It’s nothing new when Gallup talk about engaged colleagues being a key factor that contribute to better business results. Or stories of organisations like Patagonia who involve and truly listen to their people, respond accordingly, generating long term and enhanced outcomes. Or when Steven Bartlett and others share social media wisdom it all just makes sense. But why, when we know (and believe) the root causes of success for individuals, teams, and organisations, are there countless examples of where it goes wrong?

Yes, there will be lots of factors surrounding all these things but the extent to which people are involved, connected and engage with each other, and the organisation, is controllable. We can influence that. A couple of years ago, Naomi Stanford reflected on designing listening organisations. Is it critical to design in these capabilities? Is it mainly about how people are led?

Jim Collins, in his publication, How the Mighty Fall, highlights the 5 stages of decline for organisations and the various ‘markers’ that should make you question and reflect – are we heading on a decline? It is incredibly frustrating to be a part of something where you see senior leadership constantly ‘externalising blame’, blatantly ignoring facts or only using data to ‘amplify the positive and discount the negative’. Often a sudden, out of the blue, hire will join the ranks – we are all saved! Or silver bullets will be fired in all directions. We’ve witnessed these and challenged thinking. We’ve seen and heard others do the same. It reaches a point where an individual (a supposed cog in a big machine) has got to ask “can I change it?” – if the answer is no, then “can I put up?" - if the answer is still no, then “is it time to leave?”. Maybe the pandemic also greased the cogs of being less tolerant that has contributed to the Great Resignation and the difficulty in hiring.    

At the risk of this becoming a Jim Collins fan club piece, in his best-selling book “Good to Great” (worth a read if you have not already done so), he shares The Map with the world consisting of 4 input stages. Stage 1 is, what he calls, Level 5 leadership and having the right people. It is all starts with people. The X-Factor of leadership, as stated by him, is humility and what do humble leaders do? They listen, respect other views, remove blockers that are causing frustration, they create space for their team to generate new ideas, they surround themselves with people better than them. In contrast, less humble leaders may be full of self-importance, too proud to hear what is really happening, think they know best (mainly based on their own perspectives and often lacking data), even doing things without consideration of others.