Category Archives: Leadership Behaviors

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Leadership Development

Are You Showing Up Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally as a Leader?

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Mirror“Showing up every day isn’t enough. There are a lot of guys who show up every day who shouldn’t have shown up at all.” —James Caan

Leadership isn’t about just being a warm body; it’s about showing up mentally, physically, and emotionally for your people. This is what makes you the type of leader that people follow willingly. So, are you showing up?

Mentally

When you show up mentally for your employees, you invest yourself into developing them into the best that they can be. As a leader, you need to focus on effective training, developing a pleasant working environment, and showing employees that you value their contributions. When grow your employees, your ability to lead effectively will also grow.

Physically

When you show up physically for your employees, you do not look down on them from a lofty office; you roll up your sleeves and get out on the floor. Your front line employees need to see you in the trenches with them, gaining an understanding of what their tasks require and what works and doesn’t work. When employees see you out on the floor with them, not to judge or micromanage, but to learn and support, you will earn their trust and respect.

Emotionally

When you show up emotionally for your employees, you get to know each of them on an individual basis. You start caring about them both professionally and personally. You get to know their strengths, their weaknesses, their aspirations, and their fears. When you show up emotionally for your employees, you become a source of support, understanding, and encouragement for them.

How are You Showing Up?

Just showing up every day isn’t enough. In order to be an effective leader who inspires others to follow willingly, you must show up for your employees mentally, physically, and emotionally. Invest in their development, spend time out on the floor with them, and offer them support on an individual level. So, how are you showing up?

 

 

© 2016 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors

Are You There for Your People?

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sheep“Too many leaders act as if the sheep…their people… are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.” —Ken Blanchard

Do your leadership behaviors tell your employees that you see them as a tool to achieve your own goals? Or, do they think you see them as an important part of the team? Are they there to serve you? Or, are you there to serve them? Effective leaders are a benefit to their employees. This benefit is not based on the perception of the leader; it is based on the perception of the employees. So, do your employees know you are there for them or do they think they are there just for you?

Trust

Trust is a two-way street. It’s not only important that your employees trust you to do what is in their best interest, but that you trust them. How does your behavior signal employees that you trust them? Leaders who trust their employees allow them to have control over their own work. They allow them to make decisions and take action without being micromanaged. When employees know that you trust them, they feel that you are there for them and they see your leadership as a benefit.

Investment

When you invest your time and resources in developing your employees it shows them that they are valued. We are drawn to people who want the best for us and are willing to invest their strengths in helping us achieve our goals. When you are willing to invest in your employees, helping them to become the best that they can be, you are demonstrating that you are there for them.

Community

When you develop a sense of community employees feel like they belong. Community brings us together and motivates us to work toward the good of the whole. When employees know they are part of a community that you have created and support they feel safe and believe that you, as a leader, are there for them.

Be There

To be an effective leader your employees must know that you are there for them. When they know that your leadership is beneficial it gives you the power and influence you need to be a successful leader. If your employees feel that you see them only as a tool for accomplishing your own goals, they will close themselves off from you and your attempts to influence them will be ineffective. Develop mutual trust with your employees. Invest your time and resources into their development. And, develop the sense of community where employees know they are safe and part of something bigger than themselves. Let your people know that you are there for them.

 

 

© 2016 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

Inspire, Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Teach

Go Beyond Leadership: Teach and Inspire

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teach“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

No one wants to work, day in and day out, carrying out meaningless tasks that feed the passion and vision of someone else. People want to feel engaged in work that is meaningful to them, where they know they are adding value. When you focus on the task of leadership, you often alienate your employees. As a leader, you have a unique opportunity to step beyond leadership and become a teacher. When you serve your employees in a teaching role, you inspire and engage them. So, how can you step up your leadership to teach and inspire?

Offer challenge

Talented employees want to be challenged and engaged. They don’t want all the answers and every solution provided for them. They want the opportunity to identify problems, tackle issues, and make decisions related to their work for themselves. When you offer challenges to your employees, not only do you show that you trust them but, you make their work more exciting; when their work is more exciting they become more engaged; and, when they are engaged they are eager to learn new skills and gain new knowledge.

