When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.

Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.

To be accountable means that we are willing to be responsible to another person for our behavior and it implies a level of submission to another's opinions and viewpoints.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Accountability - Wikipedia

As a leader, how do you do the hard things that come with taking on the responsibility of leadership, while remaining a good human being? This is an eternal conundrum for all leaders. Most of us think we have to make a difficult, binary choice between being a good person or being a tough, effective leader. This is a false dichotomy. Being human and making hard leadership decisions are not mutually exclusive. In truth, doing hard things is often the most human thing to do. There are two key ingredients: wisdom and compassion.

The Eternal Conundrum: Am I A Leader Or A Good Person?

A Harvard Business Review article, introduces <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/12/compassionate-leadership-is-necessary-but-not-sufficient">the concept of wise compassionate leadership </a>, with wisdom defined as a deep understanding of what motivates people and the courage to be transparent and to do what needs to be done, even when it is uncomfortable; and compassion as the quality of showing genuine care and concern for others, with a positive intention to support and help.

The Concept Of Wise Compassionate Leadership

HBR’s study of leaders and employees from more than 5,000 companies in nearly 100 countries has shown the extraordinary power of wisdom and compassion. Employees with leaders who show either wisdom or compassion have net positive experiences across the board. They enjoy and are engaged with their jobs and are less likely to burn out.

The Parts Are Great Alone. 

But, when a leader demonstrates both wisdom and compassion, the impact on employee wellness and productivity is striking. Job satisfaction is 86% higher for an employee who works for a wise and compassionate leader than an employee who does not. In this case, the sum is much greater than the parts.

But Their Sum Is Much Greater Than Them. 

Not surprisingly, however, actually leading with this combination of wisdom and compassion isn’t easy. It takes learning and practice. The first big step is to unlearn what you might think “leadership” means and to relearn what it means to be human.Very simply put, management is about managing others, about exercising executive control over people. Leadership, on the other hand, is about seeing and hearing others, setting a direction, and then letting go of controlling what happens next.

The First Step To Leading With Wisdom And Compassion

“If you start to think about what our role is as leaders, it’s actually quite simple,” Chris Toth, CEO of the medical device company Varian, told HBR. “Our role is not to be the ones who make the decision or to be the smartest person in the room. In fact, it can be exceptionally dangerous if the decision-making always goes to the leader. Instead, you must create a culture of compassion and empowerment that is accepting of diverse perspectives. This unlocks people’s creativity, productivity and happiness.”

Welcome, Foster, Then Set Free

To foster this type of leadership approach, it is critical for leaders to acknowledge that we are not our job titles: we are human beings, wanting to connect on a human level with other people. Here are four ways to bring more humanity to your leadership.

4 Ways To Bring More Humanity To Your Leadership

Compassion, at its root, is a desire to see others happy and a readiness to take action to help it happen. This is basically an expression of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. The Golden Rule is a helpful step for putting wise compassion in action since it requires the consideration of another person’s point of view.

1. Remember the Golden Rule

When we are able to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, we can take a fresh look at a challenging situation. We can take a moment to recognize that we have one view of the situation, but things may, and probably do, look very different from another person’s perspective. Although putting yourself in another person’s shoes is good for reflection, it is important to avoid thinking you know what the other person is feeling or experiencing. We need to balance putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes with not assuming we understand their reality, which requires good listening.

… But First Make Sure You Don’t Misunderstand It

We have two ears but only one mouth. This means we can—and should—listen twice as much as we speak. When you <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/07/what-great-listeners-actually-do">truly listen to others </a>, they feel heard and seen, which satisfies one of our primary needs as humans.

2. Listen intently.

If you have an important conversation coming up, take extra time to prepare. This can mean establishing the right kind of environment so that you can be fully present or setting an intention to really hear and feel what the other person wants and feels versus focusing on fixing a problem.

