by Therese Johansson

When I work with employees, I am fascinated by how some managers express themselves to their employees. This of course applies to how employees express themselves to colleagues, but today I will focus on managers. I'm the first to say that I'm not perfect, but I promise that I'll take the responsibility to train myself to become a slightly better version of myself.

Leadership for profitability

What amazes me is that some managers, who should have access to silver tape, trumpet their opinions without having any insight into how the message goes down to the recipient. Several times I have pointed out that manager/leadership is there to create a sustainable, productive and profitable business both in terms of soft and hard assets. I believe that not taking responsibility and practicing leadership for the benefit of the staff is just as unbelievable as a machine technician not staying "up to date" on new technology, this to ensure that his machine park is sustainable and productive. To put it bluntly, it has a direct impact on profitability if the manager/leadership affects their human capital in a way that causes it to decrease in productivity or capacity. We do not get the full effect of what we invest per hour, which means that we need more resources for the same amount of work and this affects profitability negatively.

Employees with integrity

Many employees have an incredible respect for management and therefore the courage to set limits for their integrity may be lacking. In order to create courage among the employees, I use humor and call the management, who settle for a title and thus do not develop their leadership, "Gruff Gruff leadership". Gaining the trust of one's employees requires a dose of humility and in my eyes it is precisely the trust grade that shows that I deserve my title.

What do I define as Gruff Gruff leadership? Well, it's when you don't have the sensitivity to listen to the temperature of your organization. We can't make everyone happy, but when the manager/leadership creates fireworks that negatively affect the workforce, which means that they become irritated, unmotivated and upset - then we have set the ship on the wrong course. For me, it is the interplay between the manager/leadership and the employees that creates magic in our organizations, then you cannot run the "lord on the block" method. We get to beautifully take our responsibility and invite you to dance, which means we practice being in sync. When I develop employees, I emphasize that it is just as much the employee's responsibility to say how the boss/leader is perceived to make this interaction work. The quote below comes from a brave employee who so beautifully said “-I put the crap back where it came from”.

Exceptional interaction

This week, a client called me and told me that a manager/leader from a completely different organization than the one he belonged to had asked my mentee if he could give him coaching. My mentee had gratefully accepted this offer and told me that the manager/leader had taken the time to, in an uplifting and constructive way, make my mentee realize that it was time for transfers to achieve a higher level of value to the organization.

Every boss/leader has a choice who they want to be… I know what boss/leadership I'm rooting for! I am happy and grateful that my client had such an incredibly talented manager/leader who took the responsibility to grow it with commitment even though it was not even in that manager's own organization. More of that kind of courage and responsibility in the company and I am very sure that sustainable entrepreneurship will grow...

Therese,
Owner and CEO at NLC