Global leaders have been advised to earn the trust of their employees for their organizations to remain successful during periods of business uncertainties.
British Ambassador Charles Crawford, an Oxford University alumnus and one of the faculties at the forthcoming “Strategic Leadership for Success in Volatile Times” program being organized by TEXEM UK made this statement on TEXEM’s website (www.texem.co.uk).
The TEXEM’s program comes up from
Nov. 21 to Nov. 24 at Jury’s Inn, Birmingham.
Crawford, who was answering questions on the coming event, and spoke on Influencing and Negotiating concerning leadership, said gaining the trust of others, however, depends on the leaders’ honesty.
“And honesty is hard. How far does a leader want his or her team to be honest about the leader’s performance, or things that are going wrong or missed opportunities?
“Do a team of followers want their leader to be honest in telling them that they’re lazy and not trying hard enough?
“These are subtle things. But good organizations smartly talk about them,” he said.
Crawford said it boils down to any organization’s culture, whether the organization has a culture of excellence or that of excuses.
He expressed confidence that any organization or leader who attends TEXEM’s forthcoming program will glean more insights into the art of influencing and negotiating as part of life-saving leadership strategies.
On ways leaders could apply smart questions when involved in the negotiation process, Crawford said one key part of any negotiation is working out what the other side really wants from it.
“And the other side might not be clear on that. So, you need to explore the issues, which means asking smart questions in a smart manner. A lot of technique comes into play here.
“Another aspect is learning how to sum up well so that you keep the issues together in an organized way.
“The TEXEM sessions we run draw on professional mediation skills that combine active listening (and active watching) with subtle questioning skills.
“These help get people talking and so (all being well) reveal their deeper motivations,” he said.
“You’ll learn a lot of highly practical specific ideas and skills that will help you be a far more subtle and thoughtful (and therefore effective) leader immediately.
“The program will also leverage TEXEM’s tested and proven methodology that has helped over 4,000 executives and their organizations to win and makes learning fun, impactful, engaging, stimulating,” Crawford said.
He added that, if all goes well, that leads towards negotiated outcomes that are not just a dull ‘win-win’ but something much richer than that.
Crawford also spoke on the best communication arsenals leaders should apply while addressing employees during business uncertainties.
“When in doubt, be honest. If jobs have to be lost, make that clear in broad terms and explain how and when it will be done as fairly as possible.
“Give people a chance to jump before they are pushed. And if it finally comes to letting people go, don’t come across as nervous or unhappy.
“It’s part of your job to make and then take tough decisions. But, do it with conviction,” he said.
Crawford said it is also important to convey confidence that these hard times can be survived and perhaps make everyone stronger and wiser, while he advised that leaders should not overdo it, thus raising false hopes.