… And Set Up Both The Environment And Yourself To Do So

A Chinese proverb says, “There is no way to compassion; compassion is the way.” Asking how you can be of benefit to others, though, is a “way to compassion.” Whenever you are about to engage with someone, take a moment to reflect on what might be going on for this person. What is challenging or going well? And then ask yourself: what support might they need to overcome their struggles? What nudge might they need to gain more self-awareness about their blind spots that are creating difficulties? These questions will help to create a more human interaction focused on their growth and development

3. Ask yourself “How can I be of benefit?”

A good leader values who we are today but also challenges us to stretch ourselves and do better to realize more of our true potential. This is not easy. When someone is already doing well, pushing them to do better can be discouraging and demotivating. But leadership is not about trying to please people and make them feel content and at ease. Leadership is about supporting people by shining a light on things they may not want to face. Instead of shying away from these uncomfortable conversations, try to view your role to stretch people as an indication of true care for them.

4. Stretch people to see their potential

When we practice wise compassion, we can create a culture in which others increase their focus on real human connections. As leaders, we should never underestimate the impact we have on people. We have the power to control their livelihood. We have power over the work they do. And we have power over how they feel treated. This is a huge responsibility. This makes it of the utmost importance to do the hard work of leadership in a human way, so that we can be more successful in positively impacting people’s work experience, their sense of commitment, and their job performance.

Do The Hard Work Of Leadership In A Human Way

Leaders always have, looming over their heads, about to crash down upon them, the words “hard”, “tough”, sometimes even “inhuman”. But, doing hard things, is often the most human thing to do. 

You can be both effective and compassionate.

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

communication

Communication

teamwork

Teamwork

How to Be Both an Effective Leader and a Good Person

Everyone knows that success at work depends on being—and being seen as—both competent and likable. You need people to notice your growth and accomplishments while also enjoying your company. But if you draw attention to the value you’ve created, to ensure that managers and peers recognize it, you risk coming across as a shameless self-promoter. No one likes a braggart. In this article the author explains how to highlight your accomplishments at work without having it backfire.

Art of Self Promotion

Drawing from a fascinating strain of laboratory research, she advises against several popular tactics such as “humblebragging” and “boomerasking” (asking a question in the hope it will be reciprocated so that you can bring up your own accomplishments). The trick is to know when to talk about our achievements and when not to do so. That calls for maturity, judgment, and a degree of spontaneity. Here are some tips given by the author. Author Leslie K. John is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

Humility is admirable. But if someone requests information or an answer that requires you to reveal positives about yourself, you should oblige. Most of the time people in this category earn recognition through consistent performance.Eg: What are your strengths?How did you finish the task quickly?In such situations, being humble would downplay us when not answered. Let questions arise organically, and when you see opportunities to highlight your successes, make the most of them.

Share when asked

Research indicates that in situations where others share too, people can successfully convey their accomplishments without coming across as unlikable, egotistical, or inconsiderate.Sharing something personal often triggers a reciprocation. Based on the research conducted by the author, bragging seems to dissipate when others in the room are engaging in self promotion. In another job interview study, people who took time to outline their strengths, experience, and achievements were more likely to be rated by their interviewers as suitable for the job and of greater interest to the organization.

Share when others are sharing

You can find intermediaries, including peers, bosses, mentors, and sponsors, who will be happy to speak up on your behalf—as long as you are respectful in your solicitation. We must also remember that when we praise and endorse others consistently, others are bound to praise us. Reciprocity is one of the key principles on which the world runs. If someone unexpectedly compliments you publicly, resist the instinct to humbly downplay it; a smile or a simple “Thank you” will suffice.

Find a promotor

Research indicates that when people present a balanced picture of themselves, rather than discussing only successes, they come across as more credible and affable. Those with high positions, in particular, should acknowledge failures and foibles as well as achievements, not only because such candor is laudable, but also because it makes them less likely to come across as brash, unlikable, and worthy of envy.

Strike a balance

We all want our achievements to be recognized and applauded. It’s a boost to morale and well-being. And there are ways to celebrate without coming across as boastful. One is to find a circle of close friends at work and outside it who will cheer your victories as if they were their own. Research shows that telling confidants about your successes can improve those relationships. The reverse is also true

Celebrate the right way

Knowing how and when to boast—and when to refrain—is one important way to advance your career. I personally feel, bring humble is a culture thing or even genetic behaviour, every habit can be cultivated, practiced and nurtured. Deeper self-reflection could bring you far more personal benefit than self-promotion ever will.Your thoughts?

To Summarise

Knowing how and when to boast—and when to refrain—is one important way to advance your career.

