A few years ago I had in my hands an investigation on the development of leaders in Latin America carried out by the prestigious organization Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), which showed what was happening with the “managerial derailment”. The research was based on different patterns of dysfunctional behavior of the managerial population and to measure how managers in the region were affected by their derailment potential, a sample of around 500 Latin American managerial references was studied, who were evaluated on 5 factors. The general results yielded the following ranking:
- Too narrow a functional orientation (little global vision of the business).
- Difficulty building and leading the organization’s teams.
- Problems with interpersonal relationships.
- Failure to meet your business objectives.
- Difficulty changing or adapting to your environment or your boss.
He CCL The following actions are suggested for this diagnosis: 1.- Ensure that in your organization it is a priority to hold meetings to define, clearly communicate and monitor the objectives. 2.- Provide training on “communication upwards”, also beginning to break the power distance originated in hierarchical leadership paradigms. 3.- Help develop relationships between directors, managers and bosses to focus on development and feedback. 4.- Invest in self-awareness, supporting the creation of an organizational culture that promotes the search and effective implementation of feedback. 5.- Provide opportunities and guidance to staff for reflection and evaluation of strengths and opportunities for development.
And to further narrow the existing improvement gap for these five factors, what kind of leadership do we need in our organizations? All roads lead to Rome – close leaders are needed. The traditional managers of the corporate world are becoming obsolete. Ronald Heifetz himself speaks of “the era of social managers”, that is, leaders involved with people. Promoting a more humane culture requires leaders “with closeness”. But it’s not just any kind of closeness. The title of “leader with the smell of sheep” is the expression: “Be shepherds with the scent of sheep, shepherds in the midst of your flock.”. Do the people who run your organization smell like sheep? The more challenging the environment, the closer a good leader must be. And that closeness has three fundamental dimensions.
In principle describe the closeness physical: we may have a higher or lower hierarchical position, our responsibilities may be different, but deep down we are the same, with different roles. We are one. Physical closeness begins with the office or the “open doors” zoom, the one with the same chairs and desks. Of other shared common spaces.
We continue with emotional closeness: we are interested in people, we listen to them, we empathize, we communicate from understanding, and this does not imply that we must agree. Emotional closeness begins with the transparency of what we think, feel and say. How we behave and what emotions we generate in others through our actions.
Finally, state spiritual closeness: Because it is the most intangible, it is the most important. It is what we transmit through our authenticity, integrity and connection with others. It is the awareness that we all have the same basic needs, we share the same values. Spiritual closeness is the underlying goodwill in our communications and the contract with the truth.
Close leaders, leaders with a “sheep smell” create team spirit, commitment and a sense of belonging. We challenge the investigations of the CCLLet’s change the DNA of Latin American leaders. A close leader can calmly follow and take action on the five suggestions for improvement made by this prestigious institution. You can create profitable and healthy organizations at the same time. Fully recognizing that the relationship between well-being and engagement is vital because how people experience work influences their lives outside of work, and overall well-being influences life at work. In other words, well-being and engagement interact with each other in powerful ways.
Let’s complement the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) with the KPI (Keep People Inspired) Now, what is the degree of closeness that is breathed in your organization?
*By Gabriel Paradiso, Expert in leadership and organizational change. Lecturer and facilitator in Latin America. Writer and content curator. Author of the bestseller “Conscious Feedback”.
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