A new survey released by the HR company Addecco (http://institute.adecco.com/Pages/Homepage.aspx) provides a look at the current state of the relationship between workers and management. Although the size of the research group wasn’t massive, 300 bosses and 700 workers, the results provide evidence that the bosses’ self perception doesn’t match their employees’ perception.

One in six bosses described their management style as commanding, while employees put that number at one in four. The authors of the study concluded that bosses may not recognize how bossy they actually are. The bosses surveyed thought they are using a coaching style, and are visionaries.  The employee’s numbers says it’s not so. A third of the employees surveyed thought they were smarter and more competent than their bosses.

The research conducted over the past twenty plus years by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, published in the book The Leadership Challenge, concludes that leadership is a relationship between those that choose to lead and those that would willingly follow. The results of the Addecco survey leads me to believe, the relationship is a bit rocky these days.

Perception is reality to the perceiver.  Bosses will continue to make decisions on their approach based on the faulty understanding of their workforces attitudes.  Employees will continue to filter the bosses’ words and deeds through their perceptions. The problem for the boss and their companies, is that these perceptions are critical to the leader/follower relationship, and by extension, critical to company performance.

Leaders need to monitor and even manage perception.  Three sixty degree assessments and interviews can help if chosen correctly and administered well.  One on one meetings with employees may be the single best way to explore the difference in perceptions.  Simply asking what could the boss be doing more of, less of, or the same of to be a better leader could go a long way.   A skilled and trained facilitator can help the boss determine the current state and define an action plan to be a better leader.

Let me save any leader/bosses reading this some time.  For twenty-five years those of us connected with The Leadership Challenge have been asking participants in our sessions to tell us what characteristics they most desire in a leader they would willingly follow.  Consistently, and regardless of demographic differences, the top four characteristics desired are honesty, forward looking, inspiring, and competent. Those are the best places to start when delving into the perception of your leadership with your constituency.  For companies, it is also important to remember that people join companies, but quit bosses. This perception stuff matters if organizational performance matters. It’s not just the loss of talent when good people leave bad bosses that is the concern, it is the employees who have quit on their bosses and stay employed.

Thanks to my twitter community, I was able to sample a few of the words of wisdom from the World Business Forum’s first day.  I was not surprised to hear that talent was again the key topic.  Jim Collins and Jack Welch made their plea that if you have the best people, you win.

I also read a fabulous commentary on the role of board members written by Ram Charan and Geoff Colvin for Fortune Magazine. (http://t.co/VQZ4FT)  Much of it was devoted to the need for boards to get actively involved in leadership development and succession issues.  Their assessment of board priorities and activity found most boards to be sadly lacking in this area.

So here is my issue today.  If talent is seen as the number one reason companies succeed or fail, why don’t companies put their money where their PR efforts are?  Attracting, retaining, and developing talent is rarely elevated to a top priority on executive teams.  Indeed, I did a little research this morning and found that HR representation on executive teams is not a given.  Yahoo has a HR officer at the executive level, Apple and Google do not.  Many companies have rolled the HR representation under something like Chief Administrative Officer.  To Jack Welch’s credit, GE still remains fiercely devoted to leadership development and growing their own executives.  This has ensured continuity and importantly, protected the storied GE culture of performance.

I am biased.  I firmly believe what I learned early in my management career.  A simple little adage put forth by Jim Casey, the founder of UPS, was our primary focus.  He said, determined people working together can accomplish anything.  The key was to find, groom, and align passionate people behind a meaningful goal.  We grew our own at UPS.  Back in the day, every member of UPS management was required to start at the working level.  Unloading trailers and delivering packages was an important step in executive development.  We learned the work.  We learned to love the work, and those performing it.  Second, we understood as managers that no one was going to be promoted until you had your replacement ready to go.  If a company believes its people are its most important asset, shouldn’t leaders that develop their teams be the primary candidates for promotion?  I believe when you have to go outside the company for key talent, your HR system has failed.  (There are legitimate reasons to go outside when you are entering new product areas or you are looking to grow market share). Likewise, hasn’t an executive who hasn’t groomed his/her replacement failed the organization?

Some of this falls squarely on the HR function.  We can’t rely on Jack Welch, Jim Collins, and other gurus to make our case.  The HR team needs to build the talent case, with real numbers, and real quantification of the return on investment for development.  Oh, and we need to grow a set. If we are passionate about the role of talent in the future success of the company, it is time to leave personnel administration and begin human resource development.  No group should demonstrate the power of leadership more than the group that has the responsibility to provide the strategies for leadership development.  This will require courage and a clear consistent message. I believe what Jim Collins and Jack Welch told the World Business Forum.  It seems to me to be an obvious conclusion.  I am not too optimistic that business executives share this point of view.  I’ll have a bit more faith when I see a VP of HR promoted to CEO.  Then I may believe the annual reports that state people are your most important asset.