The delicate art, and science, of bragging

career

Career

Savvy Self-Promotion

At its core, empowerment is about giving employees control over how they carry out their roles.
<ul>
<li>It's not uncommon for businesses to require employees to complete processes that have been developed exclusively by their managers. When that’s the culture, that is not an environment of empowerment.</li>
<li>When companies empower employees, there’s suddenly a fresh voice in refining systems and optimizing outcomes, and the focus of management moves from overseeing tasks to defining goals and staying focused on results.</li>
</ul>

The essence of empowerment

In the course of a busines shifting to a more employee-empowered structure, communication is critical, including leaders sharing with employees ample information about the goals they are pursuing, as well as expecting that employees will share more feedback and solicit more advice.
This requires a higher level of transparency from leaders than they might be accustomed to, but it will help give them additional awareness of how projects are proceeding.

Empowerment: The required steps

Being self-directed isn’t for everyone; if employees simply don’t want to be, or haven’t spent significant time training to be self-directed, success won’t be easy.

When empowerment goes wrong

<ul>
<li>Empowerment must be balanced with accountability; as employees are given more power to control how they work, they need to be given more responsibility for the output.</li>
<li>When goals are clearly articulated and feedback regularly provided, it’s easier to gauge if employees have the understanding and resources that they need to hit their goals.</li>
<li>It’s not wise to simply ignore a problem, certainly, but if you are committed to building a culture of empowerment, you can’t solve every issue.</li>
</ul>

Balancing with accountability

Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool for improving efficiency, innovation and employee retention, but it's just half of a winning team strategy.

Balancing Empowerment and Accountability Is Vital in Team Management

This is a real phenomenon--and it doesn't just happen at companies with poor management, low wages, or any other metrics that might entice workers to abandon ship. We're very social creatures, and we tend to take cues from the people around us. And in a crisis, people are more likely to make their decisions based on what they see the people around them doing, she says.

Quitting contagion

If your workers are disengaged and disillusioned, you're basically inviting the resignations that will follow. But quitting contagions still happen at companies where workers are generally happy.   You can set up exit interviews with departing employees--and encourages them to share with existing workers why they're leaving. If it's something that the company can improve on, then leaders know what they need to change.

Check in on morale

The friendships we have at work influence us to stay in that place (or to leave). If someone's best friend at work leaves, leaders shouldn't be surprised if that workers resigns next. The solution: Look for ways you can support the employee that's still there. You have to think: "How can I have more of a dialogue with those individuals who might get left behind, and how can I help them adjust to that transition?"

Take note of existing office relationships

When one employee hands in their resignation, other workers inevitably face an increased workload at least temporarily--or more permanently if the employee who departed isn't replaced.It's important to have conversations about workload--people feel it the most if they're not getting recognition for the extra work they may have taken on, either through title or pay. Be transparent with workers about the backfilling process. If it isn't a priority to fill a vacancy, then be willing to compensate the employees who are picking up the extra slack.

Be realistic about workload transferral

Employee investments contribute to a positive company culture, and especially in a time when many workers are reevaluating their career choices, upskilling opportunities can make a big difference in retaining them.

Invest in employees

"The demand for career advancement is very high, and organizations need to provide those opportunities. If they don't, the individual will go and find it elsewhere."

The Great Quit can be conquered and turned into a great opportunity, Here is how to do that.

humanresources

Human Resources

business

Business

Countering The Great Resignation

Quitting contagion is a real phenomenon, according to organizational psychologists--but it's not an inevitability. Here's how you can prevent it from happening at your company.

Quitting Is Contagious. How You Can Prevent It from Spreading at Your Company

A promotion is one form of recognition, but it does not inherently make you a leader. Neither does being a manager. Or coming in early, getting facetime with the C-suite, crushing your KPIs, or having “lead” in your title. Many “leads” do not lead and many people without the title do. While promotional milestones can signify leadership, they don’t by default.

A promotion doesn't make you a leader

The career ladder plagues nearly every type of workplace, from structured corporate environments to the nebulous world of startups.The truth is that success is not linear, and your career path is unlikely to be either. When you take away the pressure of climbing the ladder, you give yourself room to experiment, explore, and develop both personally and professionally. Most importantly, you open the door to leadership opportunities outside of simply getting a promotion.

