How often do we think about going along for a Leadership MOT in our entire career?
I know you might be put through your paces if you’re going for a promotion but what about everyone else that isn’t on the fast track or being developed because they are considered as highly talented?
Who helps you as a leader see your Blind Spots?
According to a Stanford study; 66% of CEO’s and senior leaders don’t get coaching or look for help outside their companies from consultants.
Gallup’s global survey looking at engagement is compelling reading, it points the finger at a “MASSIVE” blind spot, a really big issue where organisations are leaking productivity and profit from people not being fully engaged.
The global figure of 24% of staff being actively disengaged is just screaming out saying, we need to do something about this and quick, to stop the bleeding and stop it spreading throughout our business!
This can’t carry on for much longer without being checked and processes put in place to create a flourishing workplace that is sustainable.
The data for developing Emotional Intelligence and the benefits are overwhelming, if business were an elite athlete, there’s no doubt they would be looking for quick wins and then focus on the incremental small gains to maintain a competitive edge. The fact here, is that there’s a BIG opportunity staring at us every day as we walk around the office, it’s the disengaged people who are impacting others around them and potentially dragging them down with them.
If a car had a flat tyre which equates to 25% of it’s traction, there’s no way you’d carry on driving the car, a similar figure is affecting global organisations. The blind spot is no longer a blind spot unless you’re looking at your own engagement data and thinking that everything is all fine and dandy! Here’s the challenge with internal engagement surveys, most people don’t trust that they are confidential and hence don’t speak their truth when filling out the questionnaire, so you end up with a distorted view.
My car is due for a service and I’ve been ignoring the annoying sign that pops up as a reminder each time I start the car and even though I have this as a constant alert I still haven’t booked it in!
Now, here’s the funny thing, I know I can’t leave this unchecked for much longer, in fact I’m going to book it today. I’m writing this article because it made me stop and think about whether Leaders get themselves checked out and updated with the latest operating and thinking systems.
I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the manager who had been working in the same role for 23 years, who lost out on a promotion to a so called high flyer who had been in the business for 7 years, the manager complained as they didn’t understand how this had happened as they had 23 years experience! The feedback was that the decision makers didn’t believe the manager had 23 years of experience at all, they thought that he had 1 year of experience x 23 times, this individual hadn’t grown.
I won’t get into the lack internal feedback within that company that would have helped them develop as a leader, as it’s another article but hopefully you get my point.
I know from my own experience when I worked as a manager many years ago that out of 19 managers only a select few jumped into more senior roles, at the time I didn’t understand what you needed to do get ahead and become part of the talent pool. In fact, I must admit I was confused as to why as a high performer I wasn’t being spotted and certainly didn’t understand why I wasn’t being developed.
With hindsight, I now know that my blindspot was myself, I was sat there thinking, why aren’t I being developed? And expected the powers to be to pick me out. What I missed at the time was that I didn’t take personal development very seriously at the time, I wasn’t buying books on how to develop myself as a leader, I didn’t put myself on external programmes that would have accelerated me forward in my career, I got stuck thinking it was someone else’s job to develop me!
So what are the answers?
Well, we’ve pulled together what we believe to be a powerful one day event for leaders who want to do something about this and explore how to plug the gaps and accelerate their business in a sustainable way.
Click here to learn more about our 8 Steps to World Class Performance Event in London on the 25th November
8 Steps to World Class Performance
Or learn more about our business The Long and the Short of it which focuses on Developing Individuals, Teams and Organisations in a sustainable way.
Here’s a link to the Stanford Study on Coaching CEO’s
Here’s a link to the Gallup Engagement Survey
