more out of life and work, and businesses want to grow. The pressures of increasing uncertainty and a fast-paced digital workplace are intense, and leaders face many new challenges. If leaders and teams are not striving to improve, they are falling behind. So, how can leaders and businesses avoid wasting time chasing ideas that don't move the needle in a turbulent environment? Some of the most admired companies in the Fortune 500 are turning to executive coaching. It's a high-value business investment. Evidence suggests coaching significantly increases goal leadership and business performance. However, executive coaching may not be familiar to you. This article provides insights into what it is and is not, evidence-based benefits, the coaching process, and much more. What is the ROI of Executive Coaching? If you ask five different people to define coaching, you will likely get five different definitions. Coaching is a thought-provoking partnership focused on achieving a client's goal. It is a creative process that starts with clarifying the goal and the gap between where they are today and their desired future. It provokes the client to explore and experiment to maximize their personal and professional potential. The ultimate goal of executive coaching is a positive transformation in life and leadership for the client (e.g., behavioral, attitudinal, or motivational). The coach-client relationship is grounded in trust, transparency, and confidentiality. While the coach and client are the primary stakeholders, the executive's sponsoring organization is often an additional formal or informal stakeholder. The benefits of investing in executive coaching are well documented. According to the International Coaching Federation, 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence. Over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. 86% of companies report recouping their investment in coaching and more. ​ Executive Benefits: Establish and take action toward achieving both career and life goals Become more confident Gain more personal satisfaction Contribute more effectively to the team and the organization Take greater responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments Work more efficiently and productively with others (leaders, followers, peers, customers) Communicate more effectively Reduced stress Business Benefits: Empowers employees Increases engagement Improves performance Improves employee retention Supports identification and development of high-potential employees Supports identification of both organizational and individual strengths and development opportunities Shows organizational commitment to employee development What Executive Coaching is Not Executive coaching is not counseling or mentoring. 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 past. 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 desires and works to co-create options to achieve the executive's goals with personal and professional benefits. In addition to executive coaching, there are several other popular targeted c oaching services: Career Coaching is focused on accelerating your career. Most of us go through day-to-day life, giving more thought to what we wear each day than our jobs. The coaching focuses on developing and implementing a plan of action to boost your career. Career coaching keeps you feeling challenged versus being worried about what's next. Additionally, a coach increases your blind spot awareness. We all have blind spots. A good career coach helps you avoid jeopardizing current and future potential career opportunities because of blind spots. Emotional Intelligence Coaching focuses on helping you become more self-aware and effective in relationships. This type of coaching typically involves temperament and personality profiles to pinpoint where development should be focused. Leadership Coaching helps you grow your confidence and competence regardless of whether you are an emerging leader, frontline leader, mid-level manager, executive, or business owner. Typically leadership coaching includes using a 360-degree assessment to improve feedback and awareness for the client. In my work with CEOs, executive teams, and boards in Grand Rapids and across West Michigan, executive coaching is rarely about fixing poor performance. More often, it’s about helping capable leaders navigate growth, increasing complexity, succession decisions, and the unintended consequences that emerge as organizations scale. Who typically hires an executive coach? Individual executives and organizations hire executive coaches to achieve their goals. Sometimes, the executive is in transition, facing new challenges, or making a career pivot. Hiring an executive coach is a good fit for any executive who wants to get more out of life and work, accelerate their career, or shift their mindset. Here are a few scenarios from recent executives who hired me to be their coach: A newly appointed CEO replacing the founder of a rapidly growing mid-sized business A CEO for a mid-sized nonprofit facing increasing regulatory pressures and wanting to get more out of life and work A tenured regional VP making a career pivot A director within a large business wanting to navigate change and work effectively with a new leader It is typically not a good idea to hire an executive coach if: The executive does not want the coaching—the lower the executive's motivation, the lower the investment's return. The executive needs a consultant or a mentor to solve a problem or share their experience. The executive is not doing their job, and the organization is looking to outsource the executive's manager role. What is the Typical Executive Coaching Process? Current evidence-based research supports various psychological approaches to executive coaching, such as cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused, strength-based, and GROW. While each approach is similar, the GROW model is very popular. Given that executive coaching's ultimate goal is change within the executive, the process centers on using essential questions and client-centered critical thinking to invoke the executive's self-awareness and personal responsibility. The GROW model represents a journey that begins with clarifying the goal, which is both inspiring and challenging to the executive. Then, the following step involves exploring the current reality and considering barriers between the current state and the desired future. The next step involves exploring options based on the principle that imagination creates breakthroughs. The final step is clarifying the executive's will and the way forward. It involves defining specific timebound actions with the commitment, accountability, and reporting to lead to transformation. The client ultimately chooses the decisions to make and steps to take to meet their goals. A typical coaching program includes four fundamental steps over 12 months: Step #1: Alignment to build rapport and understand the context for coaching and the outcomes. Step #2: Assessment to provide insight into strengths and opportunities for your development. Step #3: Coaching to move toward your future, assess where you are currently and where you would like to be, remove obstacles, and explore and discover the steps to achieve your desired future. Step #4: Measurement to establish clear goals, measure progress, and celebrate successes. Is virtual executive coaching effective? While in-person communication is proven to be most effective, a skilled coach can effectively utilize virtual technologies such as Zoom to achieve lasting results. Thoughtfully incorporating virtual coaching has many benefits: Accessibility is likely one of the most significant benefits associated with virtual coaching. Technology enables the coach and client to connect in different places within the same building or worldwide. Availability improves, enabling the coach to be brought into just-in-time and rapid response needs or unique situations like cross-cultural needs. Also, the coach and client benefit from the flexibility and administrative ease in scheduling. Affordability improves through reduced travel and associated costs. Access to resources improves through digital access to tools supporting goal setting, coaching preparation, and progress tracking. Coaching evaluation improves through the ease of tracking commitments, satisfaction, strengths, opportunities, and trends both on an individual client level and at an aggregate organizational level. Take this free Virtual Coaching Fit Checker quiz to help you determine if virtual coaching is a good fit. What makes an excellent executive coach? An excellent executive coach is experienced, 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 identified the following eight essential core competencies of a coach based on research collected over two years of job analyses from 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 Additionally, an excellent coach usually refrains from giving advice or sharing their personal stories. Instead, the coach asks powerful questions to help the executive clarify their problems in achieving their goals. Also, evidence suggests that a coach's academic background in psychology enhances executive coaching outcomes such as the client's self-awareness and leadership performance. References: 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. Bluckert, P. (2005). Critical factors in executive coaching - the coaching relationship. Industrial and Commercial Training, 37 (7), 336-340. Dean, M., & Meyer, A. (2002). Executive coaching: In search of a model. Journal of Leadership Education, 1 (2). Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Goldsmith, M., Lyons, L., & McArthur, S. (2012). Coaching for leadership: Writings on leadership from the world's greatest coaches 3rd Edition . Pfeiffer. Kampa-Kokesch, S., & Anderson, M. (2001). Executive coaching: A comprehensive review of the literature. Consulting Psychology Journal, 53 (4), 205-228. Kimsey-House, K., Kimsey-House, H., Sandhal, P., & Whitworth, L., (2018). Co-active coaching: The proven framework for transformative conversations at work and in life. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Lai, Y., & Palmer, S. (2019). Psychology in executive coaching: An integrated literature review. Journal of Work Applied Management, 11 (2), 143-164. Thach, E. (2002). The impact of executive coaching and 360 feedback on leadership effectiveness. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 23 (4), 205-214.