Climb down off the ladder

To truly step into a leadership role, you have to be willing to speak your mind, push back, and ask tough questions. If the sound of that makes your palms sweat, fear not. You don’t need to be outspoken, loud, or “pushy” to share your ideas. You just need to be willing to get a little uncomfortable, at least at first.The best leaders ask good questions — of both themselves and others. They don’t do anything just because “it’s the way it’s always been done.” And they aren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers to create change and move forward.

Don’t accept the status quo

On a very basic level, being a leader is about your relation to other people within an organization. It’s impossible to lead while flying solo — your connection with your team defines you as a leader. So, a surefire way to develop and demonstrate your leadership skills is to stop thinking so much about what you need to do to get to that next step, and start thinking about how you can help others reach their potential.

Focus outward

Good leaders don’t pretend to have all the answers, and they’re not afraid to address their weaknesses. Acknowledging and revealing your blind spots does not make you unfit or inept. It makes you human and accessible. Know when you need help, and ask for it. Own up to your mistakes, promptly and publicly.If you want to get a head start on leadership, practice vulnerability. It pairs well with confidence, self-awareness, and sincerity.

Expose your blind side

Leadership exists in so many forms — and it doesn’t require a fancy title, a lofty pay raise, or even permission.Don’t wait for someone to tell you when it’s time to be a leader. You have the tools you need to practice within your role right now.

Don’t wait for an invitation

Aspiring young leaders often confuse climbing the corporate ladder with leadership. But not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers.

Getting Promoted Isn’t the Same as Being a Leader

It’s possible to be a great manager and not a great leader, or vice versa. Rarely, individuals are both at the same time. The minute a process needs to be changed, either because of internal or external forces, the manager who lacks leadership ability often struggles to “rally the troops” to a new normal. Similarly, a great leader who has little managerial skills can pull a team in several directions with too much vision, creating a lot of noise but little in the way of results. It’s critical that great managers either learn leadership skills or align themselves with good leaders.

Myth: Management and Leadership are the Same Things

The title “manager” implies exactly this. The Oxford Dictionary defines “manage” as to “be in charge of (a company, establishment, or undertaking).” Surely that means, as a manager, you command and people jump? If only it were that simple. No matter the title, you don’t inspire people by pointing at something and saying, “Do that!” Rather, you bring them along by giving them a reason to “do that.” What sort of reason? It just needs to make sense; it needs to tie the work to some end objective.

Myth: Managers Can Make People Do Things

This myth may be a bit surprising. You’ve likely known or read about someone who seems to have the golden touch when it comes to management. The reason for such success is often misunderstood. Usually, it’s attributed to the manager’s ability to organize people, institute processes, and adapt as new information becomes available. There’s little doubt that these skills matter. But the other, less discussed aspect of a successful manager’s behavior is this: They hire and nurture the right people and get rid of those who don’t perform.

Myth: Good Managers Can Manage Anything

Harvard Business School Online Executive Director Patrick Mullane debunks three myths about management he's heard throughout his career.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

3 Common Myths About Management | HBS Online

Incentive plans, by definition, are supposed to affect people's behavior on the job, day in and day out.If people know their job performance is linked to an incentive like a quarterly bonus, they'll likely develop new ways to produce better results. They'll naturally innovate to become more efficient--finding ways to finish work faster or improve quality without sacrificing cost. They'll seek new approaches to better serve customers. In short, engaged employees live in a world of cause and effect. They understand how their actions contribute to the success of the entire venture.

The Psychology of Incentive Plans

<ul>
<li>Define the right group for the plan. In smaller companies, the right group is usually the whole staff. In larger ones, it could be a branch or a functional unit, but be sure it includes everyone, support staff as well as front-line workers. Remember that business is a team sport.</li>
<li>Draft up a plan. A handy rule of thumb is to distribute one-third of the incremental gains to employees in the form of a bonus while retaining two-thirds for the company.</li>
<li>Spell out the details. How much do we get and when do we get it?</li>
</ul>

How to Test Your Incentive Plan

It's often said that nobody works for money alone and that nobody is motivated by the prospect of more money. There's a lot of truth in that. If you're doing a job day in and day out, you may be motivated more by the demands of the work itself and the people you're working with than by the prospect of financial gain.
But people always like to win, and they like to feel that their efforts to help the company win are appreciated and rewarded. Nothing says "thank you" like several weeks' worth of extra pay.

