Leaders in the throes of the Great Resignation, the Great Reshuffle or even the Leadership Revolution, are struggling to decide their next strategic move relative to their employees. My coaching recommendation: start with something simple.

This Week’s Edition

Departing employees are sharing a variety of perceived challenges in their exit interviews. A consistent theme being shared by their soon-to-be former employees is, “I don’t feel seen, valued or invested in.”

Clarify Your Thinking

When an employee leaves due to feeling undervalued, many leaders are devasted, in part, because they genuinely care about their team. Leaders work tirelessly to create a profitable business that provides meaningful work for everyone and a positive upbeat culture.  Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don’t, but their intentions are good.  

Therefore, when an employee cites lack of being valued, the leader takes it as a leadership referendum – a vote of no confidence. As a result, leaders begin to question their efficacy which leads to leadership doubt.

“Robin, I think the business is almost out of the woods relative to Covid. But, if we survive only to lose some of our most valued team members, it will all be for naught.”

Old Thinking: I value my team. I feel like I’m telling them all the time that I value them… are they not getting it?  Their reasons for leaving are not consistent and it’s leaving me boxing at shadows. I either want to fire them all or hang up my leadership hat.

New Thinking: I may not be wrong, but I might be missing something. I have enough data points to signal something is amiss. I earnestly want to do something to show them tangibly that I care; that I value them. 

Thoughts Lead to Actions

Apple TV recently released the second season of Ted Lasso, a show about an American football coach recruited to lead an English soccer team despite having no relevant experience.

Jason Sudeikis’ portrays Coach Lasso whose leadership approach is simple. It is so simple that no one takes him seriously, yet he consistently deploys textbook-style leadership that slowly impacts his team and eventually wins over even the most skeptical. 

Articles are being written about this fictional character’s leadership approach and its application to today’s leader who desperately needs to connect with their team.

Here is a sample of leadership lessons gleaned from coach Lasso:

·      Lead with empathy

·      Equality over hierarchy

·      Empowerment breeds confidence

·      Optimism is infectious

These are wonderful leadership lessons. How you choose to deploy them may look different than coach Lasso, but here is a simple way to start:

1.   Call your team member by their name ensuring that they know you see them.

2.   Build on this investment in your relationship by checking in with them frequently. Consistency will show them you really mean it.

3.   Resist the urge to think you don’t have time. You don’t have time to NOT do it. Either spend your time investing in them OR spend it looking for their replacement once they leave.

Tell your team, “I see you, I care about you and I am committed to your success.”

Boost Your Performance

As a leader, you are not immune from feeling undervalued. It’ll be difficult to demonstrate to your team that you value them when you might feel undervalued yourself, but you are the leader. Someone’s got to go first.

 When you take the time to show them that you value them, the relationship will grow. Feeling valued will cause them to value you. Watch this week’s video to see how value begets value. 

What’s Your Opinion?

In September, we are launching our next round of Leadership Cohorts for all levels of leaders. If you want to know more about how you can take your leadership to the next level email us at: cohort@robinpou.com.

Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!

Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist

If this was helpful, feel free to share it with another leader who needs to defeat doubt and complete their confidence.

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What is “The Confident Leader”?

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.