VIM Executive Coaching has come across many executive leaders who, unfortunately, cannot fathom why they have been passed over for promotion, isolated, or as our friends in the U.K. say, “Been made redundant.”
When we probe a bit more deeply on first meeting, many of these fine folks seek to blame others for not listening to their advice or respecting their accomplishments. We are aware that in some organizations, arrogance coupled with poor listening skills and a lack of authenticity are the rule rather than exception. Nevertheless, in most situations an executive leader who claims a podium and badgers everyone to “mark their words,” is almost always the cause of their own undoing.
Mark your words, why?
Executive leadership has undergone dramatic shifts over the years and it’s not only a digital transformation. Hard-charging executive leaders were once the norm following major conflicts such as WWII however, as the decades have rolled past, wiser executive leaders have seen themselves in greater roles as mentors, advisors and guiding forces. It is not to say that modern executive leaders are weak or indecisive, but that they have learned and internalized that it is far better for them to be themselves, then take on a role they believe will gain more respect.
There is no true, executive leader type in terms of commanding respect and compliance. The old model, dare we say, focused on submission. Leaders issued orders much like generals, with the chain of command required to comply, and almost without question. The problem that comes with this style of leadership is that the organization becomes stodgy and intimidating.
A 2022 leadership style must be more open to change and responsive by the nature of the present workplace. Clearly, hybrid workplaces, increased environmental awareness, outsourcing, contract labor, remote offices, issues of diversity and inclusion and technology itself, require a different kind of leader.
Respect is earned
If ever a phrase such as respect is earned and not commanded is important, it is now. For any executive leader to be blindly reactive and intransient in this period, is to be a set-up for failure. That is often what eventually occurs to that type of executive leader. The failure to be responsive and mindful of what is transpiring – and to be inauthentic and inflammatory will simply not work any longer.
Why should an executive leader leave the podium and start authentically listening to input? If for no other reason, the other type of leadership, the “mark my words” leadership, is no longer connecting with employees. The reactive workplaces of 2020 and prior led to “The Great Resignation,” and it is still occurring.
Much more than that, organizations are under scrutiny as never before. Whether employees raise issues in regard to diversity, unsafe working conditions, workplace bullying, stock price manipulation or any other factors, to not listen or to be un-mindful, will surely invite problems.
The truth is, in the modern workplace, no one is listening when the executive leader is failing to listen. Mindfulness is about flexibility, resilience, change management and mindset. We are all at an organizational crossroads, and that is what we make clear to VIM Executive Coaching clients.
No one will listen to an executive who insists that one path is the only path to be taken. Organizations now want to know “why?” It can be a bitter pill to swallow, but ultimately it is the best medicine. There is a beauty and respect that comes to mindful executives who is willing to listen.