communications Archives

10 Tips on Being a Better Leader at Work

02/19/202203/14/2022Jon Rennie

Create a positive work environment where people genuinely want to do their best every day.

Former NFL Coach Jimmy Johnson probably said it best, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” This is especially true in leadership.

Getting the business fundamentals right is critical for success, but how you treat people is that little “extra” that can truly inspire an organization.

The problem is that too many leaders don’t recognize this. A Harvard Business Review study of 20,000 people worldwide found that a majority (54%) of employees felt their leaders didn’t treat them with respect regularly.

This lack of respect and civility has a real impact on employee engagement. The same study found that being treated with respect was more important to employee engagement than any other factor.

Employees who said their boss treated them with respect were 55% more engaged.

Employees who said their boss treated them with respect were 55% more engaged. Click To Tweet

The truth is, it’s not that difficult or time-consuming to display genuine respect for your employees. It’s that little “extra” you can do to create a positive work environment where people genuinely want to do their best every day.

In more than 30 years as a leader, I found these ten simple activities can make a difference:

Be present – Never underestimate the power of your presence. You can’t lead your company from behind your desk. You need to be there. You need to walk around. Employees need to see you, and you need to see them.

Focus on them – When engaging employees, remember it’s not about you. Ask them questions. Find out about them. Find out what’s on their minds. Most corporate communication is top-down, but when you talk with employees, this is a chance for a more interactive dialogue.

Be polite – It doesn’t take extra time to say please, thank you, and acknowledge that you appreciate someone’s effort. It shouldn’t be rare to be civil. I was shocked to learn from a former employee that I was her favorite boss simply because I was always polite.

Don’t forget to smile – As a leader, you are on stage every day, and your attitude is contagious. Even if you are having a bad day, force yourself to be positive and smile when engaging employees.

Give them your full attention – Nothing says disrespect more than ignoring an employee. Stop what you are doing and acknowledge them. It’s acceptable to let them know you need a minute to wrap up what you are doing but then put it away and give them 100% of your attention. When it comes to employee interactions, never multi-task.

How you treat people is that little “extra” that can truly inspire an organization. Click To Tweet

Send thank-you notes – A simple letter thanking an employee for their extra effort helps reinforce the right employee behaviors. It shows you care. I also like to send the notes to their home where they can open them in front of their family.

Send get-well cards – I keep a stack of “get well” cards on my desk to send to employees who are sick or having surgery. It’s a simple thing that shows you care about them as a person.

Catch them doing something right – Most bosses focus on catching people making mistakes, but author Ken Blanchard says there’s a better way. He says the easiest and quickest way to improve workplace morale is to notice, encourage, and celebrate all the good things in your organization.

Welcome new employees – I once had a boss who sent a large basket of cookies and snacks to my home after hiring me. In it was a note that said, “I’m looking forward to all the great things I know you will do.” It was a simple gesture that I will never forget. I always try to do the same for new hires to my direct staff.

Promote a culture of mutual respect – You must select leaders who share your desire to show respect to employees. The primary reason employees leave companies is the poor leadership of front-line managers. Make sure your leadership team knows the importance you place on respect by promoting those that display the right behaviors.

To be an extraordinary leader, you have to love people. You need to do the little “extra” things to show you care, you are listening, and you recognize your employees’ efforts.

Most leaders claim they don’t have enough time to respect their employees. Yet, they seem to find time to deal with the aftermath of poor employee morale and engagement.

I challenge you to try these ten simple activities and see if it makes a difference in your organization.

If you want to become a better leader, order my latest book You Have the Watch: A Guided Journal to Become a Leader Worth Following.

This guided journal provides daily leadership guidance and reflection for an entire year. Each week, you will learn a new leadership skill. Each day, you will explore a new facet of that skill. As you do the work and put in the reps as a leader, this journal will be your constant companion. By the end of the year, you will master fifty of the most important leadership skills.

[Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash]

Hope is More Powerful than Strategy

11/12/202111/12/2021Jon Rennie

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “hope is not a strategy.”

While I generally agree with that statement, I would argue that hope is essential for leadership. And at times, even more powerful than strategy itself.

Hope is essential for leadership. Click To Tweet

The great Napoleon Bonaparte once said that “a leader is a dealer in hope.”

A dealer in hope? Yes, that’s a strange description. In my mind, I see a leader dealing out hope like playing cards to worried employees.

In a way, that’s exactly what a leader must do.

Consider Winston Churchill. In the dark days of the beginning of World War II, the British people were filled with despair. They had suffered heavy losses, and there was fear throughout the country that Germany would be successful in overcoming the small Island nation.

In a speech delivered on June 4, 1940, Churchill provided hope to a worried nation. He assured them that:

“We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets, and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God’s good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old.”

In one speech, Winston Churchill ignited a country. He drove out despair and gave his people a hopeful vision of the future.

It’s our job as leaders to do the same.