Uncertainty doesn’t just test leaders—it exposes them. It reveals whether espoused values are operationalized or merely aspirational. And right now, most organizations are struggling to withstand the pressure. Gallup reports that only 3 in 10 employees are engaged, with more than half quietly quitting. McKinsey data shows that less than half of employees experience a positive workplace climate, and just 38% believe their company truly prioritizes people over profits. The leadership lesson? Style without structure is a risk. As leaders attempt to adapt to a more diverse, demanding, and disrupted workplace, many are shifting styles—moving toward more servant, transformational, authentic, or spiritual models. But here’s the danger: when leadership style evolves without clearly defined decision rights, authority boundaries, and accountability mechanisms, it doesn't inspire—it destabilizes. Execution stalls. Authority blurs. Teams stop acting and start interpreting. Over time, that erodes trust, clarity, and performance. Leadership style is never neutral. Without a system-level anchor, it becomes a liability—amplifying risk instead of resilience. As the adage goes: what got you here won’t get you there. Leadership in today’s world requires more than adaptation—it requires integration. Understanding how different leadership styles interact with organizational systems is essential for avoiding unintended consequences and building enduring impact. Here’s what you need to know about the motivations, characteristics, and system-level risks of four emerging leadership styles—and why self-aware leaders must go beyond style to build structure. A reimagined business purpose Did you hear? The purpose of business changed. The Business Roundtable, made up of 181 prominent US CEOs, has recently restated the purpose of a corporation. The purpose of business is "investing in employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers and supporting outside communities." Fitzgerald While attention-grabbing, it's not too shocking, given that value creation comes from serving multiple stakeholders. Here is a short video discussing the change and its merits. It is not new for the Business Roundtable to suggest that investing in employees and communities is essential to generating shareholder value. However, because words matter, they decided that the current language was inconsistent with how CEOs strive to run modern businesses. The change has generated some debate. In response, members have clarified that the new purpose statement is not abandoning capitalism but a call to action to ensure benefits are shared. The desire is to encourage boards to focus better on creating long-term value by serving investors, employees, communities, suppliers, and customers. Why your leadership style matters I am a scientist by training, and my hypothesis is that leadership habits are life-changing. Effective leadership  affects the personal and professional results you achieve and the quality of your life. The costs of poor leadership often manifest in the workplace as low employee engagement, a lack of team cohesion and collaboration, high employee turnover, and failed execution. Good leadership can make a success out of a weak plan, but ineffective leadership can destroy a business with a great strategic plan. According to Jim Collins in the book Good to Great, a review of 1,435 companies studied over more than forty years revealed that leadership effectiveness accounts for up to 6.9 times greater returns than market averages. Emerging Leadership Theories and Styles Leadership style reflects a leader’s inner game (values, virtues, and motivations) and outer game (behaviors and habits). In today’s evolving workplace, four emerging 21st-century leadership styles—servant leadership, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and spiritual leadership—are gaining attention for their people-centered, purpose-driven promise. Yet as organizations seek to adopt these styles, few recognize the potential liabilities when leadership behavior shifts ahead of system alignment. Leadership style, while influential, is never neutral. Without shared operating frameworks—defined decision rights, clear authority boundaries, and accountability systems—style alone introduces organizational risk. The comparisons below highlight the unique motivations of each style—and the systemic vulnerabilities that arise when these styles are not anchored in structure and discipline. Comparing Servant Leadership and Transformational Leadership While similar to servant leadership, the central focus of transformational leadership is organizational benefit, while servant leadership's primary focus is serving others (see Table 1). System-Level Risk:  Servant leadership assumes authority, clarity, and stable accountability. When roles are ambiguous, this style can unintentionally diffuse responsibility, delaying decisions and weakening ownership. Transformational leadership assumes the leader can set direction and drive momentum. But without execution discipline, it can spark vision without results—leading to initiative fatigue instead of transformation. Comparing Servant Leadership and Authentic Leadership In contrast to servant leadership, authentic leadership focuses on the leader being who they were created to be. Authentic leadership and servant leadership share similarities of leading with the heart and humility. However, the critical difference between these two leadership styles is the difference in the leader's focus (see Table 2). System-Level Risk: Authentic leadership assumes a governance structure that frames transparency. In its absence, authenticity may appear subjective or inconsistent—creating confusion instead of cohesion. Comparing Servant Leadership and Spiritual Leadership While spiritual leadership and servant leadership share the most similarities among the four leadership styles, they are distinctly different. Spiritual leadership focuses on motivating, which is very different from servant leadership. Both spiritual leadership and servant leadership styles share the characteristics of love, vision, and altruism (see Table 3). System-Level Risk: Spiritual leadership presumes that purpose enhances—rather than replaces—formal authority systems. Without execution clarity, it risks prioritizing meaning over performance, blurring consequence and accountability. Servant leadership begins with the decision to serve first. Transformational leadership taps into deeper motivations to advance collective goals. Authentic leadership insists on inner alignment and transparency. Spiritual leadership calls for meaning and shared identity. Each has the potential to elevate culture and performance—but only when embedded within a system that supports clarity, consistency, and execution. The world desperately needs a new approach to leadership. Leadership styles are not choices in isolation. Leadership systems either absorb that change — or amplify its risk. The question is whether your organization has made that distinction explicit. This is often where leadership system conversations begin. Are you ready to better understand your leadership style and maximize your potential? Take our Leadership Style Inventory assessment. Leaders discover their preferred leadership style through forced-choice responses to various real-world leadership scenarios. You'll receive a personalized one-page report that will give you a new understanding of your leadership style. Engage in a powerful virtual or in-person executive coaching partnership. Our executive coaching programs are tailored to address your leadership goals and development needs. In addition to the leadership style inventory, coaching consists of a pre/post leadership 360 survey to reveal blind spots and hidden strengths and measure your growth. A typical program includes nine to twelve coaching sessions. Apply your new leadership insights. Now, it's time to use what you have learned to maximize your leadership potential and get more out of life and work. References: Bennis, W. G. (1959). Leadership theory and administrative behavior: The problem of authority. Administrative Science Quarterly, 4 (3), 259- 301. Bass, B. M. (2000). The future of leadership in learning organizations. Journal of Leadership Studies , 7(3), 18-40. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Fitzgerald, M. (2019). The CEOs of nearly 200 companies said shareholder value is no longer their primary objective. CNBC Markets. Fry, L. W. (2003). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 14 (6), 693-727. George, B. (2003). Authentic leadership: Rediscovering the secrets to creating lasting value John Wiley & Sons. Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant-leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th-anniversary ed.). Paulist Press. Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice seventh edition. Sage. Patterson, K. (2003, October 16). Servant-leadership: A theoretical model [PDF]. Regent University School of Leadership Studies Servant-leadership Research Roundtable.

