That saying — “style over substance” — makes an important point. Sure, a rocker’s getup is part of the package, but no one wins a Grammy on an outfit alone.

When it comes to Leadership Styles, the same lesson applies. Leaders can’t succeed on swagger. But I believe style does have something to do with their success. In fact, when leaders discover their style, they unlock greater “substance” and lead with improved agility and heightened confidence.

Leading with your Best Styles

PeopleBest research has revealed six natural leadership styles: Autocratic, Consensus, Compassion, Mentor, Navigator, and Relentless. Many leaders use their predominant style almost exclusively, resulting in mixed degrees of success. The most effective emerging leaders in today’s rapidly changing business environment find and use a blend of their unique strengths.

Here’s a quick run-down on the six leadership styles.

• Autocratic: Demands immediate change and compliance in a very directed style.

• Consensus: Builds agreement and harmony through participation.

• Compassion: Works to create emotional bonds that bring a feeling of bonding and belonging to the organization.

• Mentor: Identifies people’s unique strengths and weaknesses and ties them to personal and career aspirations.

• Navigator: Mobilizes a team toward a common vision and focuses on end goals, leaving the means up to each individual.

• Relentless: Expects extremely high-performance standards, as found in oneself.

The dark side of substance

Each of these leaders is naturally gifted in a specific type of management. In other words, each style is accompanied by “substance.” But these have a potential downside if not used well. Each type of leader has several strengths where managers excel. Each type also has a couple of areas where leaders naturally struggle.

Take leaders who fall in the “compassionate” category. These leaders shine as they create loyalty through the strong emotional bonds they’ve built with their reports. Their teams are marked by flexibility and trust. And they’re willing to give employees plenty of autonomy to accomplish their best work.

But these leaders are often swamped in process — they’re the type to hold those should-have-been-an-email meetings. They may also give workers a little too much trust, inspiring mediocrity rather than excellence. And they can sometimes excuse poor performance when they’re reluctant to correct sloppiness quickly and directly.

Discover your style — and its substance

Here’s the good news about the two sides of substance: When leaders understand their natural style and the “substance” that comes with it, they’re equipped to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. This self-awareness will allow leaders to pick and choose when they put their natural styles to use, and when they deliberately employ another style — even if it’s not their go-to method of management. With increased agility, they’ll see success in no time.

To learn more about your leadership styles, get in touch with PeopleBest: [email protected]. We can equip you, your leaders and your teams with style and substance, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.

I like to think about the trends marking the job market for two reasons. As an employer, I want to stay on top of the evolutions we’re seeing from big employers — and the economy. As a leader in the human capital space, my focus is to assess trends in how people are impacting the performance of companies.

As we mull these trends, I want to keep our discussion actionable. Here are three trends and three tips for you to consider all that’s to come in the rest of 2023.

Trend #1: Focus to shift from recruiting to retention

We’ve all seen the headlines: Layoffs are happening in droves. Some companies are still hiring, of course. U.S. job growth picked up at the start of the year, according to the latest jobs report.

Even so, talent operations are turning inward. As employer news outpost HR Dive put it, employers will recommit to employees’ growth, taking care to spur individual career trajectories.

Talent professionals displayed immense creativity last year as they battled for top talent. They’ll do well to apply a similar mindset to keep and grow their current employees, especially if they must pause their recruiting efforts.

Tip: Invest in your current talent through upskilling and growth initiatives.

Trend #2: Top employers to finesse flexibility 

The debate over work arrangements is largely finished. Some companies have decided one way or the other. But many employers have opted for the inbetween. For those with hybrid workers, a blend of fully remote and fully in-person team members, or any other combination of work arrangements, it’s essential to finesse your flexibility policy, or risk your organization’s success.

Strong expectations surrounding flexibility sets up your workers, managers, and leaders for success. Your policy should answer all the common questions: Can I step out for a doctor’s appointment without notifying my supervisors? Is it OK if my two year old is babbling in the background of a call? Does it matter if I dress in sweatpants for my client calls? Without answering these questions, your organization will certainly encounter problems with productivity and communication. One big question remains, and that’s what does success look like in these roles?  Flexibility is one thing, but are you really tracking performance, metrics or other quantifiable factors for these roles?

Tip: Pay attention to where workers thrive
and manage them accordingly.

