At a time when workers feel a sense of disconnect with their jobs and companies--a September 2015 Gallup Poll recorded U.S. employee engagement levels at thirty one percent, with almost twenty percent of employees actively disengaged--it's vital that leaders of organizations be able to recognize how their own behaviors and egos might be contributing factors.
Asked to describe an ideal team or organizational culture, most employees will use words like supportive, transparent, authentic, collaborative, and trusting, yet when asked to describe their company's actual culture, they will use words such as competitive, political, territorial, untrusting, and conflict averse. If leaders know the culture they want, why do so many organizations struggle to create that environment?
Interpersonal conflicts are a fact of business whether they involve subordinates, peers, suppliers or boards of directors. Resolving those conflicts with a win-win mindset can unlock untold dividends in the form of a shared sense of purpose and commitment according to "EGO FREE LEADERSHIP: Ending the unconscious habits that hijack your business", by business executive Brandon Black and executive coach Shayne Hughes.
Black's case is not unique since "fish always sink at the head."
Once he resolved to acknowledge how his behavior was creating organizational dysfunction and took corrective measures, the impact on the company's performance was dramatic. Between 2009 and 2013, while many in his industry closed their doors during the Great Recession, Encore's revenues and profits increased 300%, operating cost declined 30%, and the stock price rose 1,200%.
EGO FREE LEADERSHIP provides an in-depth examination of the habits and beliefs that hold executives and their teams back and offers solutions to removing crippling ego dynamics.
Source: Brandon Black: Ego Free Leadership: Ending the Unconscious Habits that Hijack Your Business
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