The Elephant in the Room

The Challenge Business Leaders Face to Share Power in the Workplace

As a leader in your business, I am sure that you are aware that a positive relationship between leaders and employees is touted over and over as the cornerstone of business success in the new economy. Post after post on social media talk about “Leadership” as displaying compassion and empathy, delegation and empowerment and inspiring action rather than ordering it.

The impression these posts give is that it is already common practice for leaders like you to recognize and appreciate that their employees deeply care about their business’s success. But statistically speaking, that is just not the case. According to one 2024 study, 57% of employees who have left their jobs site frustration with their manager or company leadership as the reason. While business leaders are expressing concerns over their struggles to fill open positions, retain key employees and maintain a healthy culture they are likely a significant part of the underlying cause of the challenges they face. Is your business suffering from staffing shortages and other employee challenges?

Despite the statistics showing that workers want a different style of leadership and the ROI of a more engaged, motivated and high-performing workforce, many business leaders hesitate to share power, preferring instead to retain total control over key decisions and initiatives. Does this ring true at your organization?

Leaders are people too. In my experience, they want the same things as other employees, safety and appreciation for the contributions they make for example. Most people in leadership positions are good people who have worked hard to get ahead and are experts in their fields. This has prompted me to ask, why such a smart experienced group of people would hinder their own and their company’s success by not embracing a more effective approach.

What is holding these people in leadership positions back from engaging in great leadership? What is the other pull that keeps them from embracing actions that are universally considered to be more effective and can drive hirer productivity and profit?

Although there are some complex factors within them this reluctance can be grouped into two categories. There are those who are suffering from a lack of trust in their workforce and those who are operating in a hierarchy that by design suppresses power sharing.

Lack of Trust

The first group are the “Lack of Trust” folks. They operate with a fear of losing control or rather a need to maintain a sense of security and stability. Good accountable leaders can fall into this trap simply because they care so deeply about the business’s success. Do you, in your role as a leader, find the prospect of delegating authority daunting because it requires that you trust others in your company to make decisions that could impact your company’s success?

While it is understandable in this context that you may feel, “If I want it done right, I have to do it myself,” it is literally counterproductive. Leaders who delegate experience higher levels of productivity themselves because delegation allows them to focus their time and energy on higher-priority activities that require their particular expertise and attention. Beyond your success, your delegation would also foster trust and empowerment and promote leadership development in your workforce. It would improve decision making and increase morale while combating burnout at your company. All these results would ultimately drive higher productivity and profit.

Command & Control Culture

The second category includes those leaders caught in a hierarchy that leans on a “command and control” approach. It may be as simple as “that is the way it has always been”. But regardless of how it came to be “command and control” is unhealthy and infects any program or incentive designed to enhance working for your company.

“Control” also breeds a “self-preservation” instinct in your managers. Because it leaves little room for new ideas and growth in business acumen, managers who have clawed their way into a position of power become driven only by the need to protect it. Fear and ego take over, and their position becomes intertwined with their personal identity and status. This leaves little room for your upcoming leaders to embrace compassion or empathy for those they are charged with leading. Incidentally, it also leaves you without an exit strategy and the ability to execute a succession plan effectively.

While in the past “Control” and the bureaucracy that comes with it may have been the norm, the fact is, as we usher in a new economy with a new workforce emanating from baby boomers retiring and younger workers with different needs and wants, “Control” is increasingly more stifling to the productivity and satisfaction of your workforce, not to mention your bottom line.

In this environment, the directives you issue from the top feel very removed to your individual employees. Issues those individuals see as important or pressing are going unheard and unrecognized because your managers are driven by fear instead of a desire to help your team do their best work. This results in an ongoing “misunderstanding,” with an ever-widening gap between you, the leader, and your team. Knowledge is getting siloed and fear is taking over as the only driver in your company. The result is a stagnate environment where your team keeps their heads down to avoid doing anything to “rock the boat”. If you are a leader in this type of environment, ask yourself (if you were an employee) why you would opt to stay at your company under these conditions?

To Make a Change, Be the Change

Is your company suffering from a drain of key employees?  Is your company culture weighed down by backbiting and fear?  Are you having trouble finding and hiring top talent?  Likely the problem you must address first is you, the leader.

The solution is a simple one in theory.  However, it is also the hardest for leaders like you to overcome.  Before any other people management strategy can be effective, regardless of whether it is compensation, benefits, perquisites, employee development or employee recognition, there must first be a shift in mindset that can only come directly from you, the leader.

To create a culture where your company is the employer of choice for a new generation of workers, you must first unequivocally accept that you, the leader, will never hold a monopoly on either the desire or the ability to do what is best for your company.  Read that again…because if you cannot accept this fact, no new program, extra benefit or even higher salaries will work to improve your culture or solve your staffing challenges.

This is not an easy fix despite its simplicity.  Business leaders who have built their businesses from the ground up with their own blood, sweat and tears will find it much easier to say than to truly believe.  Nonetheless, it is the only path forward.

You must first unequivocally accept that you, the leader, will never hold a monopoly on either the desire or the ability to do what is best for your company.

The Reward of Being the Change You Seek

If you make the leap to understand that your employees genuinely care about your business, positive solutions to many of the issues I have covered above will present themselves.

You will no longer see your team as “cogs in a machine” and instead will see their intrinsic motivations, aspirations, and desires to contribute meaningfully.  You can then acknowledge and recognize the inherent drive within each of your team members to make a difference and drive positive outcomes.  This recognition will lay the groundwork to build trust and foster collaboration in your workforce.

Beyond their paycheck, your employees invest their time, energy, and emotions into their work and the success of your business.  You will now have the ability to acknowledge and value this emotional investment and as such will demonstrate empathy and appreciation for your employees’ dedication and commitment.  By acknowledging the personal investment your employees make in your business, you will foster a sense of belonging, loyalty, and pride in your company’s mission and values.

Your employees will then begin to feel that their contributions are valued and that their voices are heard.  The natural result of which is your employees will develop a sense of ownership and accountability for your business’s success.  Just think about what your workplace culture might feel like if every employee were personally invested in driving success for your business…And that is just the beginning…

Conclusion

Without dispute, the workforce is undergoing dramatic changes.  The business to employee relationship must change in order for businesses today to thrive.  That change at your company begins with you.

If you have accepted that your employees care about your business and want to institute strategies and processes that reflect that, Estuary Human Resources can help.