Many leaders believe that their team's performance is tied to their personal and professional success, but few actually are bringing out the best in their employees on a daily basis. Too often, leaders treat employees like light bulbs. When they aren't working well leaders look to replace them. In today's volatile and complex employee-driven marketplace, a failure to maximize employee performance is a costly mistake. Perhaps you've set out to improve employee performance but then quickly got absorbed into other tasks. Or maybe you've attempted to start being more consistent with reinforcing employee performance, but now your employees are working remotely , and you have lost momentum. If so, you are not alone. Without the right tools, maximizing employee performance is one of the more problematic habits to establish. Your workplace is perfectly designed to get the results you are achieving. Performance reinforcement can be daunting for leaders, from not having the time to feeling lost about where to begin. But you can change that. There is a tremendous value that comes from getting intentional about reinforcing employee performance. It doesn't have to be a complicated performance management process that involves a form from human resources. Tips and Tools to Improve Employee Performance The following tips and tools will get you started down the right path. 1. Understanding employee performance. You don't need to have to be a subject matter expert in performance management. Still, you need to understand the basics and realize that there is a science to employee performance. The ABC model, also known as the three-contingency performance management model, provides a foundational understanding of performance. The "A" standards for those things that prompt desired behavior (antecedents). You probably guessed the "B" stands for the desired behavior. The "C" stands for consequences that have the most significant impact on an employee's performance. Consequences can be positive or negative as experienced by the employee. Consequences that the employee experiences after (within a few seconds of performing) or during the behavior have the greatest impact on the employee's behavior. 2. Get to know your employees. Here is a not-so-shocking revelation. Employees are not all the same. What one employee chooses to do with their time and money outside of work is likely different from how another spends their time and money. Get curious about what your employees find motivating. Although motivators are not always good reinforcers, it is helpful to understand. You may find it helpful to create a reinforcement survey for your team or incorporate some intentional time with your direct reports to learn about their life outside of work. 3. Analyze the consequences of the work. Don't assume what is positive or negative to you is positive or negative to your employees. Pick a behavior you need to improve. Find out what prompts exist already for the desired behavior as well as the consequences your employees experience when performing the desired behavior. If you are wondering why an employee would do something that appears to have negative consequences, there are likely positive, certain, and immediate consequences associated with the undesired behavior. I call this the jelly donut effect. Jelly donuts are not helpful for improving weight loss and cholesterol. However, they taste great, and that is one positive immediate certain reason people who need to lose weight and control their cholesterol choose to eat jelly donuts. The following video from The Big Bang Theory is a more light-hearted look at the role of positive and negative consequences and their influence on behavior. 4. Observe, learn, and adjust. When possible, observe and eliminate or modify the negative, immediate, certain consequences associated with the desired behavior. If employees that prefer warmth have to work in a freezer, you can provide warming jackets to reduce the negative of the cold. If you have employees that like to watch Friends reruns, you can surprise them by giving them a year of episodes when they perform the desired behavior. After you attempt to reinforce the behavior, observe if performance improves for the desired behavior. If not, learn and adjust. Positive and negative consequences sit on separate sides of a scale. When you apply enough consequences one way or the other, you will see a change in performance. As you get intentional with applying reinforcement to improve employee performance, keep in mind the following three rules: It’s best to apply positive reinforcement for the desired behavior than negative reinforcement for the undesired behaviors in most situations. Reinforcement is not about what you would want but what others would want. Adults prefer variety, and it is essential to provide variety with reinforcement. Over time even those things we love can lose their value/desire. For many leaders, improving team performance can be challenging and complicated. But it doesn't have to be. By incorporating these tips, you can learn to look at performance improvement as an experiment that can take as little as a few minutes each day. Applying some structure can help you gain the most traction with the least effort when you are pulled in multiple directions and have numerous meetings. The benefits you will reap are both personal and professional as you help others grow and succeed. Which tip do you need to work on now? Do you have an employee performance challenge you are unable to solve on your own? If you are interested in learning more about this topic I would recommend you read Bringing Out The Best In People by Aubrey Daniels. If you are looking for executive coaching or need organizational performance consulting, we're ready to partner with you to craft a solution specific to your organization's context and challenges. Getting started is as easy as visiting www.organizationaltalent.com or contacting us via email info@organizationaltalent.com. Organizational Talent Consulting utilizes proven, simple, and transformational personal and organizational development solutions to help our clients learn, change, and apply tools in ways that benefit their unique needs and corporate culture. References: Daniels, A. C., & Daniels, J. E. (2006). Performance management: Changing behavior that drives organizational effectiveness. Atlanta, Ga: Performance Management Publications.

