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Employer Insights

What is Humble Leadership? How Can It Take Your Business ...

James launched his mid size, Perth furniture business in 2015. The first three years saw a rapid increase in sales and profitability, but something wasn’t quite right in the last two years. There had been an increase in the number of customer complaints. Late deliveries, unfriendly customer service reps, lost sales opportunities and lost customers started to become a trend. Simply stated, James’ business was in trouble.So, James called his managers into a claustrophobic conference room, he wanted answers. "I depend on you people to make this business work!" he barked. "Sales are dropping like a rock, which obviously means someone's not doing their job. We're not leaving this room until I find out who it is!"No one speaks up. Everyone wants to crawl under their chair. James’ not getting answers, but what he doesn't know, is that the answer is right in front of him.What is humble leadership?James’ dictatorial leadership style might have worked when workers had few options and even fewer rights, but it clearly doesn't work now. The simple fact is that in the current employment landscape, workers who report to the "I know more than any of you" manager become resentful. They're less likely to be creative, resourceful or innovative—because in John's world, a mistake isn't a learning experience.That's why an increasing number of business leaders are adopting a new approach, called ‘Humble Leadership.’ Humble leaders recognise their own limitations. They understand that everyone, irrespective of their position within an organisation, have something to contribute.In How Humble Leadership Really Works, Harvard Business Review (HBR) explains how humble leaders (which they call "servant-leaders") develop their businesses by bringing out the best in their employees:"The key, then, is to help people feel purposeful, motivated, and energized so they can bring their best selves to work…To put it bluntly, servant-leaders have the humility, courage, and insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others who have less power than them. They actively seek the ideas and unique contributions of the employees that they serve. This is how servant leaders create a culture of learning, and an atmosphere that encourages followers to become the very best they can."Why Does it Matter?It would be easy to dismiss James’ lack of leadership skills as little more than a source of discomfort for his workers, not something that fundamentally affects the bottom line. The fact is, almost half of employees who work for leaders like James (according to Forbes) are actively considering quitting. This ‘on average’ costs a business anywhere from 50% to 200% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. What are the principal traits of Humble Leaders?Adopting a humble (ie, inspiring) leadership style, typically means higher employee engagement and increased productivity and profitability. For that reason, it's critically important to understand which traits characterise humble leaders. Although every business and every leader s different, generally, humble leaders share the following 5 traits:They recognise their own limitations: one of the main reasons for start up business failures, is leaders who think they can "do it all." From finances to IT to marketing, these leaders assume their leadership position makes them ‘al things to all people’. As a result, they tend to make costly mistakes that place their businesses in jeopardy. Humble leaders have the courage and self awareness to understand when and where they need guidance and advice, and they're not afraid to ask for it.They seek out talent in their workers: because humble leaders know what they don't know, they make a conscious effort to seek those skill sets in their employees. They're more likely to carefully assess employee skills at the time of hiring, and through ongoing performance evaluations. For this reason, they know to whom they can turn when they need help solving problems.They inspire their employees: workers want to perform at their optimal level when their manager acknowledges the contributions they have made. Humble leaders have no problem ‘sharing the spotlight’. This inspires employees to work collaboratively and give their very best to a team effort.They promote a culture of learning: because humble leaders can admit their own shortcomings, their employees are more likely to acknowledge gaps in their own skill sets. This inspires them to seek out training opportunities to advance their knowledge and their careers. Humble leaders are more likely to make those training and career opportunities available to their staff, promoting a culture of continual learning and improvement.They listen: the best leaders listen more than they talk. Their role in meetings, for example, tends to be that of a facilitator who articulates the nature of a problem, actively listens to attendees' solutions and guides the discussion to consensus. This ensures not only the best solution, but also the buy in necessary to implement change.ConclusionA humble leadership style could be argued, is about ‘doing the right thing,’ looking after workers and respecting their contributions. Effectively leveraged and implemented, humble leadership can be a game changer for your business, reducing employee attrition, while increasing productivity and profitability.

