Every leader has to find her own style of how to be most effective.
There is no “one size fits all”.
Be weary of a formula for how to be more efficient, effective, or enrolling as a leader.
Notwithstanding the above, today, we want to share 12 questions from a Gallup study that Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman share in First Break all the Rules. These are a yardstick by which you can measure whether you as a manager make your work environment a GREAT PLACE TO WORK. This study was based on interviews with no less than 80.000 managers over the course of more than two decades.
Heads up: This knowledge is delightfully evergreen in a world of new news minute by minute. So really, this is no news at all.
That’s why we are all the more curious:
Do you ask these 12 questions about each of your team members?
Do you know what is expected of you at work?
Do you have the materials and equipment to do your work right?
At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
At work, do your opinions seem to count?
Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
Do you have a best friend at work?
In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
In the last year, have you had opportunities to learn and grow?
Now step into your team member’s shoes and ask yourself:
Would your people answer with an unequivocal “Yes!” to each of these 12 questions?
If that is so, Kudos to you! You create an environment that attracts and retains talent, because it is a great place to work.
This translates into the bottom line, meaning that your leadership does or does not result in
Low turnover
Low absenteeism
High customer satisfaction
High productivity.
Yes, Gallup was able to prove all of these effects in that same study. They asked employees to answer the 12 questions, and correlated their aggregate answers with the workplace’s performance with regards to these four indicators. The message is clear:
Leadership matters to the bottom line.
Do you want your managers to become inspiring and enrolling leaders?