Whether you're the CEO or a frontline leader, financial performance is a measure of effectiveness. But how do you improve bottom-line performance amid economic uncertainty and the reality that only 3 in 10 employees are engaged? One key is self-awareness. A study involving 486 companies found it moderated business success and poor-performing businesses had 20% more leaders with blind spots. Unfortunately, self-awareness is rare in leadership. A global study found that 95% of leaders think they are self-aware. Still, only 10-15% met the criteria to be considered self-aware on essential leadership competencies related to empathy, trustworthiness, and leadership performance. When you can't see yourself objectively and don't accurately understand the perspectives of others, you can't make the transformational changes necessary for business growth. Here are two proven strategies to increase leadership self-awareness and the signs when it might be lacking. Why leadership self-awareness matters Recently, Korn Ferry established a positive connection between self-awareness and improved company earnings. A study of 486 companies over 30 months found that organizations with a higher percentage of self-aware leaders outperformed organizations with a lower rate. Poor-performing businesses had 20 percent more leaders with blind spots than high-performing businesses. The importance of self-awareness for achieving success and significance is not new. The researched benefits of knowing yourself are numerous beyond improving a business's bottom line. Some of these include: higher quality leadership relationships improved self-control better decision-making enhanced life satisfaction .⁠ In today's increasingly complex and culturally diverse workplace , leaders who can accurately perceive, assess, and regulate their own and others' emotions can better promote unity and team morale⁠. Studies have demonstrated that followers perceive leaders with heightened emotional intelligence as effective. Also, increased awareness may enable leaders to create shared emotional experiences that enhance personal and follower growth, well-being, and psychological safety. Leaders are better prepared to adapt appropriately when they possess a heightened self-awareness. Self-awareness in leadership It is natural to see the world from our unique point of view. We tell ourselves stories about our strengths and areas where we need to be better, as well as what is or is not good leadership. Leadership habits are shaped by past experiences and the words used to describe our actions. With good intentions, we set out to lead as best as possible. Then life happens, and for most of us, we realize we have blind spots and distortions that jeopardize our goals. “To know yourself, you must sacrifice the illusion that you already do.” Vironika Tugaleva Consider the passenger-side rearview mirror on a car. The required safety warning on the mirror states that objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. Also, these rear-view mirrors have blind spots. Distortions and blind spots can be hazardous to our well-being if what is seen and not seen is not interpreted within the proper context. Leaders can make bad decisions without understanding the wisdom of knowing their distortions and blind spots. How to become more self-aware The higher you move within any organization, the less objective feedback you receive. This makes knowing yourself even more critical and challenging. The last thing any leader needs in today's demanding workplace is someone or something telling them what they already know or what they perceive they want to hear. The better the quality of the feedback you receive, the better the decisions you can make. Leadership is a relationship, and it is vital to know what others think. When we only consider ourselves, we have an incomplete understanding. Self-Awareness Strategy #1: Leadership Assessment A 360-degree leadership assessment  is a type of multi-rater instrument that collects feedback from multiple sources relative to the leader's position within an organization. Typically, the questions in a 360-degree assessment are focused on leadership performance, skills, and contributions. While 360-degree feedback effectively improves leadership skills across all cultures, it is most effective in cultures with low power distance and individualistic values, such as Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. “Look outside and you will see yourself. Look inside and you will find yourself.” Drew Gerald Self-Awareness Strategy #2: Executive Coaching Combined with leadership assessments, executive coaching helps reveal deep insights into areas that, with attention, lead to enhanced potential. Research supports that a coach's timely and appropriate use of leadership 360 assessments leads to improved self-awareness and organizational outcomes.⁠ Given that coaching's ultimate goal is to change within you, the process centers on using essential questions and client-centered critical thinking to invoke self-awareness and personal responsibility. Signs you might lack self-awareness Lacking self-awareness limits your specific ability to realize your professional and personal goals, like trying to navigate a ship without a sextant. Self-aware leaders are not naive about their accidental habits and are better positioned to develop life-changing leadership habits. Overestimating your ability can lead to negative consequences for your performance and the organization.⁠ Leaders who have a distorted view of their strengths and weaknesses usually cannot effectively regulate their emotions and behaviors. Research has demonstrated that the symptoms of a lack of self-awareness include negative consequences to your physical health, work performance, and social interactions. Signs of a lack of self-awareness include: Stalling career Lack of direction Absence of learning something new Surprised frequently by feedback from others Frequently make excuses Constantly firefighting and struggling with time management What is your real self-awareness challenge? Key summary points When you know yourself, you have the insight necessary to recognize leadership bad habits and make transformational changes that deliver proven results. Self-awareness means to know yourself so that you are able to 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. A study of 486 companies over 30 months demonstrated that organizations with a higher percentage of self-aware leaders outperformed organizations with a lower rate. Leaders can make bad decisions without understanding the wisdom of knowing their distortions and blind spots. The better the quality of the feedback you receive, the better the decisions you can make. Executive coaching combined with leadership 360 assessments help reveal deep insights into areas that, with attention, lead to enhanced potential. References Athanasopoulou, A., & Dopson, S. (2018). A systematic review of executive coaching outcomes: Is it the journey or the destination that matters the most ? The Leadership Quarterly , 29(1), 70-88. Baldoni, J. (2013). Few executives are self-aware, but women have the edge. Harvard Business Review. Bratton, V. K., Dodd, N. G., & Brown, F. W. (2011). The impact of emotional intelligence on accuracy of self-awareness and leadership performance. Leadership & Organization Development Journal , 32(2), 127-149. Doolittle, J. (2024). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Performance. Organizational Talent Consulting. Goldstein, G., Allen, D. N., & Deluca, J. (2019). Handbook of psychological assessment . Elsevier Science & Technology. Gorgens-Ekermans, G., & Roux, C. (2021). Revisiting the emotional intelligence and transformational leadership debate: Does emotional intelligence matter to effective leadership? SA Journal of Human Resource Management , 19(2), e1-e13. June, C. (2020). 10 signs you lack self-awareness. Psych2Go. Oltmanns, T. F., Gleason, M. E. J., Klonsky, E. D., & 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. A., Bakker, A. B., van der Linden, D., & Born, M. P. (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. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (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 .

