Leadership Lessons from Ajax the Seeing Eye Dog #8: Leaders Need Friends Too

“I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous — everyone hasn’t met me yet.”

Rodney Dangerfield

 

Anytime we go anywhere with our guide dog puppy in training, Ajax, we plan on taking extra time.  Almost without exception other people stop us to ask questions about the guide dog puppy raiser program or about Ajax.  I’ve even had a few people ask if I was blind.  Many people ask why we want to raise a puppy that we will have to give back to Guide Dogs of America in about 12 to 18 months.  Once answer is that we love dogs and selfishly can take Ajax just about everywhere we go. 

Ajax always seems to bring a smile to everyone’s face.  Great leaders seem to be able to also engage talent but like guide dogs also need to be respected, valued and to have ongoing support from their family and friends.

Being a leader can be a lonely place.  The higher you go in an organization the less likely you are to have colleagues and reports provide you with candid feedback about your behavior.  How many of us of heard the refrain, “another great meeting Lou” only to wander out the door muttering to ourselves just how much a waste a time the meeting actually was.

Leaders also seem to be high in self-delusion (no research has looked at how many leaders still have “imaginary friends”).  In a recent study reported in Harvard Business Review, CEOs seem to have unrealistically optimistic perceptions about several aspects of their top team’s performance.  In this study, CEOs reported providing significantly higher effective direction for their team or believed that team members are less interested in promoting themselves than caring more about team interests than their direct reports ((Rosen, R. & Adair, F. (2007).  CEOs Misperceive Top Team’s Performance.  Harvard Business Review, September 2007)).

Tom Rath in his 2006 book “Vital Friends: The People You Can’t Afford to Live Without” sites Gallop research suggesting that:

• When employees have close friendships with their bosses, they are more than twice as likely to be satisfied with their job
• People who have a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their work (as well as less accidents, more engaged customers and more creative)

There is convincing evidence about the role of social support in physical health and psychological well-being. In research using our own social support questionnaire in StressScan, individuals reporting higher perceived availability, use and satisfaction report:

• Less inflammation measured as C-Reactive Protein–a new cardiovascular health risk marker
• Less burnout in professional working women–lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment ((Nowack, K. and Pentkowski, A. (1994). Lifestyle habits, substance use, and predictors of job burnout in professional working women. Work and Stress, 8, 19-35)).
• Enhanced immunityas measured by monocytes and lymphocytes ((Schwartz, G.E., Schwartz, J.I., Nowack, K.M., & Eichling, P.S. (1992). Changes in perceived stress and social support over time are related to changes in immune function. University of Arizona and Canyon Ranch. Unpublished manuscript)).

In fact, a recent survey of over 15,670 employees in diverse industries by Career Systems International, the third most important retention driver was having strong relationships and working with great people (42%).  Only having stimulating/exciting work (48%) and having an opportunity to grow and develop (42.9%) were rated higher. 

Despite the challenges and problems in both conceptualizing social support, social integration and networking by researchers and practitioners, having people in our lives to use for emotional, functional and intellectual support appears to be a protective factor in health and one that simultaneously contributes to increase productivity.

Finding and developing meaningful relationships are always a challenge–recent statistics suggest that 50% of all marriages will end in divorce. Great leaders find a way to both stimulate individual engagement of their talent and build high performing teams who work toward a common vision of a better tomorrow.

Ajax seems to be embracing his role of a “leader” when he is working but without his working bib on he mostly just wants to be loved and to hang with my wife and I…..Be well……

 
[tags]surveys, Envisia, Envisia learing, retention, talent management, engagement surveys, job satisfaction, worklife balance, job stress, kenneth nowack, ken nowack, nowack[/tags]

Ken Nowack

Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)