Leadership in the Moment

In The Leadership Challenge ® Workshop (which, by the way, is filling up fast and will be cultivating leaders March 23-26, 2010 in Sonoma) we ask that question of participants.  The answers are sometimes well-known figures but often they’re people who have made a huge difference in their lives.  We learn that leadership is an action not a position.   Or, in Donald H. McGannon’s description, “A leader is a dealer in hope.”  Who are your heroes and what have you learned from them? 

 According to DigitalMediaWire, leaders in organizational settings should not ban the use of social media in the workplace. Here are the stats:

• 54% of businesses block employee access to social networking sites
• 19% allow social networking for work-related purposes
• 16% allow limited personal use
• 10% allow full use

They write:  “94% of companies are investing in online communities and social media.”  Yet, with more than half of businesses opposing the use of social media sites at work, 94% are invested in the very media they are blocking.  Somewhat of a contradiction.

Their research shows that “Training employees in the proper use of social media will encourage personal responsibility, motivate employees, provide greater job satisfaction, and lead to improved productivity. 

As a leader, have you made decisions on this topic out of fear (loss of productivity) or that employees will read negative comments about the company (or you, personally) and become unmotivated?   What are the policies have you established? 

With employees feeling more stressed out than ever at work, leaders are continuously challenged with ways to encourage, motivate and show appreciation to their followers.  Harvard University is extolling the merits of a popular course, Positive Psychology.  A professor at the university, Shawn Achor, recently spoke at an annual meeting of an east coast health center urging employees to “shake off dark moods at work by practicing such happiness-inducing techniques as meditation or expression of gratitude.”  Meditation may seem like a time-sapping activity but it can be done in a few moments of deep breathing.  And, expressing gratitude could also be as simple as observing positive behavior and complimenting that person specifically on what was noticed. 

How can leaders model positive behavior?  One piece of advice from Mr. Achor is, “Don’t immediately label events good or bad but remain open to potentially positive outcomes.”  What’s different about this approach, according to the professor is that “There is now an emphasis on inner happiness and controlling your own mood in the face of turbulence or misfortune.”  As a wise participant in one of our Leadership Challenge ® workshops said, “When you’re a leader, the camera is always in the “on” position.”   Are you camera-ready?