Understanding Leadership Pressure Leadership creates pressure. In the Netflix series The Playbook , Doc Rivers shares the philosophy that inspired the Boston Celtics to a championship and his response to racism while coaching the Los Angeles Clippers. One valuable lesson he imparts is that "pressure is a privilege." What is the alternative to leadership pressure? No productive conflict? No aligned goals? No board meetings? No difficult customers? As an executive coach, I often speak with leaders. A common theme is the immense pressure they face. Leaders can quickly feel overwhelmed by the complex and fast-paced digital business environment. Stress is a serious issue for many in leadership roles. A recent global study of CEOs and C-suite executives found that 56% are burned out, up 52% from the previous year. Leading successful organizations creates personal and professional situations that heighten stress. It may seem logical to view pressure as a negative to be avoided, but should you? Here are three reasons to embrace the leadership journey, including the pressure it brings, along with four tips for making better decisions under pressure. "A soft, easy life is not worth living if it impairs the fiber of brain and heart and muscle. We must dare to be great, and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage." — Theodore Roosevelt Reason 1: Pressure Accelerates Change One reason to embrace pressure is that it accelerates change, and leadership is fundamentally about change. In the book Leading Change , renowned change management expert John Kotter emphasizes that overcoming complacency requires a sense of urgency. Leaders in a fast-changing world must articulate their vision while remaining open to necessary adjustments due to the world's turbulence. Leading change creates pressure and stressful situations. Research from UC Berkeley shows that while too little or too much stress can cause anxiety and health issues, a moderate amount of stress can enhance performance and health. Pressure drives leaders and organizations to explore new directions and reject the status quo. No organization wants to remain stagnant. Pressure serves as a powerful change agent for leaders eager to accelerate transformation. Reason 2: Pressure Creates Learning Leaders and organizations must learn at a pace that matches change. Continuous learning is essential because the future is unpredictable. You are either ripe and rotting or green and growing. But shouldn't the learning process be free from stress? A foundational study on learning found that an element of struggle significantly enhances long-term retention. While pressure may slow the learning rate temporarily, it ultimately improves retention and the transfer of knowledge. Pressure creates desirable difficulties, enhancing the opportunity for personal and professional growth . "Usually, if you have tremendous pressure, it’s because an opportunity comes along. Give me the ball. Give me the problem to solve. Let’s figure this out. Let’s go." — Billie Jean King Reason 3: Pressure Creates Purpose High-pressure situations reveal more about who you are than your specific skills. Often, it takes the pressure of a crisis to break away from the routine. Pressure challenges assumptions about our purpose or the organization's purpose. Living a life of purpose is unparalleled. Studies show that leading with purpose results in higher personal satisfaction, performance, innovation, and economic growth. "Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater." — Viktor Frankl How to Make Your Best Decision Under Pressure The way you approach decisions under pressure can significantly impact the outcomes for you and those you lead. Here are four tips to help you make your best decisions: Decision-Making Tip 1: Visualize the Desired Outcome Athletes often visualize themselves successfully achieving their goals before events. Numerous studies link creative visualization to improved performance, goal achievement, and stress management. Research supports that creative practice boosts our confidence and competence. Check out this short video from an Olympic athlete on the power of mental imagery. Decision-Making Tip 2: Be Curious Asking questions can reveal alternative scenarios. The field of strategic foresight offers tools that help leaders see around corners, leading to greater confidence and competence in decision-making. Tools like the Futures Wheel, STEEPLE, and scenario planning can help leaders and organizations break free from a fixed mindset. Decision-Making Tip 3: Don't Get Stuck on Stupid One of my favorite leadership quotes comes from a military commander who served after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The community was paralyzed and lacked direction. In an interview, the commander stated he didn't know what specific time frames looked like but could guarantee that recovery operations would not be "stuck on stupid." Leaders who are action-oriented and make decisions for the right reasons can overcome the fear of failure that often accompanies pressure. Decision-Making Tip 4: Avoid Isolation Many leaders report that their organizations do not provide the support needed to manage increasing stress levels. A leadership coach facilitates experimentation and self-discovery by applying insights from coaching conversations. Skillful executive coaching enables you to "dance in the present moment" and take necessary actions aligned with your values. Modern organizations resemble pressure cookers. Effective leadership acts as a pressure control valve, releasing pressure to prevent catastrophic failures while increasing it when necessary to maximize performance. The reality of a volatile work environment, leadership pressure isn’t something to escape—it’s something to understand and manage well. The leaders who thrive over time don’t carry the pressure alone or ignore it; they create space to think clearly, test assumptions, and decide with intention rather than reaction. In a volatile environment, clarity becomes a competitive advantage. Where might you be experiencing leadership pressure right now—and what decisions would benefit from slowing down long enough to think clearly? References: Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. Campbell, M., Baltes, J.I., Martin, A., & Meddings, K. (2019). The stress of leadership. Center for Creative Leadership. DDI. 2023 Global Leadership Forecast. Development Dimensions International. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Ekeocha, T. (2015). The effects of visualization and guided imagery in sports performance. Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change . Harvard Business Review Press. Ottesen, K. (2019). Tennis icon Billie Jean King on fighting for equal pay for women: Pressure is a privilege. The Washington Post. Pomerantz (Eds.) & FABBS Foundation, Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society (p. 56–64). Worth Publishers. Powell, A. (2018). When science meets mindfulness. The Harvard Gazette. Quinn, R. E., & Thakor, A. V. (2019). The economics of higher purpose: Eight counterintuitive steps for creating a purpose-driven organization . Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Incorporated. Sanders, R. (2013). Researchers find out why some stress is good for you. Berkley News.

