Leadership & Roundabouts

30 Aug

Introducing The Leading Place

Brought to you by Michelle McDaid

Inspiring progressive leadership practices, illuminating your path to success

Imagine a workplace where all the talented employees who have been hired by the organisation can show up and do their best work; where everyone can contribute to the success of the business, their customers and their employees! Why does this sound so aspirational? So many organisations speak about their great cultures but too often the walk doesn’t match the talk. If employees’ energy can be directed to having a positive impact instead of just surviving in a culture where they don’t feel valued, truly great things can be achieved! This is exactly what inspired me to start my own business. I have delivered tangible results on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB), and have led significant organisational change, positively transforming cultures. I am excited to support organisations to create environments of high trust and Psychological Safety where all can thrive.

Large scale change in Tech

Across my career, my main experience has been in leading tech teams in the Fin Tech and HR Tech space. Although I have been based in Ireland, I have led global distributed tech teams through significant organisational change and have seen the impact across many geographies. Ireland has a very strong talent pipeline, with nine of the top ten US technology and software companies having a base in Ireland (IDA Ireland, 2024). It has been a challenging period for the tech industry and those who work in it, with many large tech firms carrying out layoffs. Concerns around how AI will impact future roles adds to the uncertainty workers are experiencing. How can businesses better support their people so they can do the best work of their lives?

The role of Trust & Psychological Safety

Innovation is a key requirement for tech companies in this fast paced world. You don’t have to look far to find someone who has been directly impacted by the tech layoffs. A common phrase I have been hearing is “I’m just going to keep my head down"! Will businesses be successful in developing great products if employees are afraid to share ideas, or to risk raising a concern about something that may not work? Is it possible to truly innovate if trust and Psychological Safety are lacking?

Creating an inclusive culture

Whether you are intentional about it or not, your company has a culture. How do people in your organisation experience your culture? Do they look forward to going to work on a Monday morning or do they have the Sunday night dreads? Is the culture inclusive? Do people feel they belong? Can they show up as themselves or do they use up energy masking to fit in? You may have a diverse workforce but if your culture doesn’t enable all voices to be heard you won’t benefit from the diversity. One of the best ways to create an inclusive culture is to ensure that diversity extends to roles of influence. Think about who is not in the room for key decision making. I have seen groups that consisted of only white men coming up with a product strategy. How much better could that strategy be if these groups represented the diversity of the customer base they serve?

Words Matter

You can tell a lot about the culture of a company by the words which are commonly used. It is common to hear war or military type words and phrases used in many workplaces - words such as ‘deployment’, ‘execution’, ‘killing it’, ‘war room’, ‘battleground’, ‘in the trenches’, ‘choose your battles’, or ‘rallying the troops’. Words like these may conjure up a ‘command and control’ way of operating. If we hear things like ‘policing’ or ‘we need to get this locked down’ it may indicate rigidity or lack of an agile mindset. Phrases like ‘firefighting’ can evoke a stressful work environment. If we hear ‘we need to cascade the goals’ (instead of sharing/co-creating goals) it may indicate a hierarchical organisation. In recent years, we see words such as ‘People’ or ‘Talent’ being used instead of ‘HR’ or ‘Human Resources’, to avoiding calling people ‘resources’; yet some organisations continue to do so.

I have personally seen the positive impact on paying attention to the power of words. Removing gendered language in software engineer job specs, led to increased female applicants and we successfully hired two women within a week of making these changes. Hearing words such as ‘I have your back’ or actions that tell you this, can be transformative. In an industry where women are underrepresented, small changes such as word choice can make a difference.

Are you a Manager or a Leader?

I have a preference for the word ‘Leader’ over ‘Manager’. In the past I worked to rename a ‘Management Community of Practice’ (CoP) to ‘Leadership CoP’ and a ‘Global People Managers’ group to ‘Global People Leaders’. You might ask how just changing a word can make a difference? I see it as a first step to aspire towards leading rather than managing. It can change the way people think about their role and can set expectations. I like the Grace Hopper quote “You manage things; you lead people”.

Overvaluing efficiency

In General Stanley McChrystal’s book ‘Team of Teams: New rules of engagement in a complex world’, he talks about how the world has come to overvalue efficiency. However in a complex world, efficiency will not always lead to success! He compares leaders to chess masters (feeling the need to control every aspect of the organisation) or gardeners (nurturing the plants and allowing them to flourish). There is a tradeoff between efficiency and autonomy. When I first studied Scientific Management and Taylorism, I was particularly interested in time & motion studies and the most efficient way of doing things. At the time I was in an operations role, and it was quite relevant. However, you can become quite efficient at doing the wrong thing! Scientific Management brought many benefits including more certainty and predictability, which is often craved by senior leaders, but it also reduced autonomy.

Self Determination Theory

Why is autonomy so important? Self Determination Theory (SDT) helps us understand how people are motivated (Deci, Olafsen and Ryan, 1985). SDT tells us that there are three universal needs – autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Dan Pink in his book ‘Drive’ asserts that people are motivated by autonomy, mastery and purpose. People like to have agency and tend to push back when feeling controlled. To create the conditions where people can be at their best, we need to get more comfortable trusting the people we lead to do a great job!

Roundabouts

Which traffic control system to do you prefer - traffic lights or roundabouts? I recently watched a talk by Aaron Dignan on this topic which really struck a chord with me. He spoke about how traffic lights control the flow of traffic; while roundabouts allow drivers to make decisions on when is safe to go. From a leadership perspective, traffic light systems are about control and compliance; roundabouts are about trust and autonomy. This simple but powerful concept got me thinking about the managers/leaders I have worked with and was inspired by. Which do you aspire towards as a leader? What is your preference as a team member? I aspire to the roundabout leadership style. As Paul Zak put it “You cultivate trust by setting a clear direction, giving people what they need to see it through, and getting out of their way”.

Get in touch

Get in touch to discuss ways of creating workplaces where all talent can do their best work! The Leading Place provide a range of offerings from talks, panel discussions, 60-90 minute webinars, to half or full day workshops, online or in-person. We start with a conversation with you around what your business needs are to understand how we can best support your success. In addition to our listed workshops, we can partner with you and create custom-made offerings to meet your unique requirements. Principles of collaboration, trust, positive psychology, inclusive leadership, innovative thinking, and working sustainably are interwoven through our offerings. We provide practical steps, tools and approaches that can be effortlessly implemented, including a complementary workbook to embed learning. Our workshops are designed to inspire and support the creation of joyful workplaces where all talent can thrive. Get in touch to discuss how we can support you to strive for greatness!

References

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.
Dignan, A.: How to revolutionise the way we work
Edmondson, A. - Psychological Safety: https://amycedmondson.com/psychological-safety