Attitude is everything. When you’re a leader, the way you carry yourself and engage and motivate the team will directly impact the organization’s performance. Zackarie Lemelle, CPC, CBC and Managing Partner of Leadership Engagement Services at The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) is an expert in leadership and business re-engineering and over the years, he has been instrumental in driving organizational transformations for numerous high-profile clients. Today Zack explores the difference leaders can make just in the way they present themselves. — Maurice Gilbert
How will you “show-up” today?
How a leader “shows-up” for work, a team meeting or employee encounter, has a significant impact on driving the performance of their team and organization.
A leader who “shows-up” energetically — whether it’s with energy that engages, inspires and motivates or with energy that disengages by being commanding and controlling — is the number one critical success factor for any organization.
Engaging leaders bring out the best in their people, which drives performance, results and profits. That leader is focused on doing everything possible to motivate and inspire employees to buy in to the company’s purpose, mission and values. Disengaging leaders, on the other hand, have a negative impact on their employees. They tend to manage by fear and put people down. Let’s look at two typical workplace situations so you can clearly see the difference.
The Scenario
A Senior Vice President at a manufacturing company knows that the CEO wants a consistent, high-quality product produced on time and within budget. It’s important to the success of the company for the manufacturing process to be efficient. Unfortunately, this isn’t what’s provided. There are frequent problems that cause delays, overruns and inconsistencies in the product. The Senior Vice President assumes that his employees do not care and are only there for a paycheck.
After the second meeting with the CEO on the subject, the SVP decides to come down hard on his people. After all, his reputation is on the line, as well as the company’s brand. He calls a staff meeting to discuss the problem, prepared to dictate how things are going to be moving forward. The SVP starts the meeting by publicly placing blame on the plant manager and numerous other employees. He then threatens everyone’s job if they do not do exactly what he says. As a result, no one is operating at full capacity. Production decreases, deadlines are missed, employees are disgruntled and the company loses a major customer.
If the SVP in the same scenario approached the matter in a different way, the outcome would be more positive. If he decided to “show up” to the meeting with understanding and compassion, willing to listen to his employees and consider their recommendations, he would have discovered the root of the problem and how to fix it. More importantly, his entire team would work together to make the improvements needed, instead of being disengaged and not caring about the outcome.
This is the power of “showing up” with a mindset that encourages employees to bring their best talents and skills to the job. That is the power of engagement.
How will you “show up” today?
Zackarie Lemelle has over 35 years of experience working in firms from start-ups to Fortune 500s. Most recently, Zack spent 18 years with Johnson & Johnson. Early in Zack’s tenure, he served as Vice President/Chief Information Officer of J&J’s largest pharmaceutical company and later as Worldwide Vice President/Chief Information Officer of J&J’s largest global medical device company. Zack also spent five years in human resources as Director of Business Re-engineering. Zack’s final assignment was as Vice President/Chief Information Officer for J&J Corporate Systems. Zack is an iPEC Certified Executive Leadership and Business Re-engineering Coach. He has spent years working with senior executives and management boards, developing leaders to forge new strategies and relevant operating models in sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, information management, human resources, finance and research and development. Zack provides the unique expertise of combining people and process coaching to drive transformational change.
