Effective leaders are those who have strategy, vision and strong ideas. They inspire and are role models, are authentic and practice behaviors that make everyone feel included.
Globally, leadership training is a $366 billion industry. That’s how much on an annual basis companies invest in making their talent thrive.
At the same time, researcher Jeffrey Pfeffer tracked organizational culture surveys for 50 years and consistently found that between 60 and 75% of respondents said the most stressful aspect of their job was their direct supervisor. Thus billions in lost productivity. Why does this dissonance occur?
A look inside
Leaders who get into a rut and thus get off the path of empathy. In the beginning they rely more on getting tasks done, and eventually their role requires managing relationships between people. This is when dissonant leaders become more arrogant, cold and distant, and demonstrate insensitive and rude behavior. This causes talent on the team to leave the organization.
It gets to the point where leaders are working at high speed without time for rest or renewal. More focus is placed on gaps or problems, and so negative emotions take over. There is also a moment of self-deception that the actions are effective, when in fact they are not.
Empathetic network
The human brain has a logical and emotional side. To the logical belongs the ability to analyze, to solve problems and to focus attention. The emotional side is responsible for creativity, empathy, understanding people and openness to new ideas.
Self-knowledge is an important part of empathy. Knowing yourself includes your strengths and weaknesses as well as managing your own emotions. A clear understanding of character traits, values, beliefs and motivations are also an important part of empathy.
How one is perceived by others
Part of leadership dissonance also comes from the fact that one cannot always accurately predict how others perceive them. Time is rarely taken to reflect on what one’s impact is on others. If time is invested in predicting, but also then seeking feedback as to whether this is indeed the case, rather than just assuming it to be true, then this is put into practice.