Empty stadiums at the 2020 Olympics provide a fascinating glimpse into the profound impact of others' presence on workplace performance, productivity, and profitability. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12.7% of full-time employees are now working from home, while 28.2% are working a hybrid model. Empty offices are no longer a rarity. Social facilitation sheds light on the subtle ways the presence of others impacts performance and why an Olympic athlete would cite a lack of an audience for dropping out of an event. The presence of others is a psychological lever that can optimize your performance in the workplace. When you put the ideas of social facilitation to work, you give yourself and your team a greater opportunity to achieve higher levels of performance and career success. Whether you are a team leader with remote employees or work remotely, here is what you need to know about social facilitation and a few tips to bring out your best. Why Understanding Social Facilitation Matters Social facilitation is a psychological concept relating to the tendency for the influence of others to improve a person’s performance on a task. This concept was first described in a study of bicyclist's racing performance in 1898. The researcher noticed that when racing against others, athletes performed better than those racing only against their times. Social facilitation is defined as improvement in performance induced by the real, implied, or imagined presence of others. Social facilitation is thought to impact: the drive to perform the ability to focus while performing the anxiety and desire to impress others. Social facilitation has two types of effects on the performer: Co-action effects because others are doing the same task Audience effects because you are doing something in front of others. Evidence suggests three nuances that impact social facilitation: The presence of others negatively influences employee performance on complex and challenging tasks, as defined by the performer. The presence of others positively influences employee performance when confidence is high for the task. The presence of others negatively affects employee performance when the performer has lower confidence levels. Proximity, the number of others, and the degree to which others are supportive play a role in influencing performance positively or negatively. One of my first not-so-fun memories associated with the social facilitation audience effect came from an experience I had when I was eight. My parent's desire to develop a music appreciation led them to make me take one year of piano lessons. I remember I was assigned to play "Doo-Dad Boogie" for my first piano recital. While this sheet music is elementary, it was challenging for a first-year piano student. I was terrified at the recital even though I was only playing for a few parents and other students in the living room of my piano teacher. This experience taught me that I played better in private. Later in high school, I first connected with the positive influence of the social facilitation co-action effect. I was never a great student. Most of the time, I was a quiet C student. However, when more intelligent students surrounded me, I recognized that I tended to push myself harder and do better than in lower-level courses. This stood out because I anticipated doing worse in the higher-level courses. As in my life, the influence of others is not always positive. The opposite of social facilitation is called social loafing. Social loafing happens when others influence someone to put in less effort than working alone. The reality is that performance is contagious. Others can influence performance for the better and the worse. Implications for Leaders of Hybrid Teams & Remote Employees So, what implications can leaders and senior management take away from the concept of social facilitation and the lessons of the 2020 Olympic games? It might be surprising to know, but your performance is not just dependent on you. Also, your team's performance isn’t just about them. Leaving employees alone is not helpful for them or the organization's bottom line. As a word of caution, social facilitation is not a license to micromanage employees. I don't know anyone who enjoys being told what to do when they can do what needs to be done. Understanding the influence of others can help you improve your performance and the performance of those you lead. The Joyless Workplace? Some have labeled the Tokyo Olympics as the "joyless games" due to the lack of family and friends in the seats to cheer and celebrate. Even though the absence of a crowd is apparent, if you only look at the faces of Olympic gold winners, it is hard to recognize the difference between these games from any others. Cardboard cutouts in the stadium piped in crowd noise and extra encouragement from coaches and teammates were used to fill a void. According to the athletes themselves, fans have an emotional effect on the games and can increase the energy of those winning or inspire those falling behind to dig deeper. In the following interview with two former Olympic athletes, they provide perspective on the impact of empty stands on the athletes' performance. 5 Social Facilitation Tips for Leaders The reality of a hybrid workforce with geographically dispersed employees is not going away. The following are five tips for applying the social facilitation research to leading geographically dispersed teams: Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #1: Presence Matters Leaders need to be present with employees. Although technology has limitations compared to physical proximity, research supports that a digital presence influences social facilitation effects. Frontline leaders and senior management should establish strategies to be present and check in with employees. Conduct regular check-in meetings to increase your presence and feedback. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #2: Goals Matter More Research has identified that having clear performance goals improves employee performance in addition to social facilitation. Setting goals with employees (not for employees) with performance anchors is essential, especially in a digital environment. Use goal-setting as an opportunity to empower your team. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #3: Recognition Makes a Difference After establishing clear goals of what performance is worthy, you need to show you notice and care. Use a reinforcement survey to find out what motivates each employee. Then, use those learnings to recognize excellent performance when observed. Don't wait until the end of the year. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #4: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work When the task is simple or well-known, you can increase performance by introducing an audience. Consider opportunities for pairing up team members doing the same job. Also, make it a point to show up virtually on your team's projects. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #5: Keep Your Virtual Door Open Create opportunities to socialize and build personal relationships virtually. The digital environment creates some challenges. However, there are many potentially novel ideas for online remote employees. 3 Social Facilitation Tips for Remote Employees Here are three tips for anyone who finds themselves working out of their basement and looking for ways to improve their performance: Employee Social Facilitation Tip #1: Practice Should be Private Work toward becoming fluent with a task before performing in front of others. As your fluency increases, task difficulty will decrease, and others will positively reinforce your performance. At this point, start to make your performance visible to others to leverage the positive effects of social facilitation. Invite your leader to join in on a virtual project meeting or ask to pair up with someone on an assignment. Employee Social Facilitation Tip #2: Be Thoughtful of Whom You Invite to Practice Surround yourself with supportive people as you are learning complex tasks. An unsupported audience harms complex task performance. Employee Social Facilitation Tip #3: Leverage Ambient Noise Moderate levels of ambient noise enhance creative cognition by mimicking the presence of others. Being hyper-focused on a task can limit creativity. Check out coffitivity.com, which replicates the coffee shop when you can’t be at one. If your career is stalling, you need a plan to boost your career . Hiring a coach focused on your career goals leads to improved performance. Coaching keeps you feeling challenged versus being worried about what's next. Additionally, an executive coach increases your blind spot awareness. Getting started is as easy as visiting www.organizationaltalent.com or contacting us via email at info@organizationaltalent.com to learn more about our executive coaching and organizational consulting services. References: Aiello, J.R., & Douthitt, E.A. ( 2001). Social facilitation theory from Triplett to electronic performance monitoring. Group Dynamics, 5(3), 163-180. Feinberg, J. M. & Aiello, J. R. (2006). Social Facilitation: A Test of Competing Theories. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 36(5), 1087-1109. Mehta, R., Zhu, R., & Cheema, A. (2012). Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition. Journal of Consumer Research, 39 (4), 784-799. doi:10.1086/665048 Murayama K, Elliot AJ. The competition-performance relation: a meta-analytic review and test of the opposing processes model of competition and performance. Psychological Bulletin . 2012;138(6):1035-1070. doi:10.1037/a0028324 Rafaeli S, Rafaeli S, Noy A. Correspondence (September). European Journal of Information Systems. 2002;11(3):196-207.