Trend #3: Workers to demand pay transparency

After new laws requiring employers to post salary ranges on job listings went into effect in California and Washington Jan. 1, national news website Axios declared 2023 the year of salary transparency. Employers should take note, Axios wrote, as these locales tend to set the standards for employers across the country. “Expect to see this catch on widely in the new year.”

As pay transparency legislation spreads, so will employees’ expectations for fair, transparent compensation. This trend goes hand in hand with the widespread expectations for fair, equitable practices in pay and throughout the workplace.

Tip: Leaders working on pay transparency need to question how well their organization understands the goals, strengths and gaps among all of their workers.

PeopleBest specializes in combining data analytics and behavioral psychology to give companies solutions that use the hidden insights about their people. To find out how we can help your team navigate the trends of 2023, give us a call.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.

Bring your whole self to work – that’s what many companies are asking their employees to do in a push for greater authenticity in the workplace. Employers ask this in hopes of creating a more welcoming company culture, one in which employees feel free to be themselves. Love cats? Post photos of your feline friends in the company chatroom. Run marathons? Wear your latest running swag to the office. Dig Black Sabbath? Start a club for fellow metalheads.

The push for authenticity is about more than hobbies, of course. It encourages diversity and signals acceptance. The trend is not exclusive to rank and file staff — authenticity is taking off among company leaders, too. But it’s tricky to get right at the top level. As leaders balance candor with strategy and tough decisions, what does it mean to be authentic? 

Self-awareness is the key

The bring-your-whole-self-to-work movement may be somewhat recent, but the concept of authentic leadership isn’t new, as researchers at the University of Nebraska’s Management Department pointed out in a 2009 paper. The authors referenced earlier academic work that defined authentic leadership as a process resulting in “greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development.”

Self-awareness is a key part of authentic leadership, the paper explained. A leader with robust self-awareness understands his or her strengths, weaknesses, and “the way one makes sense of the world.” This mindfulness — along with balanced processing, moral behavior, and transparency — allows managers to lead their reports with greater authenticity. 

Six styles of leadership

Most people aren’t born with a natural capacity for self awareness. Leaders are therefore greatly helped by tools that help them build a knowledge of the self. Part of this acuteness is becoming aware of one’s natural leadership styles.

PeopleBest research has revealed six natural leadership styles: autocratic, consensus, compassion, mentor, navigator, and relentless. Each of these styles has its upsides and downsides. But most leaders have no idea that they have a style, let alone how it impacts their management efficacy. 

For instance, one of the more common leadership styles is the autocratic style. Autocratic leaders shine under deadlines and during crises. They can save a failing business and handle problem employees with little sweat. But they can wreak havoc on morale if they don’t keep their practices in check. Employees under autocratic leaders may experience diminished clarity on their role and value. 

Leaders who are unaware of their autocratic tendencies may cause companies serious problems. But leaders who understand their weaknesses alongside their strengths can use their style to the business’ advantage, without the nasty side effects.

The most effective leaders in today’s workplaces are able to use qualities embedded in their leadership style to match the various situations they face. At times, a crisis necessitates a decisive and bold stance. But other situations call for a little time to build consensus.

What’s YOUR leadership style?

To learn about your leadership styles, take the PeopleBest Leadership Styles Brief. It’s no cost, and we’ll send you your results immediately. The brief will help you discover the six distinct Leadership Styles, giving you the advantage when used in the right situation. To find out how PeopleBest can equip you and your team with self-knowledge, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.

This question has vexed virtually every employer in the last year. Quit rates have been at all time highs, prompting all kinds of nicknames for the widespread business challenge. Call it the Great Resignation, the Great Reshuffle, or the Great Recruitment, but many of us are still feeling its effects.

With so much attention on the workers who say “sayonara,” there’s good reason employers are asking the big question above. Why do employees quit? Is something pushing them out? Or is the grass really that much greener on the other side?

It’s not (just) about money

We all know a job offer that comes with a bulkier salary is hard to pass up. But money is not the only motivation of workers who resign. According to a recent McKinsey survey, the top reasons workers quit spanned from opportunities for growth, to money, to managers:

• 41%: Lack of career development and advancement

• 36%: Inadequate total compensation

• 34%: Uncaring and uninspiring leaders

• 31%: Lack of meaningful work

• 29%: Unsustainable work expectations

When McKinsey asked respondents why they accepted a new position, the results largely aligned with respondents’ motivations for quitting. Workers’ top three reasons for taking a new job were: Career development and advancement; adequate total compensation; and meaningful work.