Provide meaning

Employees need to find meaning in their work. They need to know that their contribution is making a difference. This cannot be your meaning; work must be meaningful to employees on an individual basis. They need to see the big picture and understand the important role they play in that big picture. When employees feel that their work is meaningful, motivation switches from external to internal. Meaningful work provides inspiration, and inspiration motivates employees to put more effort into their performance. High performing employees are always looking for ways to develop and to learn which improves themselves, the team, and the organization.

Support growth

Employees want opportunities to grow. When you serve in the role of a teacher you invest your time and resources into helping others become the best they can be. Growth requires exposure to new experiences, continual training, opportunities to use new knowledge and skills, and the leeway to fail and learn from that failure. The more employees grow, the greater their potential for future growth and the greater their contribution to the organization.

Share vision

At the end of the day, successful leaders are the ones who effectively lay out their vision and then get employees to buy into that vision heart and soul. When you serve employees as a teacher and a mentor, you inspire them to make your vision their own. With a shared vision, employees become more dedicated, teams become more committed, and the organization thrives.

Teach and Inspire

Effective leadership goes beyond dictating and directing employees and tasks. It requires stepping beyond the traditional role of the transactional leader to that of a teacher. When you become a teacher and mentor who offers challenge, provides meaning, supports growth, and shares vision you inspire your employees. And, inspired employees will take pride in their work, they will respect the goals of the organization, and they will give 110% in pursuit of those goals.

 

 

© 2016 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

Habits, Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Leadership Development

Take Your Leadership off Autopilot

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autopilot off“Very often, human beings are living like on autopilot, reacting automatically with what happens. What interests me about the life of an explorer is you are in the unknown; you are out of your habits.” —Bertrand Piccard

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

Autopilot is about habit. It’s about operating based on habit rather than consciously responding to the situation and circumstances surrounding you. When you are in autopilot mode, it’s like you have blinders on; you miss many signs, symptoms, and opportunities. Autopilot plays a role in every area of our lives. It becomes particularly concerning when it starts to impact the behaviors of leaders. So, how can you take your leadership off autopilot?

Be curious

When you are curious you seek out the new, the unknown, the interesting. To the curious leader, the blinders of autopilot are too restrictive; they are thrown aside and exchanged for a new perspective of curiosity. Curiosity helps keep you from operating out of habit.

Be present

When you are present you pay attention to the details of what is happening here and now. When you pay attention your autopilot is shut down. Being present as a leader keeps your focus on what is happening and this laser focus helps prevent you from unconsciously falling into your ordinary habits.

Be engaged

When you are engaged, you are actively participating. Active participation turns off autopilot. It boosts the energy and excitement in which you approach your leadership. When you are engaged it’s much easier to act purposefully rather than out of habit.

Break the Habit

Step out of your habits and into the unknown. Take off the blinders and start being curious. Become focused and present. Be engaged, becoming an active participant in your leadership. It’s time to break the habit and take your leadership off autopilot.

 

© 2016 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Leadership Development

Are You Checking in or Checking Out?

checklist 2

 

A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. – John Maxwell

 

 

Employee engagement is as vital to your success as a leader as ever. When a Gallup survey reports that only 30 percent of U.S. employees are engaged in their work what do you think that says about leadership engagement?

The question we would like to pose to you is simply this: are you checking in or checking out as a leader in the way you engage your people? Your answer matters because in it reside signals not just to your leadership style but to the health of your organization.

Here are a series of questions we would like to pose to you for your consideration; a check-up if you will as to your engagement levels with your people and the state of your leadership effectiveness.

Do you know your employees on an individual basis?

Like any smart leader in business you make it a priority to know your customer. Knowing your target audience is critical to your bottom line. If it is important to you to know your customer does it not stand to reason that you should know the people serving your customer?

When you don’t take the time to get to know your employees on an individual basis, it clearly shows that you don’t care. How hard will an employee work for a leader who does not care? You will not get anywhere near the productivity or quality you need from employees if you do not show that you care about their well-being.

Check-In Tip: Get to know your employees on an individual basis. How are their families? What are their hobbies? How was their recent vacation?

Do you know what is happening on the ground level?

One of the dangers leaders can find themselves in is being too far removed from the front lines of the operation. We understand that the responsibilities you face as a leader in part take you away from the front lines so it must be a priority for you to return.

There is no way for you to know everything; when you distance yourself from what is happening on the ground level it’s like putting blinders on. What issues might slip by you? What opportunities might you miss?