Accountability is a frustrating topic for many leaders and business owners. Despite careful hiring practices, well-designed employment policies, and even digital monitoring, accountability remains puzzling. Why do some employees take accountability for their actions and others don't? When it's lacking, company performance and culture suffer. When done right, accountability leads to better outcomes. Holding others accountable isn't easy, but it significantly impacts your leadership and business results. An organizational culture of accountability is architected. It doesn't just happen. Here are five psychological levers for leaders to create workplace accountability, along with a quiz to help you understand if your company or team has a healthy culture of accountability. Why employee accountability matters A recent CEO benchmarking report found that nearly one in five CEOs surveyed identified holding others accountable as their greatest weakness, and almost as many struggled with letting go of underperformers. Holding employees accountable is difficult for leaders, even when they are responsible to others for business results. Employee accountability - an expectation that an employee may be called on to explain an action or inaction to others with the belief of a consequence based on an evaluation. Employees ignore, deny, blame, and play the victim in a toxic culture without accountability. Evidence from various studies links employee accountability to: Job satisfaction Motivation Stress Ethical behavior Job performance Discretionary effort “When people feel accountable and included, it is more fun.” – Alan Mulally The Five Leadership Levers That Determine Whether Accountability Shows Up — or Disappears Researchers have found that in the workplace, these five psychological dimensions drive accountability: Accountability Lever 1: Attribution When others know who did it—the more personal, explicit, and unambiguous a task, the greater the attribution accountability. When employees expect their actions and decisions can or might be linked directly to them, and leaders know their name, they are more likely to take accountability. Evidence suggests clear standards and expectations increase attribution accountability. Make job descriptions and performance expectations more explicit. Idea: Develop meaningful relationships with your team members. Accountability Lever 2: Observation In a culture of observation accountability, employees expect their behaviors and judgments to be observed by their leader, peers, followers, and others. As the audience size increases, employees' observation accountability increases because they feel more likely to be observed. Idea: Emphasize transparency and increase the visibility of individual work. “The best kind of accountability on a team is peer-to-peer. Peer pressure is more efficient and effective than going to the leader, anonymously complaining, and having them stop what they are doing to intervene.” – Patrick Lencioni. Accountability Lever 3: Evaluation Feedback is provided for actions and judgments, and the ability exists to be compared to others. Employees who expect performance to be meaningfully reviewed feel more evaluation accountability. Additionally, when the evaluation outcomes are variable, it increases evaluation accountability. Idea: Reviewer status increases evaluation accountability. Include a second level (i.e., the leader's leader) review of formal performance evaluations. Accountability Lever 4: Obligation Having to explain an action or the way a decision is made and its effect on the well-being of others. Employees who expect to answer for their actions feel an increased obligation accountability. Idea: Reporting to multiple leaders or customers increases obligation accountability. Use performance calibration meetings with other leaders at the same level to increase visibility to talent across the organization and performance visibility. Accountability Lever 5: Consequential Employees working in effective accountability systems expect their actions to be linked to good or bad consequences. Consequences and rewards involve extrinsic (ex., earning a bonus or avoiding a negative) and intrinsic attributes (ex., personal satisfaction or enjoyment). According to equity theory, employees are motivated when rewards are fair as compared to others. Idea: Involve employees in defining rewards and recognition systems and defining levels of expectation for tasks. "When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated. This is why we sometimes attack who they are, which is far more hurtful than addressing a behavior or a choice." Brené Brown Does your company or team have a culture of accountability? The following validated survey by Han and Perry can be used by leaders to better understand employee accountability within a team or across an organization. Have employees anonymously indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with the following statements using a seven-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). What I do is noticed by others in my organization. If I make a mistake, I will be caught. I am constantly watched to see if I follow my organization's policies and procedures. Anyone outside my organization can tell whether I'm doing well. My errors can be easily spotted outside my organization. People outside my organization are interested in my job performance. The outcomes of my work are rigorously evaluated. My work efforts are rigorously evaluated. I expect to receive frequent feedback from my supervisor. I could not quickly avoid making a false statement to justify my performance. I am constantly required to follow strict organizational policies or procedures. I am not allowed to make excuses to avoid blame in my organization. If I perform well, I will be rewarded. Reasonable effort on my part will ultimately be rewarded. If I do my job well, my organization will benefit from it. Each question aligns with one of the five levers of accountability. The higher the score, the higher the dimension of accountability. Attribution Accountability (Q1-3) Observation Accountability (Q4-6) Evaluation Accountability (Q7-9) Obligation Accountability (Q10-12) Consequential Accountability (Q13-15) Consider using this survey before and after taking steps to improve the team and organizational accountability. Measurement improves focus and tracks progress over time. When accountability issues show up repeatedly, they are almost never fixed by asking people to “try harder.” Accountability is shaped by what leaders consistently reinforce — through clarity, visibility, expectations, and consequences — especially when results are under pressure. Holding employees accountable isn't easy, but it significantly impacts your leadership and business results. Where might your leadership team be unintentionally weakening accountability — not through intent, but through what you tolerate, inspect, or model? References Connors, R., Smith, T., & Hickman, C. (2010). The Oz Principle: Getting results through individual and organizational accountability. Prentice Hall. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Han, Y., & Perry, J. (2020). Conceptual bases of employee accountability: A psychological approach, perspectives on public management and governance , 3:4, 288–304 Han, Y., & Perry, J. (2020). Employee accountability: development of a multidimensional scale, International Public Management Journal, 23:2, 224-251. Howard, S. (2019). Holding employees accountable: where most leaders fail. Predictive Index.

