There was an article that really caught my attention this week. Written by Graham White, HR Director of Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, and published by People Management Magazine, the article was commenting on research from the Office of National Statistics 2012. This research revealed that ‘one in five employees are unhappy in their jobs’. It went on to explain that for many, one of the critical factors contributing to their degree of happiness (or not) at work is the relationship that they have with their boss. Graham White goes on to challenge us to ask ourselves what factors we should consider when deciding whether or not we should be putting up with a ‘bad boss’, and identifies three very important questions that we should be asking ourselves about our manager:
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- 1. Do they genuinely care about me?
- 2. Is their criticism of me accurate?
- 3. Are they making me better at my job?
It occurred to me that simply by reframing these three questions from the point of view of ‘the boss’, we would have an interesting mechanic from which to assess the degree to which we, as individuals, can consider ourselves to be authentic, charismatic leaders;
- 1. Do my employees believe that I genuinely care about them?
- 2. Do they recognise and accept that my criticism of them is accurate?
- 3. Do they feel that I am helping them to become better at their job?
Charismatic Leaders possess a highly developed level of sensory awareness of others, allowing them to be far more intuitive about their employee’s feelings towards them. Even more importantly, Charismatic Leaders have a clear insight into the effect that their personality and preferred leadership style is having on others. They will be aware of, and vigilant to, any potential area of friction in all of their important relationships. When you work for a charismatic leader you will feel that they genuinely care about you.
Charismatic Leaders recognise that if they are to create a truly high performance culture, employees must feel valued and secure. They are confident in their own abilities, in the support and trust of their own line management, and of the organisation as a whole. Because Charismatic Leaders possess high levels of self-esteem, and because their own ego drive doesn’t need to be bolstered with displays of power, or reassured by a need to feel secure (manifesting in micro-management or reluctance to delegate), they will take care to offer up only constructive criticism. When you work for a charismatic leader you will recognise and accept that any criticism of you is accurate, and is designed to help you develop and grow.
Charismatic Leaders empower and inspire employees to move from a mindset of survival (disengagement, resistance to change and performance coasting), to an attitude of growth (engagement, openness and high performance). Charismatic leaders possess a wonderful ability to create a powerful vision of a better place that compels us to strive to be the best that we can be – because we want to. This shared vision, coupled with a dynamic driving force that captivates and sweeps us along with them, often empowers us to achieve more than we ever would have believed ourselves capable of. I am sure that we will all be able to relate to situations within our own lives and careers when we have been pushed to operate beyond the self-imposed boundaries our own comfort zones. The chances are that we resisted at first, and the chances are also that, with the benefit of hindsight, we will recognise that it was on these occasions where we really grew, developed and achieved something to be proud of. When you work for a truly charismatic leader you will, above all else, feel that they are helping you to become better at your job.
A boss creates fear, a leader confidence,
A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes,
A boss knows all, a leader asks questions,
A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes in interesting.
Russell H Ewing
