Powerful and Effective Leadership

1. Powerful and Effective Leadership Presented By: Kira Rogers, PsyD, SAP, HSP-P Deer Oaks EAP Services

2. Do you know who this is?

3. Layers of Leadership • Being a leader is a multi-faceted job that requires balance, knowledge, and effective communication • Leadership requires one to balance the dynamics of office/corporate politics, employee personalities and differences, and the different style of leading that each manager contributes to the team • Leaders must attempt to find a balance between demanding high levels of performance and providing their employees with care and support • This can be a very challenging balance to strike. Today we will discuss how to combine the skills to support your employees while maintaining high performance standards

4. The Managerial Toolbox • Understanding the stress reaction • Effective communication • Understanding how to motivate employees • Setting appropriate boundaries

5. Changes and Challenges • Ordinary workplace stressors can lead to increased stress for everyone, e.g. schedules changes, deadlines, new boss • It is very likely that many of your employees may experience some significant and intense increases in their stress levels • Many people experience understandable feelings of: • Grief • Anger • Guilt • Anxiety

6. I’m So Stressed! Employees undergoing change (downsizing, new managers, increased workload, decreased pay, etc) may exhibit: • Higher levels of tardiness and absenteeism • Decreased job satisfaction/motivation • Lower levels of productivity • Decreased teamwork • Higher levels of resistance • Signs of burnout: Fatigue, sadness, irritability, anxiety, trouble concentrating/following through with tasks, poor attitude

7. Communication • Always be honest; it’s okay to admit that you don’t have an answer • Communicate strengths that you observe • Make sure that listening is always a significant part of your communication practices • Assertive communication does not always come easily or naturally; recognize your role in coaching managers/employees

8. Support Your Staff • The last thing that a stressed employee needs is to hear that: • They should be doing a better job • “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” • “Other people have it worse” • They should be grateful that they have a job • The first thing that a stressed employee needs is to know is that they are being heard

9. Improving Listening Skills • Attend to feelings • Listen actively by asking clarifying questions • Use empathy: try to imagine what it must feel like to be in the other person’s situation • Paraphrase and reflect • Ask for feedback • Ask open-ended questions

10. Empathy • It is easy to confuse empathy with sympathy • Empathy: • The ability to co-experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions, or experience of another without them being communicated directly by the individual (i.e., perspective taking) • Sympathy: • The ability to understand and to support the emotional situation or experience of another being with compassion and sensitivity (i.e., pity)

11. Other Avenues of Support • Communicate openly with your staff: Take time to greet them at the start of your shift, and spend some time talking with them (it doesn’t even have to be work-related!) • Keep an open door policy when possible: Help your employees understand that they can come to you for guidance and support whenever they need to • Be firm yet flexible: Understand the stress reaction and offer accommodations when appropriate (even an extra ten minutes at lunch can help!)

12. The Three Keys to Performance • Ability • Motivation • Opportunity Let’s look at how you can help to enhance each of these to increase the quality and amount of product that your employees (and you) can create

13. Ability • Ability refers to the innate capacities of your employees as well as to their individual attributes • We do not have the power to alter intelligence, personality style, core characteristics, or past experience of our employees • We can, however, focus on the here and now. Training/re-training opportunities may be a good place to start with your employees as we cannot always assume that poor performance is due to lack of desire – sometimes employees need to expand their knowledge and gain a more clear understanding of their tasks and roles

14. Motivation • Motivation is measured by independent work effort or, in other words, an individual’s willingness to perform • Clearly, motivation in an environment in which there are high levels of stress and change may be compromised • Motivation can be a product of leadership style and the employee’s individual perspective on the work

15. Motivation – Psychological Factors Motivation can be increased by the following: • Involving employees in decisions • Inviting employees to participate in a needs assessment • Giving choices when possible • Offering praise and reinforcement to help employees feel as if their work is worthwhile and appreciated

16. Opportunity • As human beings, we all have the desire to grow, create and surpass challenges for ourselves, and have our emotional and intellectual needs met • Some of these basic needs include: pay, working conditions, and supervision • The more advanced needs include: • Achievement • Responsibility • Growth

17. Boundaries and Limits • Creating healthy boundaries in the workplace is another way that you can be a powerful, effective, and well-respected leader • Have you heard scenarios in which leaders fail to do just that…lead? Where certain employees have privileges and others do not? Where disrespect and mistrust are accepted? • Helping employees to feel safe by setting clear boundaries for all is crucial to fostering workplace satisfaction (and thereby increase productivity as well)

18. Boundaries -- Respect • The psychological consequences of workplace stress may include increased emotionality on the job. • This can be okay, so long as it does not include allowing employees to swear, yell, disrespect co-workers, refuse work, or be defiant • Although an angry employee may not seem to be harming anyone else in the office, allowing him/her to carry-on can lead to employees losing trust and respect for you as a leader

19. Addressing Inappropriate Behavior • Most companies outline the appropriate disciplinary actions to take when an employee fails to follow company policies and procedures • It is highly recommended that you stay abreast of such procedures and, more importantly follow through • This often includes verbal warnings, written warnings, and further discipline thereafter • Always document infractions - have clear, concrete examples that demonstrate an employee’s need for corrective action that are factual and not opinionated

20. Recognizing the Need for Help • Again, it is okay for employees to have emotional reactions to transitions, stress, and change • Some warning signs that indicate the employee may need professional assistance include: • Excessive or frequent tearfulness, persistent sad mood, withdrawal from others in the workplace, deteriorating performance, absenteeism, statements of hopelessness/helplessness, or an employee who mentions thoughts of hurting him/herself or others • If you have any of these concerns, consult immediately with supervisors, HR, and/or Deer Oaks

21. Thank you for attending • Comments • Questions • Follow-up

22. Deer Oaks EAP Services866-327-2400www.deeroaks.com