In the past two years, every business has faced unprecedented challenges. A global pandemic, a deeply divided nation, labor shortages, inflation, and the supply chain crisis have all pushed employees to new levels of stress and anxiety.

People are worried about their jobs, their families, and their future. They are looking to their leaders for answers.

Just like Churchill, our role as leaders is to drive out despair and provide hope.

Our role as leaders is to drive out despair and provide hope. Click To Tweet

You might be asking yourself – how can I drive out despair when I don’t know what will happen in the future? How can I provide hope when I’m having trouble finding it myself?

Simple. We need to take a page out of Churchill’s playbook.

Instead of griping, complaining, and worrying in front of our employees, we must provide a hopeful vision of the future.

The only way to drive out despair is to unite our employees around a hopeful vision.

When the seas turn violent, and a storm blows in, sailors look to their captain for hope and assurance.

There will be time for strategy, but right now, our people need hope more than ever.

Providing a hopeful vision is one of the most important roles of a leader, learn more about establishing a hopeful vision in my new book All in the Same Boat.

[Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash]

If You Want to Be a Great Leader, Try Following

10/17/2021Jon Rennie

The best leadership lessons are often learned when we put ourselves in the role of a follower.

This past week, I went on my annual bird hunting trip to New England. I’ve been making this trip for years and enjoy getting away from work and being in the outdoors.

One of my favorite parts of the trip is that I’m not the leader.

The people I hunt with have been hunting these areas for a lot longer than me. So, I’m content to sit back and let others lead. I get to just relax and enjoy being in the woods, plus I get the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a follower.

Deep in the New Hampshire woods this week, I made some interesting observations.

The best leadership lessons are often learned when we put ourselves in the role of a follower. Click To Tweet

Our third day of hunting started out normal. Six of us and three dogs entered the forest at the base of a remote mountain. Once we were clear from the dense underbrush, we discussed the plan of attack. We hadn’t been in this area for several years.

There was a debate among the more experienced hunters about the best way to hunt this area. I heard discussions about skidder trails, clear cuts, spruce bogs, and other details about this mountain. I wasn’t really listening. I was just waiting for my instructions. I was content to just follow the plan, whatever it was.

Without reaching any conclusion that I could tell, our most experienced hunter just picked up his gun and started walking up the mountain. I was confused and didn’t know what we were doing, so I asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Just line up and walk up the hill keeping the sun on your right shoulder. If anything changes, I’ll let you know over the radio.”

OK, I thought. I can do that. So, I set off.

Every few minutes, I would call out to the person on my left and my right to ensure we wouldn’t get separated in the deep woodland expanse. However, about 30 minutes into the push, I could no longer hear the person to my left.

I wasn’t worried, though. This happens a lot when we are pushing through a dense forest. Since there hadn’t been any changes announced over the radios, I continued to hike up the mountain with the sun on my right shoulder.

About 45 minutes later, our leader came over the radio looking for us. He was coming in very weak, indicating he was far away.

I called out to the guys on my right. Three of us were still together, but I realized that the rest of the team had traveled far to the left – almost out of radio range. Over the radio, I asked our leader to shout out loud to figure out where he was.

When I heard his faint voice in the distance, I realized we were almost half a mile apart. We had been walking in separate directions in the dense woods for nearly an hour. We need to backtrack to regroup.

When we finally got the group back together again, I asked our leader what had happened. He told me that when he got to the skidder trail, he realized it was the end of the area he wanted to hunt. So, he turned left to work in a different direction, failing to notify everyone of the change.

Our directions were to walk up the hill and listen for any changes on the radio. Since no changes were announced, three of us continued deep into the forest, utterly unaware that part of the group had changed course. The plan had changed, and no one told us.

The good news is that, other than some sore legs, nothing terrible happened due to this mix-up. But, it does illustrate some important aspects of leadership.

First, it’s important to provide clear directions when you assign a task. This includes allowing people to ask questions to make sure they fully understand the assignment. I talk about this in my book, All in the Same Boat. I learned in the Navy that most misunderstandings occur when the task is first assigned.

Second, it’s critical to follow up throughout an assignment to ensure the orders are still clear. Our leader was silent throughout the entire hunt leading us to falsely assume everything was proceeding to plan. In business, following up with employees on assignments prevents miscommunication and costly mistakes.

Third, it’s essential to let employees know when things change. Just like my hunting experience, conditions on the ground often require us to change our plans. We need to communicate those changes clearly to our employees so they can adjust their actions.

Communication is a critical part of leading people, and that fact was strongly reinforced in the woods this week.

Communication is a critical part of leading people. Click To Tweet

It also reminded me that the best leadership lessons are often learned when we put ourselves in the role of a follower. In my case, I saw how ineffective communication led to poor performance.

I encourage you to put yourself into a follower role every once in a while and see what you learn. The lessons are often more powerful when you see them from the other side.