3 Leadership Imperatives To Build Resilient Leaders, Teams, And Organizations In 2023

Lead others like they want to be led

The last few years have challenged leaders to rethink the way they work, live, and lead. What once worked to attract, motivate and retain great talent has changed, and the leadership landscape must change with it.
 

Employees are looking for more than just a manager. Today’s employees are looking for a mentor, coach, and friend to advocate for their needs and develop their talents. In addition to their operational role, leaders will need to address these expectations in order to maximize performance and build effective teams.

The following three trends will be leadership imperatives in 2023:

1. Prioritize Mental Health and Well-Being

The number of disengaged employees across the globe is staggering. According to Gallup, 85% of employees are either disengaged or actively disengaged. Organizations and leaders are scrambling as they try to stretch limited resources, create a culture of diversity and inclusion, and build employee engagement.

In a recent report from the office of the surgeon general, 76% of respondents reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition, up 17% in just two years. Eighty-four percent said that workplace conditions have contributed to at least one mental health challenge, and 81% said they will be looking for workplaces that support mental health.

In 2023, leaders must address the looming mental health crisis and create ways to incorporate well-being and mental health into performance management processes. After all, what gets measured gets managed. While KPIs and strategic objectives are at the core of performance management, there are other factors that may be just as, if not more important, to measure. Include personal goal setting and well-being on performance reviews. Help employees create a self-care plan to incorporate small ways to recharge into their daily routines.

Approximately 50% of the US labor force does not use all of their vacation days, and for those that do, many stay connected to work throughout their vacation. Numerous studies have proven that taking a vacation and completely unplugging has physical and mental health benefits, prevents burnout, lowers stress, improves productivity, performance, and relationships, and even helps you live longer.

Encourage employees to use their vacation days and respect their time away from work by not including them in emails, text exchanges, or meetings. Leaders who model sustainable work have teams that are happier and more productive. Unfortunately, you cannot promote what you do not practice. Leaders at every level of the organization must model this behavior.

2. Create Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. A two-year extensive study by Google found that psychological safety is the number one predictor of high-performing teams. While risk-taking used to be limited to sharing an “out of the box” idea or be supported when making a mistake, it has taken on a whole new meaning in our new world of work. Now psychological safety comes in the form of being able to talk candidly to your leader about mental health and burnout. Psychological safety breeds trust and employees in high-trust environments reported 74% less stress than low-trust environments. In addition, trust predicts 62% of performance.

The highest-performing teams spend 25% of their time talking about nothing work related. Connect with team members on an individual level, letting them know it is okay to let their guard down. Make time for personal check-ins, as well as status updates.

The fastest, most effective way to create a sense of safety is for leaders to show up vulnerably and to share their own development opportunities. When these discussions begin at the senior level, it creates a cascade throughout the organization. Leaders who facilitate these conversations and model sustainable work have teams that are 75% more effective as a result. Human leadership, a growing trend in corporate America, allows for leaders to be candid and honest about their own challenges, making it safe for employees to do the same.

Build trust by allowing team members to spend time in meetings connecting about non-work-related topics, encourage a growth mindset and allow team members to take risks without fear of reprisal, and reward the behaviors that build safety like vulnerability and connection.

3. Cultivate Positive Experiences

While it may seem counterintuitive, the fastest way to reduce stress is to cultivate joy. When we are immersed in positive experiences, our brain knows it is safe, offsetting the stress response. Self-care, gratitude, social connection, volunteerism, humor, and mindfulness all signal safety to the brain and serve to increase positive emotions.

Start meetings by sharing gratitude, successes, and personal stories of accomplishment. This simple shift opens the door to more creative problem-solving, decision-making, and increased collaboration. Sharing recognition, praise, and appreciation is a great way to create psychological safety, and it reduces the likelihood of team members leaving by seventy-four percent.

People need a sense of belonging, and in the hybrid world we live in, that can be a challenge. The average employee spends 90,000 hours of their life at work. Anything leaders can do to make that time more enjoyable will pay big dividends.

This can take the form of volunteer activities, practicing gratitude, informal networking time, and shared celebrations. There are so many ways to spark joy, and these positive experiences make the time we spend at work more enjoyable and meaningful.

Proactively cultivate social connections and create positive experiences at work. Strong social connection decreases anxiety and depression and increases cognitive ability, engagement, loyalty, and a sense of belonging. It is also the number one determinant of how long you will live, how happy you will be, and how satisfied you are at work, and in a complex global, hybrid environment, those connections can be few and far between.

Leaders have long followed the Golden Rule with the intent of creating kinder, more engaged workplaces. In 2023, leaders will have to move to the Platinum Rule: Lead others like they want to be led.

Take time to ask your employees what matters most to them. Identify individual motivators and personalize your leadership approach. One size does not fit all.

Author Bio

Anne Grady is an internationally recognized speaker and author. Anne shares humor, humility, refreshing honesty, and practical strategies anyone can use to triumph over adversity and master change. Her latest book is Mind Over Moment: Harness the Power of Resilience. She is also the author of “Strong Enough: Choosing Courage, Resilience, and Triumph” and “52 Strategies for Life, Love & Work.” Visit www.annegradygroup.com Connect Anne Grady