A play on the old adage says, “You can lead an employee to water, but you can’t make them drink.”  With tongue firmly in cheek, I suggest you want to avoid “driving them to drink.”  Here are a few things I am hearing from deep inside my client organizations that just may be making your employees a might bit frustrated.

1. Where are we going boss?  The last couple of years have been full of messages about where not to go.  Don’t spend money. Don’t hire. Don’t take on any new projects. Employees are hearing we have turned the corner on the recession and want to hear from you what we Do now.  Vision matters.
2. Where am I going boss?   Employees understand that the focus has been on keeping the ship afloat, and they have been content to merely watch their place on the ship. Now that the rough seas have settled a bit, they want to know if there is a more meaningful role for them moving forward.  Time to have some serious employee development meetings, especially with your top talent that may be looking at other ships to board!
3. We all sacrificed.  Who recovers what when?  Most employees have taken some financial hit during the recession.  They may have had any merit increase put on hold, expanded their work week, lost benefits, or even had a wage cut.  At the same time other stakeholders, including shareholders, have seen their gains fall as well.  Employees want to know where they fall in the pecking order of constituents…who benefits from the recovery first and how much?  Although money may not motivate, perceived inequity of rewards absolutely demotivates!
4. If things are getting better, why is your brow in a permanent furrow?  Put a smile on your face and show some optimism…even if you need to fake it in the short term.

These economic times are tough on everybody’s psyche.  The truth is, people are tired, and even a little dejected.  Some have disengaged as a coping measure. Some have even turned to unhealthy ways to escape the stress.  It is time to start pursuing meaningful goals again and tap the passion that results from the shared pursuit of noble possibilities.

I finally had a chance to finish reading The Truth About Leadership, the new book by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. I have had the privilege of working with these authors of The Leadership Challenge for many years and enthusiastically recommend this new offering. They offer their conclusions about the heart of the matter facts you need to know based on their exhaustive research going back some twenty plus years.

I started my career in operations, and tend to filter my reading through that lens. I was originally taken with Jim and Barry’s work because they chose to focus on ordinary people who had accomplished extraordinary things. This latest offering offers you ten things every leader has to know, and most importantly, do. Two points caught my attention above the rest. As we are hopefully emerging from a long and worrisome economic downturn, I believe there is an opportunity to do some needed repair work on credibility and trust.

Jim and Barry rightly assert that credibility is the foundation of leadership. I am perhaps a little more direct when I suggest that if you are not deemed credible, you cannot lead. Perhaps you can manage, but you will not attract the voluntary efforts of followers if you have compromised your credibility. Credibility is doing what you say you will do. Please note, that we like to be led by humans, and all humans fail, so we are not talking perfection here. We are talking a track record of consistent adherence to the values and mission you talk about. This may be a good time for a little soul searching. Credibility is being true to ones self. You need to be clear on the values that drive your behavior, then consciously monitor actions to make sure others are seeing them. If you stray, or there is even the slightest appearance that you have strayed, you need to address it and correct it. My sense, and observations, is that many espoused values may have been compromised by strong managerial actions during the downturn.

That leads to the second, and related, point. Trust is absolutely necessary in the workplace if a leadership culture is to be established. Jim and Barry cite research that says a majority of people trust a stranger more than they trust their boss. (Managing Trust in Troubled Times, http://appli7.hec.fr/hrm/diversity/HBR_HEC_Executive_Survey1.htm) Trust is demonstrated in many ways. The area that I see in need of the most repair is the messages management sends about their trust of their subordinates competency and talent. I have seen many organizations centralize decision making usually at the top in this downturn. I do see the need for oversight, but suggest if it is overdone, you have sent a message that you don’t trust your people. In essence, it sends the message that people are our most important asset except in times we need them most.

I have had a lot of conversations lately with talented people that are considering leaving their organization simply because they feel their skills and talents aren’t being used. It communicates a lack of trust.

Jim and Barry again make a very important point. These leadership lessons are not reserved for people at the top. Indeed, the single most important leader to an employee is their direct supervisor. When people leave an organization, the number one reason is their immediate supervisor. Number two is that they feel they weren’t offered meaningful work. It seems no coincidence that those are intimately linked. Jim and Barry’s new book, “The Truth About Leadership” is available at all major booksellers. I recommend you spend some time with it and think a bit about the state of truth in your leadership.