I Have a New Name for the C-Suite
Leadership is influence–nothing more, nothing less. I learned that from the great Dr. John C. Maxwell and will never forget it. The more I speak with people, the more I realize the truth in that statement.
I received four calls just last week from people I know sharing the news that they had made the decision to change jobs or walk away from working for someone to work for themselves.
When I asked what their motivating drive in that decision was, the answer was always somehow related to leadership.
Gallup has studied organizations from the inception of COVID-19. Their research found that only 13% of employees strongly agree that their executive leadership has communicated effectively throughout the pandemic.
Many doubts, fears, and unknowns left to employees to wonder what the future of their organization is and often suffered from a lack of connection from their leadership.
Furthermore, many of those same leaders claim that they rarely hear anything from their senior level leadership and feel that they are only interested in their own agendas.
Conversely, the most engaged employees I have the pleasure of working with talk about their executive leadership in a very different light. They feel connected with them. They hear from their senior leaders through town hall updates which detail the state of the organization. They receive clear and transparent messages regarding the state of the company and they take direct questions from those employees who are working on the front lines.
Getting to the C-Suite puts you in a whole new spotlight where employees watch you very closely. This is particularly true during the pandemic as employees are hungry for information and seek to be comforted.
What example are you setting with your leadership?
So with that thought, I made the decision to change the name of the C-Suite to the SEE-Suite.
If you are at the top of the leadership pyramid (or in any leadership role for that matter), your team members want to SEE you and connect with you.
Don’t hide behind your Zoom screen or in the proverbial ivory tower. Leadership is about connecting, Management is about correcting. Get engaged with your people and listen to what they have to say. Aside from playing the role of a solid leader, you may learn something from your front line team members that is an innovative idea to impact your bottom line.
Lead with Love,
Kelly
