Episode 108: The Impact of Ignoring Unintentional Leadership
In Episode 108 of The Business Habitat podcast, Sam identifies the issue facing so many businesses in the current climate, of attracting and retaining the right staff. She also looks at the question of leadership and emphasises the importance of tackling issues early and head on, for the benefit of all parties.
As we emerge from the last couple of years overshadowed by the global pandemic, we are faced with a relatively new phenomenon of The Great Resignation. Sam considers what this really means for both the business and the individual, and why people are reassessing both their professional and personal lives.
Drawing on real life examples, Sam proposes that how we work with our teams and our people really begins with how we lead ourselves. She recognises that every member of the team is a leader in some form, whether they want to be or not, and the problem arises for everyone when issues are not dealt with as they arise.
Sam reflects on the early stages in her career and how receiving constructive feedback earlier would have helped her as well as those around her. She refers to an earlier podcast on difficult conversations (link below) and reminds us that avoiding these opportunities actually leads to a breakdown of trust.
This reflective podcast is imperative listening for anyone confronted with the shortfall of available staff or wondering how to deal with issues within their team. With her usual transparent style, Sam shares her more challenging moments in a way that is sure to be beneficial to every business owner.
What we cover in this episode
The one problem business owners want to solve
The Great Resignation
Working as part of a team
Unintentional leadership
Having the difficult conversation
Sam tips and tools for addressing leadership issues
Quotes
“The interesting thing is that, particularly in the accounting industry, they're not going back to other people, other places, they’re going into either their own businesses or leaving the industries entirely. So we're losing a lot of the expertise and a lot of seniority in the leadership from.. This is a global employment problem, it is not just for us” - Sam
“The problem with that of course is unintentional leaders. Everybody everybody gets up in the morning is a leader every person in any kind of business is a leader and this is the thing that we need to concentrate on” - Sam
“You have to look at it from a leadership point of view and go ‘what is this doing? what kind of destruction is it doing?” - Sam
“We tend to focus on the people who have the potential to lead and lead well, not the people who are leading by example and not leaving very good examples” - Sam
Links mentioned
Episode 4: The Art of Difficult Conversations
The Art of Difficult Conversations Cheat Sheet
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