Leadership Series, Article # 4

[Readers: Presented below is the fourth article in our Leadership series. This article was submitted by Christine Esckilsen. Ms. Esckilsen is a Managing Director in the General Counsel Department at Piper Jaffray’s Minneapolis headquarters. She manages all of the firm’s litigation. In addition, Ms. Esckilsen advises the firm on employment law issues and consults on matters including hiring, performance management, executive compensation, policies and procedures. Prior to joining Piper in 2002, Ms. Esckilsen was in private practice for seven years at Littler Mendelson in California where she was an employment and labor law litigator for national corporations.

Ms. Esckilsen has had the benefit of observing leadership skills as both in-house and outside counsel. Moreover, she herself is a leader within the Piper organization. As such, she brings a unique perspective to this important topic. I hope you find Christine’s article instructive and interesting. Regards, Roy]

Reflections on Leadership

By: Christine Esckilsen

Every company has its own culture. I work for an investment bank. Perhaps you are now thinking bailout money (we didn’t take any), proxy statements, red-eye flights, sharp elbows and Brooks Brothers ties. Fair associations all. Yet working here has taught me that effective leadership is best accomplished by being present, open, and connected, concepts addressed below. Why is this important? Because the key to effective leadership is developing engaged employees. We cannot truly engage others unless we are present, open, and connected with them.

To accomplish this, we need to draw on our mind, physical body and emotions. As Americans, we prize and stress the intellect. So, the true work comes in understanding and managing the physical body and the emotions. Once we accomplish this, we can mobilize our teams and feel good doing it! For the skeptics, I submit to you that if this model of successful leadership can work at an investment bank, it can work anywhere.

Why does engagement matter? Highly engaged employees have a strong personal and psychological attachment to their organization. They feel closely aligned with the values of and vision for the company. Not only are they more likely to stay in their jobs longer, thus increasing the company’s return on investment and reducing the high costs associated with turnover, they work harder because they are committed to the strategy of the organization. They tend to share their positive enthusiasm for the organization with other employees and potential recruits. They seek and create teams that openly share information, cooperate and celebrate successes. In this way, their attitude acts as a positive contagion. The bottom line: companies with higher levels of engagement show increased revenue growth.

How do we engage an employee? First, we must be present. To know whether we are truly present requires a degree of self-awareness few of us have been taught in the workplace. Yet, “[we] will make no progress without self-awareness.” Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success, John Wooden and Steve Jamison (2009). Becoming self-aware takes practice. We regularly have to “check in” with our emotions (am I stressed out? am I still angry about a negative encounter from this morning? am I distracted by an upcoming meeting?), as well as our physical body (is my body facing the employee or half-turned away? are my eyes darting back and forth to my computer as I monitor my e-mails? are my shoulders tensed? is my jaw clenched? am I talking very quickly or raising my voice?).

Leaders’ moods and actions have an enormous impact on those they lead. Once we become aware of our emotions and physical body, we can employ tools to manage them most effectively. For example, in the moment, we can take a few cleansing breaths. It is amazing how effective this simple technique is for calming the mind and body. We might verbally acknowledge the fact that we are stressed out or angry. In the long-term, we can develop a daily centering practice that will help us show up for work and truly be present every day. “To be an exemplary leader it’s necessary to take on new practices that will move us out of our heads and into our bodies.” Leadership Dojo: Build Your Foundation as an Exemplary Leader, Richard Strozzi-Hecker (2007). After all, our body controls the brain as much as the mind controls the body. (While this remains a novel concept in the Western World, Easterners – practitioners of yoga, martial arts and meditation – have embraced this truth for centuries.) Getting into our bodies allows us to unify our speech, actions and words. This unity resonates with our employees; it translates as authenticity and creates trust.

Second, we must be open. Once we have become truly present with another person, we have created a pathway to becoming open. An employee who sees, hears and senses that we are committed to the interaction with him/her is primed to be more receptive to what we have to say, and more willing to be forthcoming with us. Strong, open leaders share information about the direction of their team, business line or company; speak with conviction about their guiding vision; and deliver candid performance feedback on a regular and ongoing basis. Moreover, strong, open leaders welcome feedback. They recognize that “CEO disease” – where no one is willing to give bad news or offer constructive criticism with a senior leader – is an anathema to the company’s and the leader’s growth. They exhibit a healthy sense of humor about themselves. They know when to ask for help.

Third, once we are present and open, we are able to connect with those around us. Successful leaders listen to their employees and grant weight to their perspectives. They offer them opportunities to build their skills and continue learning so that they can find greater meaning in their work. They empathize with their employees, i.e., sense their emotions and react appropriately by assuaging anger, calming anxiety and sharing joy. In short, they take a genuine interest in them. This matters because we rely on our connections with others for our emotional stability. Simply put, “[w]hen people feel good, they work at their best.” Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee (2002). Thus, the distinguishing trait of a successful leader is someone who fosters good feelings in those they lead.

There is no question that leading with a unified mind, body and spirit takes practice. It requires a disciplined approach to becoming more self-aware and a willingness to make a conscious choice to train ourselves to behave and act in a particular way until it becomes a part of who we are. Such practice has always been a benchmark of athletes and performance artists. If we can employ it in corporate America, we can learn to fully engage our employees and accomplish organizational success. And, better yet, we can improve ourselves in the process.