What do employees really want from company leaders? The answer may surprise you — and, more important, may prompt you to change some of your practices.
“I don’t think the people who work for you want you to be an optimist anymore,” says GE CEO Jeff Immelt. “They want you to be realistic. They don’t want hollow promises, they want action: What’s your plan, and how are you going to solve problems?”
The hallmarks of what Immelt calls “positive leadership” are authenticity, transparent communication, a focus on the future, and the ability to solve problems and take action.
Via The Learning Factor, Rob Peters
Great leadership is built around trust. How truthful CEO communication can build better team alignment and productivity at your company.
Recent management studies support the idea that workers respond best not to cheerleading or a continuous stream of happy talk, but to evidence of a strong connection between words and deeds. Employees are much more likely to trust their immediate supervisors than top corporate executives, according to global consulting firm Blessing White. Why? Because employees can match what managers say with what they do. That’s more difficult to do given the layers of management that may separate them from top leaders, which makes it imperative that top leaders spell out specific actions the company will take, explain why, and offer proof that such actions have been taken.