Fidelity in Action
I was recently reminded of a quote said by the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings football team, Kevin O’Connell. For those of you who aren’t football fans, please refrain from rolling your eyes too hard and just stick with me here because I promise I’ll find a way to make this relevant. O’Connell famously stated “I believe that organizations fail young quarterbacks sooner than young quarterbacks fail organizations”. O’Connell took the stance that the working and learning environment of an organization plays a large part in the success or failure of employees, yet it is the employees who largely take the blame from organizations when they fail to succeed.
This quote really struck a chord with me. With a background in leadership, I’ve experienced first-hand how the decisions made by executive leadership are felt heaviest by those lowest in the organizational hierarchy. Many of us have likely experienced a workplace where leadership operates with a heavy-handed micro-managing leadership style. The desire for control and compliance produces the exact opposite effect in a majority of these work environments. Employees in these environments suffer from higher rates of burnout, lack fulfillment in their work, and struggle to meet key performance metrics consistently. This tension between compliance and collaboration is a key component when considering how to utilize Motivational Interviewing in leadership.
From the perspective of behavior change in Motivational Interviewing, we know that organizations who employ a more open and collaborative approach to leadership often see greater rates of employee retention and performance. I don’t think I’m saying anything revolutionary when I say that people in the workplace just want to be appreciated and valued for the effort they bring every day. When employees feel valued and respected by their organizations, they produce amazing outcomes. Compliance and micromanagement are the antithesis of that and cause employees to feel under valued and disrespected. If we know that collaborative leadership has such resoundingly positive outcomes, why then do so many organizations have structures in place that create higher rates of burnout and decreased performance for their employees? The good news is that those structures can be adjusted to create healthier and more sustainable environments for leadership and staff at any level of the hierarchy. When organizations operate from a truly person-centered lens at every level of leadership by focusing on collaboration rather than compliance, good (and sustainable) things happen.
–Austin Portch, Clinical Advancement Manager
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