Mentor Liderlik Danışmanlık

Manfred Ket De Vries, I mention frequently, was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award of International Leadership Association, at the end of 2008. Following the reward, his fist book was published; “Reflections on Character and Leadership”. I hope the book will be translated to Turkish, soon. The book reveals a deeper understanding by examining the leaders from a clinical psychology view; a view we can not see with the administration, engineering or sociology approaches. Also shows that the learning period regarding the leadership matter will continue for years both for institutions and the political platform.

Kets De Vries, gathered some very hard to understand but yet very interesting complex knowledge in the book, in the end he’s seeking an answer for a very simple question and gives helpful advice. The question is; “What makes the global companies, differing greatly in structure, sector, funding and culture, so charming to work for?”

Despite saying most of the companies are far from being “the best place to work”, Kets De Vries makes a basic assumption; “Only when leaders appoint a structure that is complementary to the universal motivational needs of their followers, the companies can be successful.” So a company’s vision, mission, strategy and culture should be according to these needs, as well. And what are those needs? To put it the simplest way, physiological needs, pleasure needs and the needs like fight or flee reaction against a threat. Additionally, bonding and exploration needs. As a result, the best places to work for are the institutions who fulfill the needs of their employees by having three meta-values.

1. Being a community: The leaders of successful global corporations possess good citizenship attitude. These are; mutual support, respect and collaboration. In corporations like this, employees put personal priorities below the benefits of the group. Everyone knows that there would be no team work where there’s no trust, so the leaders of these establishments put ‘building trust’ above all. They’re easily accessible and never exploit their position. They don’t leave their employees in the dark, they share the information and employ a transparent policy. Since they can provide a very positive and supportive environment for change, they’re very successful in motivating people.
2. Pleasure: In successful global corporations taking joy and having fun when trying something new causes these corporations to be creative and innovative, as a result more productive. And fun is not only motivating but also fulfills the exploration need. In his interview with the best example of this approach Richard Branson; Branson says, “If your employees are happy, having fun, smiling it means they’re doing their job fine and your customers’ experience about your company will be pleasant. If your employees are sad and miserable your customers will be just as sad and miserable.” And the former chairman of BP, Sir David Simon says, “Humor means a different perspective and this’s even more important when you’re at the higher positions. And for a company, what makes the difference between being a part of life or being a machine is humor and fun.”
3. Meaning: Everyone works for money but dies for a meaning. Sooner or later people grasp the idea that being the richest person of the cemetery doesn’t mean a thing. So the biggest motivation for doing more is to feel your work does good for the society, to think they have a meaning, being proud. The leaders who have this consciousness strikes a balance between what their employees do and the great target of the company along with the way it serves the society. We can state that the health and drug companies have a natural rivalry advantage. To work for improving the human health gives a meaning by itself. But for the other companies, the social responsibility projects, environmental policies contribute greatly to making the employees feel proud and find a meaning.

Another leadership teacher Warren Bennis, who won the same award with Kets De Vries, in one of his books defined leadership as “the social architectural structure which unites ideas, people and adventure”, years ago.

For leaders, it is not about knowing, any more. It is about closing the gap between knowing and doing…