Employee Motivation

Employee incentives shouldn't just garner employee satisfaction--they should garner employee innovation

How to  Test  Your Incentive Plan

Most of us are uncomfortable with the idea of broadcasting our salary. We're not supposed to discuss that with our office neighbors. The assumed reason is that if everybody knew what everybody got paid, then all hell would break loose.
There'd be arguments, there'd be fights, there might even be a few people who quit. But what if secrecy is actually the reason for all that strife? And what would happen if we removed that secrecy? It turns out that pay transparency -- sharing salaries openly across a company -- makes for a better workplace for both the employee and for the organization.

The Salary Sharing Taboo

When people don't know how their pay compares to their peers, they're more likely to feel underpaid and maybe even discriminated against.
For companies, pay secrecy is actually a way to save a lot of money. Keeping salaries secret leads to what economists call "information asymmetry." This is a situation where, in a negotiation, one party has loads more information than the other. And in hiring or promotion or annual raise discussions, an employer can use that secrecy to save a lot of money. Imagine how much better you could negotiate for a raise if you knew everybody's salary.

Keeping The Salaries Secret

<ul><li>Economists warn that information asymmetry can cause markets to go awry.</li><li>Information asymmetry makes it easier to ignore the discrimination that's already present in the market today (the gender wage gap between men and women).</li></ul>

The Dangers of Information Asymmetry

Letting people know what you make might feel uncomfortable, but isn't it less uncomfortable than always wondering if you're being discriminated against? Openness remains the best way to ensure fairness, and pay transparency does that. 
That's why entrepreneurial leaders and corporate leaders have been experimenting with sharing salaries for years. And studies show that, when people know how they're being paid and how that pay compares to their peers', they're more likely to work hard to improve their performance, more likely to be engaged, and they're less likely to quit.

Openness Ensures Fairness

It's not one size fits all. Some post their salaries for all to see. Some only keep it inside the company. Some post the formula for calculating pay, and others post the pay levels and affix everybody to that level. So you don't have to make signs for all of your employees to wear around the office. And you don't have to be the only one wearing a sign that you made at home. But we can all take greater steps towards pay transparency.

Pay Transparency Takes a Lot of Forms

How much do you get paid? How does it compare to the people you work with? You should know, and so should they, says management researcher David Burkus. In this talk, Burkus questions our cultural assumptions around keeping salaries secret and makes a compelling case for why sharing them could benefit employees, organizations and society. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

How much do you get paid? How does it compare to the people you work with? You should know, and so should they, says management researcher David Burkus. In this talk, Burkus questions our cultural assumptions around keeping salaries secret and makes a compelling case for why sharing them could benefit employees, organizations and society.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews
Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED

Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com

Why you should know how much your coworkers get paid | David Burkus

Work often happens through informal structures, rather than through formal organizational structures. And so, collaboration cannot be understood by looking solely at these formal structures.Connectivity involves how your employees are connected through tasks, cross-functional projects, ad-hoc teams, goals, and different technologies across formal and informal channels. Connectivity is often taken for granted and poorly understood by leaders. Mapping out your organization's connectivity is the first step to understanding how work actually happens and is key to achieving organizational clarity.

Connectivity is the first driver of clarity

It involves ensuring that your employees understand and are able to track how their work contributes to broader company goals, as well as your company mission. This understanding is ever fleeting in organizations today. Your employees also need visibility into their work output and they should have the tools to measure this output over time. Technologies that meaningfully assess workload distribution are key for gaining visibility into work output. This type of visibility will enable you and your employees to pinpoint when task, project, and goal performance are veering off track.

Provide visibility

As we embark on new ways of work, it's no longer about executing the greatest volume of tasks--it's about doing the right tasks in the best possible way. Efficiency is enabled by both connectivity and visibility. Peak efficiency happens when employees are connected across different tasks, projects, and geographic and functional silos. And it is fueled by visibility. Visibility into how work happens enables you to build workflows and integrations that leverage automation and AI to empower more efficient work.

Encourage efficiency

The Reason Your Organization Is Underperforming? A Lack of Clarity

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