I Run This Place; Of Course I’m a Leader!

Last time I shared something I first heard John Maxwell say more than a decade ago regarding voluntary turnover, “Some sources estimate that as many as 65% of people leaving companies do so because of their managers… The ‘company’ doesn’t do anything negative to them. People do. Sometimes coworkers cause the problems that prompt people to leave. But often the people who alienate employees are their direct supervisors.”

While that should grab our attention, I think many of us can gloss over it without really considering just how accurate this statement is or how much profit is lost from this alone…

Before we look at any specific numbers though, I want to make sure you’re with me on this. How many times have you heard someone referred to as a “leader” simply because they’re in a position of authority, making decisions that impact others, without having the first bit of authentic leadership ability - let alone influence with the people around them who they’re responsible for leading? Gosh, many of them somehow get elected into those positions; others get promoted into those roles based on their sheer hard work or their technical expertise; and some are in those spots because the last name is on the sign and they’re the heir-apparent. Are you with me???

While all of those things certainly carry authority, authority that often has a significant impact on the people that fall under it, we shouldn’t immediately equate it to leadership! That person may be managing, they may be supervising, or they may even be dictating, but those are all different from leading! This is where self awareness plays such a critical role in bridging the gaps between any of those necessary roles and earning the influence we need to lead effectively.

Really quick while you’re thinking about, whose was the first face that popped into your mind as you read that and heard the title of this message in their voice, “I run this place; of course I’m a leader…”? The real question I should be asking is How many people did you picture? Seriously though, would any of your team members picture you?

In an article I found on Forbes.com called Great Leadership Starts with Self Awareness, I found a few things that grabbed my attention. The first referenced how self awareness of the folks in leadership roles impacts an organization’s overall profitability; we’ll circle back that shortly. The other was specific to just how uncommon self awareness is even with folks who are tasked with leading! The article shared, “In a study of 17,000 individuals worldwide, the Hay Group Research found that 19 percent of women executives interviewed exhibited self-awareness as compared to 4 percent of their male counterparts.” While men seemed to be lacking in this area far more than their female peers, even the percentage of women who are self aware as leaders is scary-low!

So what about profitability? The same article mentioned that, “In a study of the stock performance of 486 publicly traded companies, Korn/Ferry International found that companies with strong financial performance tend to have employees with higher levels of self-awareness than poorly performing companies.” Since the link to the Korn/Ferry study didn’t work, I couldn’t find their specific numbers but let’s circle back to John’s quote… 

Assuming you’ve changed jobs at least once in your career, did a lack of self awareness in the “leader” you reported to play any role at all in your decision? Over the last twenty years, nearly every new role I’ve taken on has been for the opportunity to learn a new skill and advance my career. That said, each of those decisions - with one exception - was far easier because of a reporting relationship to a less than self aware leader! While I can’t say for sure, I’m guessing that’s played a role in at least one job change you’ve made at some point in your career too.

Just about every time I share a lesson on recruitment or retention, I share the average costs a company with just 100 employees incurs annually based on Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers; around a half million dollars as a low number. Here’s what I want you to consider now: what did it cost the company you left to replace you? Because you’ve stuck with this far, I’m going to assume you take pride in your work and perform well above average! When that’s the case, I’ve often seen companies have to hire multiple people to fill one person’s role. And that almost always doubles or triples the overall salary involved before even considering the time and productivity lost filling the position and getting the new folks up to speed…

With all that in mind, wouldn’t it make sense to make an intentional investment into helping every leader we interact with become more self aware? I sure think it would, so we'll start looking at some strategies for that next time…