Leaders in organisations in Barbados and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean Caribbean are being encouraged to show their junior staff greater respect if they are serious about increasing productivity.
This advice has come from Managing Director of Caribbean Catalyst Inc. Rosalind Jackson, who told Barbados TODAY that there were still too many complaints from workers across companies about poor leadership qualities.
Jackson said it was also important for managers to undergo continuous training in order to run a more effective operation.
“If you are excited about what you are doing at work you get up on Monday mornings and you go to work…. We spend so many of our waking hours at work that if I don’t enjoy it and see how it is helping me to become a better professional, then I am just going to do enough not to get fired. To me, leadership is the ability to influence people’s motivation where they are willing to struggle for better results, individually and collectively,” said Jackson.
“You have to treat people with respect and if you don’t respect me do you think I am going to kill myself for your organisation, no,” she said.
Jackson shared the views on the heels of the recently concluded Caribbean Catalyst Leadership Challenge Workshop for middle and senior level managers and ahead of the upcoming half-day Manager/Supervisor as Coach workshop on March 30.
Indicating that managers should not be afraid to try new approaches to leadership, the HR consultant and leadership coach said she believed too many leaders across organisations were stuck in a “hierarchical approach”.
“We still have a lot of work to do . . . Clearly, if I am in an environment where people care and they are reasonable, I am going to develop quickly. We have a long way to go. It is almost as if we have this organisational hierarchy emblazoned on our skulls or something. We need to get out of that trap of that organisational hierarchy,” said Jackson.
“My team knows that I am ‘the boss’, but I don’t see them as any less important than I am, and everybody’s job is important and you should be looking to see how to develop people,” she said.
“We don’t take the time to tap into the potential of people that we see as our subordinate . . . Yes, the buck may stop at me because I am the CEO or the managing director, but it doesn’t mean that my people at every level don’t have some sort of input they can make to help me make better decisions, that is how you empower people,” she said.
She said there were five exemplary practices of a good leader – leading by example, inspiring others, challenging existing processes, enabling others to act by providing training and development opportunities and encouraging workers by recognising individual excellence and celebrating team victories.
She said that by not abiding by those five principles, companies risk having negative consequences.
“Lack of leadership produces stagnation. Nobody feels empowered to step out of what they normally do so they are not going to take any initiative or try anything new. It also results in people not feeling utilised or appreciated in the workplace, so they will come to work for the paycheck, not to help the organisation become significantly better,” she explained.
“If you want me to be more productive, even if you can’t afford more pay, there are certain intangibles in the environment that you can provide if you follow the principles that will make people feel more respected and valued and then they will become more productive.
“It means that you have to show people that you respect them as human beings . . . You don’t pay by their bills, you pay by their skills, but you still need to show a personal interest in people,” she added.
Jackson argued that oftentimes people become managers and leaders of organisations [and] they stop developing professionally. However, she said this should not be the case and even if the organisation was not willing to do it, individuals should seek out the opportunities.
“I really want all the leaders in Barbados and the OECS to attend workshops. They like to send their supervisors but they need to come and open their minds to some different ways of leading and realise they are leading human beings. We are not robots,” she said. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
