Leadership 101: The key component to managing a group of people.

You and I can be honest with each other right? If conventional “leadership” training worked, we’d be seeing a whole lot more employees staying with companies and a whole lot more equipped managers. But we aren’t seeing that.

Retaining people has proven harder and harder with the world's increase in prioritizing personal health and home life. 

I’ve heard many opinions on this, but ultimately I think it’s a wake up call for how leaders need to shift. There's a ton of push back because people no longer stay for a decent salary, benefits and a promise of a career. They want to be heard, seen, valued and given the space to live their life outside of work.

People want to see the vision and feel like an independent adult in the workplace. This requires leaders to start getting crystal clear on where they're headed and making sure their actions align with what they are asking from their team.

Otherwise people will leave and find a purpose somewhere else.

I think a lot of the resistance we are feeling stems from people in places of leadership that should not be there. I said we could be honest in this conversation right? Stick with me.

“Moving up the ladder” means you come in on the ground floor and get promoted and promoted until you’ve reached the pinnacle “manager” or “leader” status. And often companies will move people up because of time, not necessarily qualifications.

No, I am not talking about on paper qualifications. But personality types, how they see the world, how connected are they, do they just like to hear themselves talk or are they looking to lift those around them up? 

My personal view, this is the biggest question: Can they be in the background of a support role? Leadership is a glorified role, but do they actually understand that it means support? Behind the scenes? Lifting others up?

Not everyone is a natural people person, and that skill cannot be taught if the person trying to learn it doesn’t want to. Hence picking the right qualified people for those roles.

Which brings us to the topic; the key component of managing a group of people. Can you guess the answer yet? It’s………PEOPLE.

It’s not tactics, spreadsheets, KPI’s or meetings. Do those add value? Of course. But does it inspire? No. The 3 C’s of our framework here at Hugs N Hustle: Connection - Communication - Community. All which all add up to your Culture and culture drives retention.

Basic human skills are needed first in order to yield substantial results from the structure you’re trying to implement. 

That's the missing link, most companies work it backwards. Honestly most of us do, but when you strip away all the fancy assessments and cute acronyms, what do you have? Skill. A skill requires practice and practice requires consistency and consistency requires you to break and make a habit.

Keep it simple. Practice people skills. Please stop giving your power away to companies and consultants. Find a coach or company that will help you learn the skill and then apply it! Your team is more likely to follow you when you embody the change you want to see in them, first. 

P.S. if this resonated, lets work together!