Check-In Tip: Get out on the floor; make your presence the norm. Be observant and engaged with what is happening on the ground level.

Do you have the right people in the right positions?

Your effectiveness as an organization is realized not when you have a lot of people but when you have the right people in the right place. When people play to their strengths and are passionate about what they do then your organization will excel.

None of your employees want to be just a warm body, and most of your tasks require some form of specialized knowledge or skill. When you give little thought to where employees can make the greatest contribution to the organization, you are crippling your operations and minimizing the importance of individual contributions.

Check-In Tip: Learn where your employees’ strengths lie. Then place them in positions where they will be engaged and challenged while making the greatest contribution to the organization.

Can your employees count on you?

The people in your organization need to know that you are a leader who is reliable and will have their backs. You foster trust and earn respect not merely by your words but in your day-to-day actions that demonstrate your commitment to their success.

If your employees don’t feel they can count on you, we’d be willing to bet that they won’t go out of their way to be there for you either. If you send the message to your employees that it’s every man for himself, be prepared to be left standing on your own.

Check-In Tip: Show your employees that you have their backs; knowing that they can count on you is a key factor in gaining the trust and respect you need to be an effective leader.

So, are you checking in or are you checking out? As a leader, you are setting the example for employees to follow. If you are not connecting with your employees and engaging in operations at the ground level, your employees will follow suit. And, disengaged employees do not reflect well on any leader and do not benefit the organization as a whole.

 

© 2016 Liz Stincelli and Doug Dickerson

 

810_1736Liz Stincelli is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. She holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership. Learn more about Liz by visiting her website: www.stincelliadvisors.com

 

dougDoug Dickerson is an internationally recognized leadership speaker, columnist, and author. He is a contributor for The Las Vegas Tribune, Executive Secretary Magazine, Realizing Leadership magazine, and  The Daniel Island News to name a few. Read more at: DougDickerson.WordPress.com

Culture, Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Partnerships, Success, Trust

Are You Creating Supportive Partnerships with Your Employees?

DSC04777“It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.” —Fred Allen

 

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

We can accomplish nothing notable alone. We need, as Fred Allen states in the quote above, to form mutually supportive partnerships. This applies both to our personal and our professional lives. In your organization, as the leader, these partnerships must start with you. You must create an environment where support can thrive. You must show your team that you have trust in their abilities and encourage them to develop trust in each other. You must build strong relationships inspire relationship building in others. You must focus on being of service and teaching others to also be of service.

Culture matters

In order to create supportive partnerships, you must establish a firm foundation that is embedded in the very culture of the organization. This culture must encourage and nourish mutually support partnerships at every level of the organization. Employees must know that they are part of a larger vision, that they matter, and that supporting each other is the secret to success.

Trust your team

Trust is a necessary component of supportive partnerships. One of the best ways you can show your support is to make sure everyone knows that you trust your team. When employees see that you have trust in team members, it gives them confidence in each other and allows them to learn to trust both you and their colleagues.

Build relationships

You can only create supportive partnerships if you truly know those who you should be supporting. You must build relationships with your employees on both a personal and a professional level. In turn, they must understand the importance and benefits of building strong relationships with each other.

Be of service

In order to create supportive partnerships, as a leader, you must set the example for your employees of the importance of being of service. You must provide for the needs of employees and serve as a coach, mentor, and cheerleader. Make sure they have access to the resources that they need. And, provide them with ample opportunity to be of service to others in the organization.

Nurture Supportive Partnerships

We are dependent on others for our individual success and the success of the whole. As the leader, you set the example. Entrench supportive partnerships into the culture of your organization. Develop a web of trust throughout your organization. Encourage the building of strong relationships. Be of service and offer opportunities for employees to serve others. When you, as a leader, nurture the creation of supportive partnerships within your organization you set everyone up for success.

 

 

© 2016 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

Great Organizations, Leadership, Leadership Behaviors

How Do You Build a Great Organization?

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“The distance between number one and number two is always a constant. If you want to improve the organization, you have to improve yourself and the organization gets pulled up with you. That is a big lesson. I cannot just expect the organization to improve if I don’t improve myself and lift the organization, because that distance is a constant.” —Indra Nooyi

 

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

Building a great organization is about leadership. And, leadership is about you. As Indra Nooyi tells us in the above quote,” If you want to improve the organization, you have to improve yourself…” So, where should you start?

