Want to lead with more STABILITY? How may a leader create stability, continuity, predictability faster? When 10.000 employees were asked - they said they follow leaders mainly when they experience - trust, compassion, stability and hope. The employees chose another way than we could have guessed: to focus on words like – purpose, wisdom, humour and humility. (Gallup research). What may it mean when employees in fact chose the words they did? So, what is this «stability». Here are 3 aspects of you create more stability:
1)The Gallup methodology is massive interviews
and listing the words those employees say. Followers want a leader who provide stability, a solid foundation. A person they may count on in times of need. Followers want to know your core values are stable. They may feel they are welcome to the same values as before. They will ensure that they know what is expected. This means continuity.
The people asked also mentioned the words near by to stability – security, strength, support and peace. Other words near to stability that I will mention are – predictability and confidence.
Another version of stabile is stiff, unchangeable, stagnation. These are negative loaded words, that may represent when stability goes too far – out of proportion to the actual situation. Rigidity and perfectionism and paragraph followers may go too far.
At a company level, stability is created quickly through having transparency, easy access to insight in most important information for survival: Do I have a stabile job and income? What is the goal of the company.
2)Maslow’s need of security, safe
Maslow’s 5 human needs are: Survive, secure (safe), social belonging (role, status, include), self esteem (respect) - and 5th: self actualisation, unleash talents. To be safe is Maslow’s 2th need. It is basic to experience security. When employees feel they are safe, they may relax. They have something safe to go to. This is stability.
Another aspect of security and safe - is that leaders are flexible and open for changes in situation and for the needs of employees.
3)Panksepp seeking and care
Jaak Panksep describes 7 primary emotions: Seeking, rage, fear, lust, care, grief, and play. They are physiological and anatomic partly separate systems. When that said, they of course also are interlinked and influence each other. Stability is something you may seek. Seeking is to follow what you seek, and you seek care. You seek to have a safe, secure situation, to have stability, to leaders, people and a system where you experience to be taken care of. You tell what you need to feel safe, and leaders and people around you help you, take care of you, and the result is that you feel safe. This is something employees look for in leaders they chose to follow.
Do you want to experience you shift brain network to lead with care, safe, secure, stability – contact helge.christie@gmail.com
Source for stability:
Rath Tom, 2008: Strengths based leadership. Gallup.
Christie Helge: Kreativ i ekstremvær:
https://www.helgechristie.com/butikk/helge-christies-15-bok-kreativ-i-ekstremvr-e-bok