Posted by Kim Padmore | min read

Employer Insights

Be an Eco Warrior in the Workplace

“It’s time not to save our planet but to save us”, says Sir David Attenborough in his 2020 Netflix documentary ‘A Life on our Planet’. If like me, those words gave you a heart palpitation or two, I wouldn’t recommend watching this before you sleep, unless you have time to squeeze an episode of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ in beforehand. Historically, Sir David’s documentaries have showcased tantalising tales of the globe’s wondrous wildlife, and whilst ‘A Life on our Planet’ offers similar aesthetics, it tells a darker story of how humans’ habits have caused our planet’s severe decline over the last eighty years and a road map guiding the only way out alive.I’m no golden girl and prior to moving to Australia, I’ll admit I rarely thought about being eco-friendly and sustainable; at no moment did I expect that my daily habits were contributing to damage detrimental to our wildlife and planet. In particular, my eating habits were entirely inherited; I knew no different. I come from a large family of meat-eaters and for as long as I can remember, rarely was there a meal without meat. Side note - I was the first to question our diet declaring my vegetarianism over Christmas lunch 2019; it inevitably created quite the stir and a conversation topic that lasted for weeks. Living in the ‘big smoke’ prior to 2017, the only sign of climate change I sensed was the sweat dripping down my back on the Northern Line in the peak of the British summer. I saw it more as a rite of passage at the time in becoming a ‘true’ Londoner; along with falling asleep on the Kennington loop, but that’s a story for another time. Only upon living in Australia since 2017, have I witnessed the devastating effect of climate change on our doorstep, through the catastrophic bushfires and flooding. I had always dreamt of taking my nephews to the Great Barrier Reef and I saw this dream come true in Christmas 2019, when the Burton family came to visit me in Australia. The expectation was to create treasured memories, whilst the reality of what we witnessed was rather morbid. It was difficult to digest the guilt filled truth that our habits were to blame for the severe state of the Great Barrier Reef. The endless amounts of coffee cups, always forgetting a carrier bag when going to the supermarket, throwing leftovers out, eating meat in every meal, ordering solo Uber rides...the list goes on. I have since made a conscious effort to change my daily habits, not only in my personal life but also whilst in the office. Which leads me to providing some action points on how you too can become an eco warrior in your workplace. Recycle and use recycled paperGo to Daiso or Officeworks (or similar) and get a couple of small bins for recycling. Have a separate bin/bag for soft plastics which you can take to the supermarket once full and deposit in their soft plastic bin. Soft plastics include cling film, chip packets and bubble wrap.If you have an office/household cleaner, communicate with them that you are making a conscious effort to recycle and would like them to empty the bins accordingly. Default printer settings to print out on both sides. Use keep cups or/and use a real coffee maker. Buy a keep cup and then use it! Have one for home and one for work. Using a reusable drinks bottle that is refillable, rather than buying plastic bottles. You’re also likely to drink more water if you have it constantly with you. Encourage car-pooling or/ and catching public transport To and from work and for any external meetings. There will be many more meetings now taking place online which is efficient, cost saving and sustainable. Move towards using digital storage instead of paper Using post it notes and pads of paper need to be limited and eradicated if possible. There are post it notes on your desktop you can use. Similarly, I use a saved Word document every day for all my random note taking and I delete as I go. Air-conditioning and heatingGrab a jumper or hot water bottle before cranking the heating. The sneakiest part of working from home is you can have a blanket draped over you and your slippers on and no one would be any the wiser!Also, on the not so outrageously hot days, lay off the air conditioning. As much as it’s invaluable in the moment, it’s part of the problem in adding to global warming. Keep ink and toner out of the environmentInk and toner shouldn’t be put in the general waste. Here are some ways you can recycle them: Take them to a local big-box retailer like Best Buy, Costco, or TargetDrop them off locally at an office supply store Look online for a recycling program which accepts themSwitch to eco-friendly cleaning chemicals Here are some suggestions for some great Australian owned companies which sell eco-friendly cleaning chemicals in reusable bottles and refill pouches.Purchase energy efficient lightingIf no one is in the room, why do you need lights? Look into lighting which automatically turns off when no one is present and moving in the room. Yes, I may have to stand up and wave occasionally, but it’s not such a bad thing to be ushered off your chair a few times an hour. Ensure electronics and appliances are energy efficientFor those at the back, turn the switch at the plug socket off if you’re not using it. Look for the bright yellow EnergyGuide label (or similar) on an appliance to compare energy efficient refrigerators and how much energy they use. An energy efficient appliance with a higher price tag is a more cost effective option overall.Use eco friendly technology Examples include - Meeting virtually using video conference platforms Using LED light bulbs Replace your old computers and devices with Energy Star rated products that work a lot faster in an energy-efficient wayUse the cloud otherwise, your in-house device will be required to consume high amounts of energy Shut down your computer in the evening and put it in sleep mode when you’re not using it.It was such a bad habit of mine to keep my computer on overnight as I didn’t want to close unsaved documents down and lose my notes. I now have a miscellaneous document on Google Docs that I open every morning which has my scribbled notes, and it is autosaved every day in the cloud.Product check – choose companies that endorse energy efficiency and green alternativesDo an annual audit of the products that are being used in the office space. Also, make a conscious effort when you are purchasing in the first instance. Buy plants for the office to promote better air quality and reduce the amount of Green House Gas emissionsPlants in any space add to the aesthetics, so this is a no brainer for me, the more plants the better. It’s also fun and cheap to propagate plants such as devil's ivy and monstera as they grow. Get outside and volunteer – all sorts of green causes and conservation campaignsLend your staff to an eco cause such as a community clean up. Also, encourage neighbouring firms, clients and customers to getinvolved with you.Encourage your employees to sign a host of new petitions (here and here) supporting the environmentPut in place some eco friendly activities and encourage people to participate. Some ideas could include:Everyone creates an outfit or garment using recyclables onlyEveryone brings unwanted clothes or/and items, then swaps them. Those that don’t get taken can be:Dropped off at an opportunity shop or clothes bank The social media content of these activities, plus employees using their Keep Cups and being active in the recycling programsThese are some of the ideas I’ve decided to put into practice Do you have some ideas on being an ultimate eco warrior in your workplace I’ve not shared? Please comment below, I’d love to hear from you.