The energis­ing leader

According to Dean Spitzer, the key to successful leadership has always been two­fold: direction and energy. “Leadership is a vector, it must have both direction and force.” Strategy provides direction. Without a good, solid business strategy, any organisation is doomed to failure. Force comes from an energised and strategy-aligned workforce. Without this energy, the strategy cannot be effectively executed, no matter how good it is. Direction without energy, he opines, is futile, and energy with­out direction is chaos.

What distinguishes a true leader from a manager is the ability to mobilise the energy of others to execute the strategy. Noel Tichy of University of Michigan puts it aptly in his book The Leadership Engine: “Being a winning leader means tap­ping a deep reservoir of emotional energy. Simply put, a leader’s job is to energise others. Not part of their job; it is their job. Every interaction a leader has is either going to posi­tively energise those around them or negatively energise them.”

How can leaders at all levels mobilise the energies of everyone in their organisation to achieve extraordinary results on a continu­ing basis? Dean Spitzer discerns the following.

Motivators and

De-motivators

The energising leader wants to claim as much as possible of peo­ple’s energy during working hours and focus it productively to advance the vision and objectives of the organisation. This is not short term driving of energy. Short term mo­tivation is easy. It can be stimulated negatively by threats and negative reinforcement or positively through pep talks, motivating programs, or financial incentives. Many leaders are good at mobilising energy for the moment but the challenge is how to sustain it for the long haul. This is what distinguishes the ener­gising leader.

Organisational practices, be­haviours, and systems can be either motivators or de-motivators. Moti­vators include anything that increas­es positive energy in the workforce. In contrast, de-motivators include anything that drains positive energy or produces negative, unproductive behaviour. Unfortunately, Spitzer believes that a great deal of the human energy reserve in most organisations is wasted – dissipated by unproductive and unfocused activities and by de-motivators.

De-motivators include such things as unnecessary changes, ambiguous and conflicting expectations, pro­motion of undeserving, hypocritical pronouncements, rules that seem to be little more than arbitrary constraints, internal competition – pitting peer against peer and team against team – unrealistic goals, an emphasis on getting it done quickly rather than correctly, unfair treatment, discouraging feedback to employees about their suggestions, talent that are underutilised, and taking people for granted. Unfortu­nately, the list goes on and on.

Energising leaders have a passion for identifying and stamping out demotivating influences wherever they find them. Policies, procedures, and rules can be good (and they are most certainly necessary), but leaders must carefully monitor such structures so they do not become “bureaucratic inhibitors and demo­tivating straitjackets.” Energising leaders scan their organisations and take control of such situations rather than letting them get out of control.

Beyond eliminating policies and practices that suck life and energy out of the organisation, energising leaders take concrete steps to build energy using the art of communi­cation, understanding the power of vision and values, creating a sense of ownership, keeping score, building competence, and providing recognition.

The Art of

Communication

Energising leaders distinguish themselves in their emphasis on communication. Perhaps most important of all, they listen to their employees. Most leaders do not like to do this, because talk is easier and listening takes time. “But listening is not only energising; it is good business.”

Energising leaders also communi­cate openly and insist on telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Unfortunately, many leaders do not trust their employees with the truth; they prefer to stress the positives and become “spin doctors.” But everyone knows that communication that is all positive is not honest. Energising leaders err on the side of over-communication. They openly discuss the “undis­cussables”, sacred cows, failures, and even ethical lapses. And in so doing, they set the tone for others. “Real leaders do not encourage sycophants and blind agreement; they encourage honest expression and debate.”

The Power of Vision

and Values

Energising leaders are able to instill a sense of significance in the workforce. They articulate a motivating vision and mobilise the energies of people to help them achieve it. Employees are most energetic when they are involved in supporting something they care about – a mission that matters – and are most de-energised when they are doing something they could not care less about or are upset about. People want to feel significant – to feel that their efforts, however humble, are making a difference. More than ever before, employees are looking to be energised by honest visions, missions, and values. Values are at the heart of what really motivates people, they can be powerful tools for instilling more effective manage­ment practices.

Instilling a Sense of Ownership

When people own something, it has special meaning, and they tend to take care of it. People spend endless hours mowing their lawns and caring for their families, houses, cars etc. This psychological owner­ship is vital to the release of energy. Employees want to own their work, and if they do, they are often willing to work very long hours and even make personal sacrifices.

Many organisations have tried to increase a sense of ownership by adopting ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans), but these plans have had mixed results. Owning token amounts of stock in a large corporation is not the same as own­ing one’s job. But when employees do feel that they have meaningful responsibility for their jobs, the energys released is enormous.

Keeping Score

Nothing differentiates energising leaders from non-energising leaders more than how they use measure­ment. Measurement is probably the single most motivating aspect of sports and games, but it is one of the most demotivating aspects of work. People actually love to be measured, as long as the measure­ment is objective, constructive, and non-threatening. Without score­keeping, there would be no way of winning or even seeing improve­ment.

Employees therefore should perceive measurement as a process that directs them on their way, not as a barrier and stops them in their tracks. Energising leaders realise the power of positive measurement. Positive measurement is no-fault measurement that is used to guide improvement and energise perfor­mance. Energising leaders also know that they need to measure the right things – because what you measure is what you get. They know how to use the power of measurements to get things done.

Closely related to measurement is feedback. Too often, feedback at work is used to point out flaws and shortcomings, to punish, and even prevent employees from receiving promotions or pay increases. On occasions that constructive feed­back does come, it is often too late for employees to use it to improve their performance. Organisational measurement and feedback systems are major improvement targets for energising leaders.

In sum, energising leaders are capable of tapping deep reservoirs of human energy by creating an or­ganisational context that will foster the maximum release of focused energy. They are not just involved in strategic planning or strategy execution; they are highly visible throughout the organisation and place a high priority on the organi­sational environment. They do not just give lip-service to pronounce­ments that “people are our most valuable assets.” Henry Mintzberg describes the kind of leadership as that which does not sit on top and pronounce. “It surrounds process, energises, facilitates it, and infuses it by getting personally involved, so that people feel inspired to do good things.” This seems a good brief description of energising leader­ship and Dean Spitzer advises that it is something that leaders should incorporate permanently into their leadership styles.

BY CAPT SAM ADDAIH (RTD)