Happy Leaders Equate to Happy Teams
Originally published in Thrive Global.
Who is a leader?
- Is it the CEO of the company, or another executive from the C-Suite?
- Is it the Director or Head of the department?
- Is it the most senior member of the team?
Actually, it’s all of the above, but it goes way beyond: It’s the single parent trying to raise his or her kids while working hard to provide for them. It’s the high school student, gathering a group of friends to raise money for earthquake victims. It’s the 9-year old sister taking her 6-year-old brother by the hand and showing him how to sell lemonade to the neighbors at her stand.
In essence, a leader is anyone that has a sphere of influence, whether it’s influence over one person or over a million. We should never underestimate the impact of an effective leader. Shane Green notes in his Engage article that “managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement levels and employees who have engaged leaders are 60% more likely to be engaged themselves. Yet, we still see so many companies with completely complacent managers who don’t care about what their employees do, and no one does anything about it.” It’s no surprise then that poor managers contribute significantly to employee disengagement and turnover. Employees don’t usually leave their company; they leave their manager or supervisor. The encouraging fact, however, is that every manager also has the potential of being a great leader.