Get clear on your values

Building a great organization requires leaders and employees to embody shared values. Before you can build a culture on shared values, you better get clear on your values as a leader. What’s important to you? Why does it matter? Once you have identified the values that you are truly committed to, you can start developing a culture around those values and building a great organization.

Get your ego in check

If you want to build a great organization, get your ego in check. Leadership is not about your personal glory. It’s about achieving shared success. So, stop taking all the credit and start empowering and recognizing your employees and their contributions instead. When your employees know that their efforts are recognized and appreciated, they will give 110% towards making your organization great. So, stop thinking it’s all about you and make sure your employees know that it’s about them.

Ask the right questions

If you want a great organization you must start asking the right questions. You don’t have all the answers; you need to tap into the knowledge and experience of your employees. You must build trusting relationships where they feel comfortable giving you honest answers. A company of ‘yes’ men will never reach greatness. If you don’t ask the question, what might you miss? Your employees are your greatest asset. Make sure you are asking for their input.

Build your perseverance muscles

To build a great organization you, as a leader, must build your perseverance muscles. You must learn hang on tight while you struggle to find solutions to overcoming the obstacles you will inevitably encounter. Building a great organization requires the relentless, sustained, and passionate pursuit of long-term goals. There will be frustration, confusion, and some failures. But, you must keep the big picture in mind. Remember that there are always several paths to reaching the same goal so remain flexible and persevere even when times get tough.

Become part of an extraordinary team

Building a great organization requires you, as a leader, to become part of an extraordinary team. You can’t do it alone, and you can’t do it by surrounding yourself with those who are content to be average. Create an extraordinary team. Surround yourself with those who are smarter and more talented than you. Don’t feel threatened; feel excited about the limitless possibilities.

It Starts with You

What separates a great organization from an average one? It all starts with you. Get clear on your values, check your ego at the door, start asking the right questions, build your perseverance muscles, and create an extraordinary team to surround yourself with. Focus on how you can improve yourself and you will pull your organization up with you.

 

 

© 2015 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the CEO of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Status Quo

Four Ways to Overthrow the Status Quo

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pumpkin-cage“I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.” —Niccolo Machiavelli

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

No one ever succeeded by simply maintaining the status quo. The key to success is to constantly be growing, be changing, and be improving. In order to do these things, you must learn to not only question, but as Niccolo Machiavelli stated, overthrow the status quo. Here are four things you can do to get started.

New questions

One of the most obvious ways to overthrow the status quo is to start asking new questions. Ask questions about yourself, about your team, about your processes, about your goals, about the marketplace, and about your competition. Asking new questions helps keep you from falling into unproductive habits. Ask questions of others; encourage honest answers. Ask about plans and projects. Ask about the organization. Why do we do things this way? Does it work? Is there a better approach?

New people

You must understand that your own biases drive the way you view situations and the decisions that you make. To overthrow the status quo, try surrounding yourself with new people, the right people who can help you see through your biases. Build new relationships and get other people involved. Build yourself a team of subject matter experts and then learn to rely on their expert advice.

New information

You can’t know everything. To overthrow the status quo, embrace curiosity and learning as part of your daily routine. Seek out new and valuable information, not just what you want to hear or information that substantiates what you already believe. Evaluate your failures and mistakes. What can you learn from them? What new information do they provide you with?

New point-of-view

The world we work in is changing at breakneck speeds. In order to remain competitive, you must learn to look at situations from a new point-of-view. You must learn how to have a perspective that is fluid and flexible. A fixed position will no longer serve anyone’s best interest. Use a new vantage point to help overthrow the status quo.

Overthrow the Status Quo

Don’t default to the status quo; it won’t address the challenges to success that you will face. Use new questions, people, information, and points-of-view to reexamine situation, goals, processes, and ways of thinking. It’s a new world, one in which the environment you are operating in is changing fast. If you want to keep up, overthrow the status quo.
© 2015 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the CEO of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

 

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Success

Four Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way

DSC09374-B“You’ve gotta find a way to get out of your own way, so you can progress in life.” —Steve Carlton

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

How much would you benefit from becoming more self-aware of the behaviors that cause you to stand in your own way? Would your focus change? Could you learn to be more curious, agile, proactive, and prepared to overcome challenges? Here are four ways to get out of your own way so you can thrive.