These numbers tell a powerful story. Workers want to grow, do work that’s meaningful to them, and make enough money. The only question that remains: How can employers deliver?

I can’t help you get your compensation strategy in order. But I can equip you with a tool that leads employees to work that fuels their passions, all while outlining a roadmap for growth. We provide intelligent data based on employee performance and aspiration. With this information, we help organizations create environments in which employees flourish based on their giftedness. In addition, we help leaders and managers understand how to lead through change, create synergy in their teams and coach employees for future career steps.  To find out how PeopleBest can serve your team, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies

But feedback is tricky to get right. A recent essay in the Harvard Business Review featured two business leaders’ musings on the subject: “The research is clear,” they wrote. “Telling people what we think of their performance doesn’t help them thrive and excel, and telling people how we think they should improve actually hinders learning.”

Where does this information leave managers, leaders, and employers? Workers crave growth – it’s so important to them, in fact, that many say they’d leave their jobs if threatened by stagnation. But how do employers foster growth if we can’t tell them where and how that growth should occur?

In defense of the comfort zone

The authors of the HBR essay had a couple of helpful answers to this question. They pointed to research delving into the learning process, findings showing that learning happens first and foremost in the positive. “Learning rests on our grasp of what we’re doing well, not on what we’re doing poorly, and certainly not on someone else’s sense of what we’re doing poorly,” the authors wrote. “…we learn most when someone else pays attention to what’s working within us and asks us to cultivate it intelligently.”

Growth and learning do not occur when workers are admonished with a vague command to “get out of your comfort zone” or “pick up a new skill.” Instead, workers learn the most when they’re encouraged to explore their strengths.

“It’s clear that we learn most in our comfort zones, because that’s where our neural pathways are most concentrated,” the pair wrote. “It’s where we’re most open to possibility, most creative, insightful, and productive. That’s where feedback must meet us — in our moments of flow.”

Create continual, consistent feedback

As you may have noticed in past blogs, I’m passionate about feedback.  I truly believe that these moments should be done weekly, at a minimum. Share those “quick moments” with your people when their in their zones to improve feedback and trust.  Don’t miss this opportunity to find out the ‘best’ in each of your team members!

At PeopleBest, our technology-forward approach to workplace psychology opens the door for employers to provide continual, consistent feedback hinging on employers’ strengths. With a roadmap to growth, your employees will be unstoppable. To find out how PeopleBest can serve your team, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.

Among these tried-and-true strategies, another emerged: The stay interview.

What is a stay interview?

The stay interview isn’t technically new, as Georgetown management professor Brooks Holtom told CNBC’s Jennifer Liu. But the tactic enjoyed renewed attention as employers intensified retention efforts.

In essence, stay interviews are like exit interviews with a twist. Instead of analyzing the motives of workers on their way out the door, stay interviews target employees who are engaged and motivated. They identify what draws committed team members to their work, what they’re looking forward to, and what the business could do to support them to go even further.

In a recent article appearing in the Harvard Business Review, one business leader recommended four questions employers and managers can use in stay interviews:

• What’s your frame of mind today?

• Who do you feel connected to at work?

• What barriers can I remove for you?

• What new thing do you want to learn that will excite you and help you grow?

In his interview with CNBC, professor Holtom suggested a few more queries: What excites you to come into work? Do you feel good about the impact of your work? Do you see a future for yourself at the company? If you were manager for a day, what would you do differently?

Make it meaningful — and easy

These questions all seek to uncover the essence of an employee’s relationship with her job and her employer. The answers, when honest and detailed, provide a wealth of information to organizations.

While stay interviews carry tremendous value, they do present a few challenges:

• First, though they potentially highlight trends within an organization, they create a window into only one employer-employee relationship.

• Second, they require companies to spend sometimes costly amounts of time interviewing, analyzing, and interpreting responses.

• Third, they generate personal answers that are much harder to analyze than standardized data.

This is not to say organizations should ditch the stay interview. But here’s my suggestion: Support the stay interview with another mode of employee listening that retrieves information from your whole workforce in a quick and standardized manner.

Learn how you can dial into what makes each of your people thrive using PeopleBest, and take your stay interviews to a new level. At PeopleBest, we’ve created an AI-powered platform that provides employees’ code to success. Ask us how we can help you discover the best in each of your people.

To find out how PeopleBest can help you fight retention, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.