EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STARTS HERE

Have You Earned the Right to Lead?

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STARTS HEREIn today’s competitive work environment, organizations need to move beyond just trying to motivate their employees towards creating an environment of engagement. An engaged workforce has higher levels of

commitment to the organization, lower levels of intention to turnover, and higher rates of satisfaction.

Leaders are the individuals in the organization who set the tone and culture, and influence his or her employees to reach the goals of the organization.

So …. as one with the title of leader, have you earned the right to lead?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHT TO LEAD?

You can’t engage and mobilize employees if aren’t viewed as a leader. There are key questions you can ask

yourself (and, if you’re brave, your employees) to see how you’re really doing.

Ready?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Am I competent?People have differing definitions of

competence in their leaders. Do you know what your employees believe truly shows competence?

What do you believe shows competence?

Do you think your employees believe you are competent?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Am I credible?What does it take to be credible in your

organization?

Who must believe in you?

How do you feel personally about your knowledge, experience, skill, and commitment?

How do your employees view your credibility?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

I demonstrate personal commitment.

How do you define this?

Do you agree with this statement?

Would your employees agree with this statement?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Do I have character and integrity?

How is it visible to your employees?

How do you want it to show to your employees?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHT TO LEAD?

Am I resilient?

How do you define resiliency?

Are you resilient?

Do your employees understand your definition?

Are they willing to buy-in to it?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD? Do I serve?

Is there a greater purpose to your work? How is that communicated to others in your organization?

Is there a greater purpose to your conversations with employees?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Do I care about my employees?

How do you show this?

How do your employees want to be shown caring?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Am I committed to my employees’ success?

What would that commitment look like for you?

What is your definition of employee success?

Is your definition aligned with your employees’ definition?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Do I admit mistakes?

Vulnerability is humanizing and endearing, and also provides lessons learned. Are you willing to admit mistakes you’ve made?

What do you think the response will be from your employees if you step into this type of vulnerability?

How will that move your organization forward?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHT TO LEAD?

Do I lead by going first and setting the example?

Walking the talk is a somewhat tired cliché.

Do you show tangible evidence of setting the example of what you expect?

Do your employees recognize your example?

Do your employees follow your example?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Do I seek respect even if I am not always popular?

What type of respect do you want from your employees?

What behaviors might have to change in order to garner it?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD? Do my words and deeds match?

Communicating and acting congruently should be easy, right? Not always. And your employees are always watching you as the leader.

Where does it get difficult?

How can you communicate congruence in actions and conversations?

How might this behavior be inculcated into the organization?

What benefit might that have?

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?Asking these questions can positively affect your effectiveness as a leader, which can also translate to bottom line results improvements.

HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHTTO LEAD?

Questions like those are a great start to building employee engagement. You make the difference. Although engaged employees have

consistently been shown to be more productive, profitable, safer, healthier, and less likely to leave their employer (Fleming & Asplund, 2007; Wagner &

Harter, 2006), only 30% of the global workforce

is engaged (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999; Harter et al., 2002; Saks, 2006; Wagner & Harter, 2006)

We work with leaders to mobilize and engage employees.

We welcome further discussion! Contact us at:

Sandi Gordon, Founder & CEOGordon Executive Coaching Group, LLC

(254) 793-0101 (office)

Email: sandi@executivecoachaustin.comWebsite: executivecoachaustin.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sandigordon/ Twitter: @sandigordon