Leading and Telling

What happens when you feel the world is closing in and you just have nothing left to give? What do you do when the tensions and stress of daily life seem to escalate rather than subside? What happens when you feel like you are driving on empty?

Most of us retreat. We find a way to avoid difficult situations and zone out by watching T.V. or starting a big fat book filled with Sudoku challenges. If this sounds like you, listen up! There is a new study by Leadership IQ that says 66% of employees say they have little interaction with their boss, and that is a turn off.

Just like kids at home, employees crave attention and feedback. Especially during tough times – we all want and need to know what is going on. If we are kept in the dark, that is when our imaginations take hold and we are sure there is a goblin under the bed.

Most leadership development programs leave out some of the important emotional tugs and pulls that are at the basis of employee-employer relationships. They are similar to the relationship dynamics that started when we were wee ones in our families.

Leadership training, putting a spotlight on how emotional reactions we learned as children affects our work, helps managers and leaders understand how to deal with the chronic stresses that are part of every work setting right now.

If you avoid giving feedback in a consistent manner, you are missing out on one of the key ways to create an atmosphere of trust and collaboration. If you refrain from helping employees adapt and adjust to today’s highly competitive and stress filled market- place by ignoring what they are doing, you are falling down on your job.

While you are not your employee’s parent, at work you fill that authority role, and it is your responsibility to guide your employees, even if you feel like your days are spent dragging heavy rocks up extremely steep hills. Your employees will thank you for the attention and information and will be more loyal and willing to help. And when the sunny, easier days return, they and you will be stronger and more connected.