Many leaders achieve their goals and even increase company revenue. But in a world of fast-paced change and complexity, businesses need employees who will proactively engage in problem-solving, drive change, and take initiative to innovate. To create a competitive advantage, leaders need a committed team that can take charge. However, challenging the status quo in most organizations is risky. If a leader doesn't know how to empower others well, evidence suggests that team morale and the business suffer. Discover the secrets to fostering empowerment and ignite a spark in your team to achieve excellence with these five strategies. Why igniting the spark in others holds the key to achieving excellence The word empowerment has come in and out of favor with leadership. Sadly, a common, overly simplified misconception of empowerment is that leaders give away power. Empowerment is the promotion of the skills, knowledge, and confidence necessary to take charge. Recently, empowerment has started to gain renewed acceptance within executive leadership circles, and for good reasons. Leaders need committed employees. “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Bill Gates Empowerment shapes feelings and actions that enhance others' intrinsic motivation. Leaders cannot control every situation and outcome, and followers with intrinsic motivation persist during complex and ambiguous work. They learn from failure rather than giving up. Evidence suggests a positive link between higher levels of employee intrinsic motivation and work productivity. It is a moderating factor in employee engagement. There is abundant research to support that empowering others creates improved: Team effectiveness Work satisfaction Shared identity W ell-being Autonomy Control Self-management Confidence When leaders encourage followers to take the initiative with tasks such as making decisions, it increases psychological ownership, leading to a sense of responsibility and positive workplace behaviors.⁠ 5 Strategies to empower others for excellence Although there is limited research into the most effective means for a leader to empower others, your leadership plays a key role. Managerial practices and leadership are the primary drivers of if followers voluntarily take charge. You can encourage others to take charge by applying good active listening skills, asking for input, and delegating authority. Empowerment Strategy #1: Active Listening Being truly heard is rare in the workplace. Listening leaves your team feeling valued, affirmed, and emotionally connected to you. Active listening is the ability to hear and improve mutual understanding. When you actively listen, you pay attention, show interest, suspend judgment, reflect, clarify, summarize, and share to gain clarity and understanding. When you listen, you are available to the other person. The following video from Simon Sinek is about creating an environment where the other person feels heard. Empowerment Strategy #2: Leading with Questions Questions grounded in curiosity create influence. Not all questions are equal. For example, if you ask followers why are they behind schedule? You will likely get a defensive response rather than a solution. If you ask, what key things need to happen for you to achieve the goal? You will encourage followers to apply critical thinking to identify a solution. Learning to ask the right question instead of always having the answer benefits you, your team, and the organization. Leaders who ask questions become better listeners and gain deeper insights into how to bring out the best in others and guide the organization. Followers asked questions develop greater self-awareness, self-confidence, and empowerment. Empowerment Strategy #3: Delegating Authority Caught between the pressure of urgent and important work demands, delegating is often one leadership approach that gets cut. One of the more complex and essential things for a leader is going from doing to leading. Giving up authority and responsibility can seem counterintuitive to leadership. Spending a little time and effort upfront to consider the task, situation, employee, communication, and leadership support is crucial to delegating effectively. 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 Empowerment Strategy #4: 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. 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, Leading Change Empowerment Strategy #5: Servant Leadership Leading from a follower's first point of view, such as servant leadership , results in a willingness to take charge, set high standards, and a devotion to each other. Trust, love, and belonging unlock the teams ability to excel because of their differences rather than in spite of them. The following short video from leadership guru Ken Blanchard provides some thoughts on the power of servant leadership in today's workplace. Robert Greenleaf is attributed by most as the founder of servant leadership, described a servant leader as a servant first and used the following test to answer the question, are you a servant leader? The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived. ~Greenleaf & Spears To learn more about servant leadership , check out this article, which includes an assessment to help you determine whether your current leadership style aligns with servant leadership and the ten leadership characteristics. What is your real empowerment challenge? Key Summary Points: Leaders need followers who take charge to create a competitive advantage Changing and challenging the status quo is risky in most organizations Empowerment shapes feelings and actions that enhance followers' intrinsic motivation. There is abundant research on the benefits of team effectiveness, work satisfaction, shared identity, and well-being that result from empowering followers. Trust, love, and belonging unlock the team's ability to excel because of their differences rather than inspire them. Managerial practices and leadership are the primary drivers of whether followers will voluntarily take charge. Servant leadership results in followers' willingness to set high standards, devotion to one another, and taking charge. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Edelmann, C. M., Boen, F., & Fransen, K. (2020). The power of empowerment: Predictors and benefits of shared leadership in organizations. Frontiers in Psychology, 11 , 582894-582894. Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant-leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th-anniversary ed.). Paulist Press. Leavy, B. (2020). The dynamics of empowering leader-follower relationships. Strategy & Leadership, 48 (6), 27-33. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SL-09-2020-0125 Li, S., He, W., Yam, K. C., & Long, L. (2015). When and why empowering leadership increases followers' taking charge: A multilevel examination in china. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32 (3), 645-670.

Could gratitude be a secret weapon to transform your stress-filled workplace? In tough times, negativity can spread like wildfire, leaving your team living for the weekend. Emotions are social contagions. Minor issues escalate quickly to critical concerns. After a while, compounded complexity and stress harm performance and employee well-being. Today's employees are looking to leaders for more help. Evidence suggests that 72% of leaders feel used up at the end of their day, a significant increase from two years prior. This is where the power of gratitude makes all the difference. Often forgotten in tough times, gratitude can restore a positive mindset, acting as a positive social contagion. Discover how you can make gratitude your leadership superpower with these three practical tips. Why gratitude matters Gratitude is a positive emotion that brings balance to a negative mindset . Many studies link gratitude with positive personal benefits, such as: Improved health Increased happiness Decreased anxiety Decreased depression Likewise, evidence suggests that feeling appreciated is linked to well-being and employee performance. Those who feel valued by their leader are more likely to report higher levels of: Physical and mental health Engagement Job satisfaction Intrinsic motivation Here is a short video that explains the science behind why gratitude matters. If you immerse yourself in the daily news, the future of work appears dire – supply chain constraints, geopolitical conflict, inflation, and historic labor shortages are projected to persist. Employees are stressed out, and the costs of workplace stress and burnout are high . To quantify workplace stress costs , a recent study 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. The Mayo Clinic found that the personal and organizational side effects of stress include: broken relationships substance abuse depression decreased customer satisfaction reduced productivity increased employee turnover Stress is an emotional contagion. Research has demonstrated that co-workers can spread stress within a workgroup. For example, someone on your team who feels down enters a meeting. Within a few minutes, the entire team's emotions mimic their behaviors and non-verbal expressions. The following short NPR video discusses how emotions like stress are contagious. What does leadership gratitude look like? 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. As a leader, the practice of gratitude consists of affirming the goodness of others. A habit of gratitude involves acknowledging the good and feeling thankful. While distinctly different, empathy, kindness, and love are closely related to the virtue of gratitude. Effective leadership is more than making someone do something. It is about the selfless influence of others and the ability to bring out the best in others. Here is a good video from gratitude expert Robert Emmons addressing gratitude. We can all cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Evidence suggests that it is best to start by making gathering and giving gratitude easy. Here are three tips for building a habit of gratitude. Gratitude Habit Tip #1: Stop. Look. Go. The following video presents how practicing gratitude begins by getting quiet, looking through our senses, and then taking the opportunity presented. Gratitude Habit Tip #2: Make it easy When building a habit it is consistency and not intensity. Have you got an app for that? Gratefulness.io is a tool that makes getting started easy. I have used this tool for a few years and found it helpful for building an attitude of gratitude. 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 the reminders Gratefulness.io sends of what I was grateful for from my journal very encouraging , and a way for me to track over time. Gratitude Habit Tip #3: Give it away Giving gratitude makes you happier. After listing what you are grateful for each day, take a few moments to practice giving gratitude. Not only will 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 or say thank you in person. How important do you think gratitude is for you and your team as you look ahead to what experts suggest will be another challenging new year, and what is the real gratitude challenge for you? 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. 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