Throughout my many years in business, the most common
complaint that I repeatedly hear from people in the workplace is that their
leaders simply don’t provide appropriate leadership.
Admittedly, there are those workers who simply want to find
something to gripe about rather than take responsibility for their own careers,
lives and daily performance.
However, there is very real evidence to support the fact
that all too many leaders don’t in fact provide appropriate leadership. First
and foremost, your daily news resources are riddled with an endless stream of
leadership gone wrong at the national, state and local levels.
Secondarily, you might consider the national survey that was
conducted on “National Boss Day” in 2012. The study was conducted across
workers of all generations who stated that their bosses left them feeling
unappreciated and uninspired.
I feel certain that you’ve heard the expression “Put your money where your mouth is”
more than once in your life. Well, that’s exactly what the workers from all
across the U.S. did in that 65% of the workers
emphatically stated that they would choose a new boss rather than receive a pay
raise.
The workplace message simply doesn’t get any more powerful
than that. Some of the other points that the surveyed workers shared included:
42% of the workers
said that their bosses didn’t work very hard.
20% of the workers
stated that their boss lacked integrity.
60% of the workers
said that they would do a better job if they had a better relationship with
their boss.
47% of workers cited
that when stress levels rose at work that their bosses failed to stay calm and
in control of themselves.
When leaders don’t lead it is a very real sign that they are
uncertain about what to do next or how to lead their direct reports with the
challenge that the organization is facing. This is often referred to as “The Peter
Principle” (from the book of the same name) when people have exceeded their
capabilities and concurrently exceeded their personal level of competence.
The result of this scenario is that when employees are most concerned
for their job security, frustrated due to organizational challenges or economic
downturns, their leaders seem to vaporize right in front of them rather than
stepping to the forefront to take charge, lead by example and reassure
organizational staff of their collective capability to meet the challenge at
hand.
Employees full well realize that their leaders don’t always
have all of the answers. However, it remains the responsibility of leaders to
appropriately inform their direct reports of what they do know, where they
stand and what they are thinking. Leaders need to be prepared to engage in
effective two way communication while responding to the questions and concerns
of their people.
When leaders don’t lead… They are invariably failing to
appropriately respond to the situation that is before them. And leadership is
always “situational”.
The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.
Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank | All Rights
Reserved.
