WC CFO TheStrategicCFO#44 Online NZ Final - Flipbook - Page 1
Michelle Gibbings
Workplace expert and author
Michelle Gibbings is a workplace expert, working with global leaders to build workplaces
where leaders and employees thrive and great things happen. She is the Author of ‘Step
Up: How to Build Your Influence at Work’, ‘Career Leap: How to Reinvent and Liberate
your Career’ and the new book ‘Bad Boss: What to do if you work for one, manage one
or are one’. www.michellegibbings.com.
Leadership and decision making go hand in hand, and as technology changes
how we live and work and the rate of change accelerates, the nature of
those decisions and how to lead can appear more complex and challenging.
However, when you ask employees what they want from their leaders the
answers are relatively consistent, and simple.
Georgetown University’s, Associate
Professor of Management, Christine
Porath, found that respect tops the charts
for employees. Her survey of 20,000
employees around the world, conducted
in conjunction with Harvard Business
Review and Tony Schwarz, concluded
that being treated with respect was
more important to employees than
recognition and appreciation, having a
n inspiring vision, receiving feedback,
and having opportunities for learning
and development.
The research found that respected
employees reported:
When leaders respect their employees,
they care about how they are treated,
have compassion when they are
struggling, and are committed to their
growth and development. This doesn’t
mean they shy away from tough
decisions. They make decisions using
both their head and their heart. It’s very
easy to make head-based decisions, and
there’s lots of tools that help leaders do
that. For example:
• Listing the pros and cons
• Doing a cost - benefit analysis
• Exploring the risk - reward trade offs
• 56% better health and well-being
• Mapping a decision tree
• 1.72 times more trust and safety
• Generating options for debate,
and then voting to determine the
agreed approach
• 89% more enjoyment and job
satisfaction
• 92% greater focus and prioritisation.
Heart based decisions go beyond thinking
with your head or relying on instinct.
They challenge the leader to approach
the decision differently by looking at the
issue through multiple perspectives.
With a heart-based decision you
ask yourself:
• If I was courageous, what would
I do?
• If I put the needs of others before
my own, what would I do?
• If I put this decision through an
ethical framework, would it change?
• If I took a compassionate approach,
what would I do?
• If I respected the other person
involved with (or impacted by) the
decision would my actions change?
• How will I feel about this decision
in a month’s time, a year’s time,
ten year’s time, and so on?
• Will I be proud to share my
involvement and part in this
decision with the people I care
about the most?
CFOMagazine.com.au
