In the aftermath of the 2008/2009 recession, the latest news about General Petraeus, the former CIA Director, raises renewed concerns about how companies and organizations are led. Just prior to the crash we saw leaders emerging and connecting with their associates, giving frequent feedback and were -in most cases- delegating tasks,together with the authority needed to perform them without the need for micromanagement. This has all changed. The clarity that employees will remain in their positions regardless of how they are being treated has brought back authoritarian bosses. In the high stress environment created by the downsizing with a premium on very short term goals, it is simpler to bark orders and force compliance than to delegate and empower. And when demands are piling up and deadlines are overbearing, who cares about creating opportunities and working for a better future.
 

Like General Petraeus, who built his career on the stated values of "vision, integrity and compassion", the real values, or better, the lack thereof, are now for everybody to dissect. A continued lack of judgment -as he called it- or a lack of values as we would suspect? Integrity means telling the truth even if not asked, treating others fairly and to be reliable. One of the personal signs of reliability is our commitment to our spouse and family. We humans are for the most part pretty consistent. If one cannot keep his commitment at home, he or she will not be keeping it in the business world, either. If one is not taking care of one's family, he or she will not take care of their business family, either. We cannot turn our value system on and off as we please; it shows in all situations. And nowhere more than when it comes to true leadership. In all my consulting and coaching work I have not come across a single manager or supervisor who told me that he had an autocratic style and was micromanaging his employees. Everybody is telling a story about caring, leading by example or spending a lot of time teaching and encouraging their teams and associated. When we follow up and do an assessment, the results paint, in most cases, the picture of an authoritarian manager. The gap between how the subordinates feel they are being led and how they would like to be treated, is enormous, and effective teamwork and employee motivation are the clear losers. Subordinates want to be:

• Valued for their ideas
• Respected as individuals
• Trusted to work independently
• Challenged to grow in their jobs
• Free to balance work and home

They do not want to be micromanaged, told, yelled at or ignored. Valuing, listening to and giving honest feedback when things go well or, when improvements are necessary, are the minimum expected. Thus it should not come as a shock that more than two thirds of employees feel disconnected from their company and boss and would like to change jobs if only they could. Many have mentally already quit but still come to work every day. As a consequence team work is suffering and once great teams are now barely functioning and the outcomes are hardly worth the input. Walking through companies I find that most lean manufacturing initiatives are abandoned, 5 S and Kaizen activities are dead - all signs that we no longer care for the long term, that we have taken back the request and participation from our associates.

Let's get back to revisit the true meaning of leadership ... creating, effecting and driving change by empowering our associates, achieving results through their work and creating an open and balanced environment for everybody to thrive. For this to work we need to remember that employees are modeling their behavior after their superiors. Being an exemplary role model, having our calendar show and reflect our values and creating possibilities is all what's needed.

The earlier we start, the faster we see the positive impact employee engagement and high performing teams have on our companies' bottom lines.