Last week I was interviewed by Mike Loder on Ticker TV in what was a really interesting discussion. To listen to the interview see the link below or read the full interview transcript.

Mike Loder

Hello and welcome back to Ticker Insight. I'm your host, Mike Loder, and my first story for now. And we all hold conflicting views of self, multiple perspectives of who we are and how we should act. And as leaders, these selves seem to be a constant tightrope walk, negotiating personal and professional lives. Joe Hart is the founder of leadership consultancy True Perspective and is here to help us unpack these thoughts. Welcome to you, my friend.

Joe Hart

Thank you, Mike. Great to be here.

Mike Loder

No worries at all. I think this is a really important one to discuss because I mention that everyone has these two sides of the coin, but in your book you say that honesty and perspective are key to effective leadership. Is a time for leaders to live more transparently, do you think?

Joe Hart

Absolutely. It's always been really important for leaders to live with transparency. I guess when I talk about honesty, I'm talking about honesty with self. It's one thing to not lie, I think it's incredibly important for everyone to show up and be truthful, but to be really honest with yourself about what is it that you're doing, what are you engaged in, are you actually in the right role at work? Are you actually a leader? And is that what you really want to be doing? Because it's an important role and honesty is incredibly important in terms of being a leader.

Mike Loder

I think it's very difficult for some people to be honest at times, especially in their workplace. Got to keep going, got to keep moving, not say how they're feeling, etc. But how is important is self-development for leaders at this time, is it absolutely critical?

Joe Hart

It always has been important and I think now it's probably more important than ever. It's really easy, especially as a leader, to want your team to have all of the development opportunities thrown their way. I think leaders need to take a look at themselves and actually know what they need for themselves because that is going to help develop their team. And it's incredibly important to prioritise that as a behaviour. It role models the right sort of behaviour for your team and demonstrates that that's what's important to continually evolve and develop as a leader yourself, it’s not about giving it to everyone else, give it to yourself first, be selfish with it and that is probably the most selfless thing you can do as a leader.

Mike Loder

Absolutely, Joe, selfish is not always an ugly word, but authenticity is another key buzzword at the moment. How important is this for employee buy-in, and do you think when it comes to being your authentic self, it’s really important?

Joe Hart

It is a bit of a buzzword and unfortunately sometimes gets a bad rap. When people say, “you lead with your truth” and “my truth”, it can sometimes turn people's noses up, which I really appreciate. What I'm talking about when I'm saying being authentic is don't be afraid to bring yourself to work and I see a lot of leaders, or even as a psychologist myself, not wanting to fully open up about some of your challenges or what's going on for you. I talk about it in my book, the importance of discovering who you are by disclosing who you are. And when you disclose, a sense of reciprocity kicks in and people want to give more of themselves as a result. So this really lovely process happens, and this ripple effect of sharing happens as a result. So don't be afraid to throw it out there. You can never know how people are going to respond. And I hear people say it all the time, it's like, “Oh, well, I know that's not going to be good”, or “I know that's going to be career suicide”. How could you possibly know that? So just go there, have a go at being who you are and see what happens, and I count on it, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Mike Loder

Totally, your mind starts going, all of the negative things that could happen, sort of catastrophizing, I suppose. But should self-reflection lead from the top down to employees as well, do you think, Joe?

Joe Hart

Absolutely. I think self-reflection is something that we all need to engage in, whether it be journaling, whether it be an opportunity to sit quietly with yourself and reflect on how you've behaved and how others have been behaving around you and in response to your behaviour. Self-reflection should be something that everyone engages in. And of course, the senior leaders in your organisation, whether they be right at the top, they need to be role modelling that and engaging in self-reflective behaviour as well.

Mike Loder

Yeah. Just to finish, what key factors do you see are impacting engagement, do you think?

Joe Hart

The same things have always been impacting engagement. Really what we're talking about is the leader. The leader in the organisation is the single biggest factor that influences how people feel at work. Research from Gallup and other organisations demonstrates that about 70% of the variance in what you're feeling at work is accounted for by that behaviour demonstrated by your leader. So if you're a leader or aspiring to be a leader, you really owe it to everybody and yourself to show up, be honest, and be authentic, because that's what's going to impact everybody else's experience. To step outside yourself and demonstrate a bit more empathy in terms of what you're doing. By that, I mean to allow people to give you feedback so you can see yourself the way they're seeing and experiencing you. So I think a lack of that is probably affecting engagement negatively.

Mike Loder

It's not always easy to look in the mirror, I suppose, as well. Joe, I really appreciate our chat, and love to get my hands on your book because I really enjoyed our discussion today. I think it's a really important one to consider. So thank you for your time and your insight.

Joe Hart

Thank you so much, Mike. Appreciate it.

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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME

I’m fascinated with people, always have been and always will be. From a very early age, I keenly observed people, I was curious about what motivated them, what made them successful and why they made certain choices. This curiosity led me to study Psychology. After graduating with my Master of Organisational Psychology, I worked for Gallup, a global leader in engagement and strengths-based development. I became a strengths-based coach, engagement expert and worked with senior leaders all over the world.

If you’re curious about how I can help you personally or with the leadership of your team/organisation get in touch via my email: joe@joehart.com.au | website: joehart.com.au | Phone: +61425 224 825