Doing more with less is becoming much more common than we’d all like but it’s the reality that we need to face — so why aren’t we able to deal with it better? Why is it so difficult and what can we do about it?
Ben Heath explores some avenues...
What are We Looking At?
- Just 20% of managers feel equipped to manage their teams right now.
- 40%of managers said their mental health declined when taking on a managerial or leadership role.
Worryingly, this appears to be an upward trend, despite an increasing awareness of the issue and associated long-term risks. We all know that as you climb the leadership ladder, the demands placed on you increase — and rightly so, with more pay comes more responsibility — but experience alone isn’t enough to ensure that everybody is adequately prepared for their roles, especially given the impact they have on those around them.
The Cause
I often refer back to my experience in the British Army to relate lessons in leadership to business and one such link is of the changing requirements of a leader. As a junior soldier in the early 2000s, I used to look to my senior leaders with awe. Although I would aspire to be like them, in some cases they led with dominance (influence though power or fear), and this inevitably meant that they lacked approachability. Roll on some 20+ years and I found myself in this position as a senior leader but very consciously trying to lead with prestige (influence through respect, knowledge and expertise) instead.
Why? I was developed as a leader throughout my career, evolving over time and preparing me for the level for which I was operating.
Evolving Leadership Requirements
LHH’s report on managing a multigenerational workforce indicates an ever-increasing requirement for leaders to be more emotionally intelligent and more able to provide emotional and developmental support than before. Is it fair that today’s line managers should be expected to just ‘learn on the job’, or use the experience that they may or may not have from other roles or organisations? Of course not — this is insufficient.
The Global Leadership Forecast highlights that 71% of leaders report a significant increase in stress since stepping into their current role with 54% of them being concerned about burnout and a worrying 40% considering leaving their role as a result. One report also highlights that managers are the most depressed and stressed category of worker.
So what can we do about it?
The Way Forward
The obvious response to this question is likely “more leadership development”, but what should this look like? Training needs to have an impact and therefore needs to be focused on the right areas and delivered in a manner to make it memorable, otherwise it is a waste of time.
Exploring emotional intelligence and providing experiential opportunities for delegates to practice what they have learnt before going back to their day jobs is an important step to making it stick. Although this is only half the battle to helping managers…
Whilst these programmes help provide new knowledge, skills, and behaviours, and a network of peers, the workplace systems and culture also has a say. But what is possible within your own area of responsibility? How can you work better with your team to relieve some of the workload you currently hold? Do you need to make all of the decisions you currently make? Are you the best person to be making them and are you close enough to the information to act with speed and relevance?
By empowering teams to make decisions within clear and agreed constraints, it frees up capacity and lays the foundation for organisations to increase their agility in today’s VUCA world. Moreover, individuals with devolved decision-making responsibility are more likely to experience psychological empowerment and do a better job due to their ownership of their work.
Win-Win
Appropriate leadership development and decentralising decision-making is an effective way to combat the upward trend in stress and pressure placed upon those with managerial.
