By B. Kim Barnes

Most of our important business, professional, and personal relationships are ongoing. Relationships in which we communicate and influence one another develop a history. Any specific influence opportunity or event is affected by the past and helps shape the future of the influence relationship. In other words, every time you influence someone you are making it either easier or harder to influence him or her the next time.

A recent Gartner study concluded that there were three qualities that characterized especially effective leaders – qualities that only one in four respondents reported were true of their managers. The three qualities are:

Authenticity; leaders were open about their thoughts and feelings
Empathy; leaders were tuned in to and interested in the experience, needs, and interests of those who report to them
Adaptability; leaders were flexible in responding to those needs and interests.

Leaders with these qualities, the report states, contributed to better engagement, performance, and retention of their team members.

A few years ago, author Connie Cass cited an Associated Press poll showing that nearly two-thirds of the Americans in their sample had low trust in others – compared to only one-third in a similar poll forty years earlier. It’s easy to blame this on increasing urbanization, on the media’s “if it bleeds, it leads” approach to informing us about the world, on greater use of the internet with fewer face-to-face social interactions, or perhaps the increasing rancor of our politics has “tribalized” our society and set us against one another.

by B. Kim Barnes
Reprinted from a LinkedIn article from February 28, 2022

As I watch, spellbound, the drama unfolding in Ukraine, I see everything I’ve ever learned or taught about inspirational leadership being demonstrated on the streets of Kiev. Volodymyr Zelensky, comedian turned political leader, has manifested every aspect of the model at right [1] – and in doing so, has influenced world leaders to take unprecedented actions to support him and his people. In recent years, we have seen political leaders provide poor examples – showing a lack of courage, self-awareness, constancy, empathy, and generosity of spirit, among other qualities. It’s hard to know what the outcome of this situation will be, but he has provided us with an inspiring example of how to lead under the most challenging of circumstances.

Inspirational leadership like that shown by Zelensky can, as we have seen in the followers of that leader, turn fear into determination, weakness into strength, confusion into steadfast commitment. We needed this example to show us what’s possible. I am grateful and in awe.

[1] From Inspirational Leadership, a copyrighted program of Barnes & Conti Associates, Inc.

By Nermin Soyalp, Ph.D.

Two years into the pandemic, engagement surveys—unsurprisingly—report low morale and decreased engagement for many organizations. Organizations have been inviting employees back to their offices. However, with Covid19 surges and employees enjoying working at home, many balk at idea returning to the office full-time. Working remotely is here to stay, and managers face the challenge of creating and supporting an engaged remote work environment.

This article focuses on engagement: what it is, how it works, and the leader’s role in increasing and maintaining employee engagement, especially when leading remotely. Barnes & Conti has redoubled our long-standing commitment of supporting organizations, their leaders, and team members to develop and maintain engaged remote workplaces. This article will identify what contributes to high engagement and how we can create processes to address obstacles to engagement…