I recently had the pleasure of facilitating a Myth of Employee Burnout development session with a group of young leaders. Because burnout is not something that is fixed overnight, I asked the participants what they were committed to doing after the session. To take it a step further, I offered to follow up with them on a date of their choosing to see how things were going.
When I got home and read through their responses, two things were very evident.
- These folks are highly committed to taking their leadership skills to the next level.
- As leaders of leaders, this list gives us a wonderful bit of insight into how we can help develop the leaders that report to us.
Transitioning into a leadership role is hard enough, then when you realize that you are now responsible for developing other leaders, it can be very daunting.
Here is the list of things that the young leaders I worked with said they are committed to (and we can help with):
- Seeking out the opinions of my employees and listen to their suggestions.
- Help address issues before they become problems.
- I would like to have knowledge about what to do when a policy is violated. I would actually like to have knowledge of my job altogether.
- Be a better leader (4x)
- Keeping my visible anger outside of work
- Help my team perform at a higher standard and understand why.
- Grow to not feel behind the 8 ball and be more confident as a leader.
- Being more involved in the training of employees
- Doing more 1-on-1 development
- Provide a positive environment for both my guests and employees
- Become a better supervisor; learn how to talk to other leaders and employees when delivering positive and negative reinforcement
- I would like to have a better level of teamwork amongst my employees
- Finding the answers – never let an employees’ question go unanswered.
- Learning what goes on outside of my area.
The other thing this shows is that these leaders WANT the follow-up, they WANT to know how they are doing and they WANT someone to check up on them. By filling out this form and turning it in, they are saying, “Please help me achieve this.” If you have read any of my other posts about feedback and thought, “they don’t really need or want that”… think again. This isn’t ME saying it, it’s your employees.
In the spirit of full transparency, I will tell you that not every leader that was in this session turned in a commitment form. It was a voluntary action, and some chose not to. Doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t as committed as others, but it does prove that leaders at all levels are still individuals, and you may need to approach their development a little differently.
This also means that this list is a starting point, not the be-all, end-all. Just like your front line employees, leaders need individual attention and development, and it’s up to you to determine the best way you can help.
Thanks for reading!
About the author: Matt is constantly asking himself, “how can I help leaders lead?” Hopefully this blog is a good start but if you need more help, say with a development session for your team, an interactive keynote at a conference or 1-on-1 coaching, Matt does that, too. For a veritable plethora of ways to contact him, click here.
Matt Heller - Performance Optimist 