Let go of your ego and pride

First, you must let go of your ego. Your ego and pride will alienate those you need on your side; no one succeeds alone. They will taint your perception of reality. And, they will bias your decisions.

Challenge the status quo

The status quo is the enemy of progress. Once you have set aside your ego, you must challenge the status quo. Get comfortable with the idea of change, develop a positive attitude, and stop settling for the status quo.

Learn from your mistakes and failures

One of the keys to success is to continually learn; and, one of the best ways to learn is from your mistakes and failures. Now that you have removed the status quo barrier to progress, you need to pull together all of the lessons learned from your past mistakes. Admit vulnerability, recognize where your opportunities lie, and get comfortable with failure.

Recognize your weaknesses

Once you have thought through your past mistakes and recognize the lessons you have learned, you must recognize and admit your weaknesses. Again, no one succeeds alone; who will you need to help you accomplish your goals? Surround yourself with the right people and engage others in contributing to mutual success.

What Are You Waiting For?

So, how long are you going to stand in your own way? Let go of your ego, challenge the status quo, learn from your mistakes, and recognize your weaknesses. Get out of your own way so you can thrive.

 

 

© 2015 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the CEO of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

 

 

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors

Why Do Your Employees Hate You?

Hate written out in red beads

“A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.” —Nelson Mandela

 

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

 

I am surprised when managers act shocked to find out that their employees don’t like them. You have to remember that the way you think affects your behavior and your behavior determines how your employees react to you. If you don’t pay close attention to your thoughts this can become a vicious cycle. So, why do your employees hate you?

You think your title makes you a leader

I can tell you that one of the biggest factors that causes employees to hate you as their manager is if you think that your title makes you a leader. You don’t become a leader just because you get placed in a management position. Leadership is something that you grow into and earn. Chances are that if you think your title makes you a leader, you also think it entitles you to power. You may have control over rewards or consequences that give you the power to accomplish short-term tasks. This, however, does not equate to long-term power that is earned through respect.

They don’t trust you

If you don’t trust your employees, they won’t trust you. People like people they trust. Animosity is created when your employees’ notice that you think you know more than them, you stop listening to what they have to say, and you are always keeping score. When it appears that you do not trust them, they stop engaging with you even when you ask them questions. They don’t feel like they can be themselves around you. You can’t command trust and respect, you have to give it first and then earn it.

You fail to build relationships

Even if you had strong relationships at some point, when you were promoted you may have become distant and bureaucratic. Your relationships may have become superficial and fake; employees can see right through your facade. After making the move into a management position, it is easy to forget what it’s like to be the low man on the totem pole or working on the front lines. You fail to build relationships on an individual basis where each employee knows that you care about them personally. If you start relying on email as your main form of communication you lose that face-to-face interaction that can be so important to relationship building. You don’t encourage, welcome, ask for, or act on feedback which reinforces the perception that you don’t care what your employees have to say.

You have something to prove

You think that leadership requires you to make sure everyone knows you’re in charge. In fact, it is quite the opposite. If you need to prove that you are in charge, you’re not a leader. You feel you have something to prove, all the time. You’re smarter, stronger, braver, or more powerful; it’s always something. You default to the use of fear and intimidation when you feel you’re not getting the respect you think you deserve. And, you never admit when you are wrong. No one likes a know-it-all. If you are always trying to one-up your employees, chances are they will start to hate you.

You don’t value their contributions

When you think you’re all that, you tend to minimize the contributions of others. When you don’t recognize the value of your employees’ contributions or reward them for a job well done their distaste for you grows. If you don’t recognize their value you will fail to challenge them or engage their creativity. Everyone wants to feel that their contributions are valued and that their efforts are worthwhile.

Turn it Around

So, now you know some of the main reasons your employees might hate you, what can you do to turn it around? Start by recognizing that you become a manager by being promoted or hired into that position, but you become a leader by focusing on the needs of others rather than gaining power for yourself. Show your employees that you trust them and their abilities, communicate openly, and stop keeping score. Remember that you are not a leader if you need to prove that you are in charge. And finally, recognize that every employee adds value. Leadership is influence, and you can’t influence those who hate you. Pay close attention to your thoughts for they will become your behavior. Turn it around.

 

 

© 2015 Elizabeth Stincelli

 

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the CEO of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.