Human Resources gets a bad rap. While there’s certainly a lot wrong in the world of HR, it still has an important role to serve. It helps us operate as a more effective organization, but only when done properly. As more information becomes available, business leaders have the responsibility to help those in HR think more clearly and be more effective.

In this episode: 

• The actual source of employee engagement [5:03]
• The new and changing conditions of engagement during this unpredictable year [13:33]
• The distinction between checking-in and checking-on [20:32]
• Tips for cultivating relational mastery [24:11]
• Why not everyone can be a leader [33:30]

About Scott Miller

Entering his twenty-fourth year with FranklinCovey, Scott Miller serves as the executive vice president of Thought Leadership. He is the host of On Leadership With Scott Miller, a weekly webcast, podcast, and newsletter that features interviews with renowned business titans, authors, and thought leaders. 

Scott leads the strategy, development, and publication of FranklinCovey’s bestselling books and thought leadership and is the author of Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow, and co-author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller, Everyone Deserves a Great Manager: The 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team.

The Myth of the Engagement Creator

In this episode, Scott busts the three biggest myths that HR holds. First off, there is a belief that it is the leaders who create engagement. Leaders can only create the conditions for engagement. It is up to the individual to choose how they engage. A leader can foster high-engagement by creating an environment where their people feel safe, heard, and supported.

How a Great Culture is Born in Relationships

Scott also explains that the idea that people are an organization’s greatest asset simply isn’t true. Instead, it’s the relationships between those people. That’s what creates a company culture. By cultivating relational mastery, people work better together and achieve more for themselves and the organization. 

Building a culture of quality relationships takes a lot of work and self-awareness. Scott’s first tip is to always clearly state your intent when communicating with your people. This reduces misunderstandings while building trust.

Finally, Scott lays down why not everyone can be a leader. There are competencies that are perfect for sales, for instance but are disastrous when it comes to leading others. The best leaders are ones who take the most delight in the success of others. Identifying these people and making them leaders can only make an organization stronger.

Quotes:

“Leaders do not create engagement. I cannot make you engage. What I can do, however, is create the conditions, the culture, the environment, the setting. Leaders create the conditions for others to choose their own level of engagement.” [4:41]

“Your job is to build relationships. Your job is to build trust, to model trust. Your job is to build a culture where it’s safe to tell the truth, where it’s safe to make mistakes, where it’s safe to admit your fears and your insecurities, where vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. That’s a powerful culture.” [21:02]

“I think the power is shifting from organizations to people. It’s the nimble agile leader who understands… the power is in the people.” [39:40]

Key Takeaways:

An effective leader does not have to be the smartest person in the room (in fact, they shouldn't be).

Instead, they need to create the conditions in which others can safely and confidently come up with and share great ideas.

Cultivating this type of environment and culture takes both confidence and humility.

Links & Resources

Follow Scott Miller on Linkedin

On Leadership With Scott Miller

Management Mess to Leadership Success

Everyone Deserves a Great Manager

How Will You Measure Your Life

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