DO THE RIGHT THING WHEN NO-ONE'S LOOKING
WHY KIND, AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP HELPS YOU & THE PEOPLE YOU LEAD
"People are the heart of our organisations.
What they think and feel at work really matters.
And how they are led hugely impacts how they engage with and feel value in their work life. "
Dr Duncan Harris
Underdog's Clinical Psychologist
Leadership that inspires and stimulates
Scientifically robust studies have shown that authentic, transformational leadership can inspire and stimulate people - achieving increased wellbeing and performance across organisations including a high-pressure sectors such as health, tech and the military.
This leadership style seeks to shape the underlying beliefs and attitudes of employees so that they naturally become committed to performing above minimum expected standards.
For this to happen, leaders need to be authentic and consistent role models; encourage innovation; inspire towards meaningful, value-driven aims; and pay attention to people’s individuality.
Psychological Safety
Paying attention to and investing in high quality relationships with employees requires the ability to be aware of our emotions as well as being responsive to theirs. This ability is highly valued by us all and especially by employees.
The emotional intelligence of leaders and the creation of a workplace high in psychological safety have consistently been observed across multiple sectors to increase and explain the link between transformational leadership and positive outcomes.
High psychological safety is about creating cultures where high expectations and standards are balanced with a freedom for employees to speak up and take positive risks in the pursuit of excellence.
Reflect and improve
Leaders who create and sustain psychologically safe workplaces benefit from positively maintaining their emotional intelligence and their ability to engage in high quality thinking, reflection and focused improvement.
Our capacity to reflect and be emotionally intelligent, however, can be affected in the short and long term by a range of ‘stress’ factors and events. As a result, various unhelpful habits can form in how we act and relate to others.
Fortunately, these habits can be understood and removed through good psychological support - resulting in greater self-understanding moving forwards!