RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Below are two distinctly different quotes about loyalty:
“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty to each other.”
“For many today, meaning is the new money. It’s what people are looking for at work. Clear company values, translated into the day-to-day work experience, are one of the strongest drivers of an engaged workforce, one primed for successful collaboration.”
For pop culture buffs, you’ll recognize the first as one of the dozens of classic lines Don Corleone utters in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. As a matter of fact, the entire movie franchise is based on the idea of loyalty. Given the film’s enduring popularity, loyalty is one of those central storytelling themes that never goes out of style.
The second seems like a quote from a thought leader today tying employees to values in a meaningful way – modern and thoughtful. But, think again, the quote is actually from a Harvard Business Review piece by Tammy Erickson, a globally renowned management and leadership thinker, from 2011!
We think melding culture and business outcomes is new, but as Erickson demonstrates, it has long been a significant topic. The last several years have shown that “meaning is the new money” is even more central to the way people think about their lives.
How do we get from The Godfather in the early 1970s and Erickson in the 2010s to today? Well, let’s think about how C-suite leaders can use loyalty as a secret recipe for success.
Adam Pacifico from his LinkedIn site
I’ve been thinking about this topic and discussing it with other executives in board meetings and my coaching practice. Loyalty was also a main theme in my recent discussion with Adam Pacifico, a partner at Heidrick & Struggles in London, author, and host of The Leadership Enigma podcast. What I have learned is that loyalty as a leadership tool can be used as a foundation for greatness.
FOUNDATION FOR GREATNESS
Like in The Godfather, loyalty is usually thought of in terms of the deeply personal relationships we have with partners, parents, family and close friends. We think highly of people who are loyal through thick and thin, and loyalty is often a badge of honor, like the long-suffering sports fan whose hometown team rarely wins year after year. Most people have one – if not several – store or brand loyalty cards dangling from their keychains. On the other end of the spectrum, being disloyal – think Benedict Arnold and history’s other spies – is an almost unforgivable sin.
Applying loyalty as a “secret sauce” for leaders, I think it is best to think of the idea as each employee’s complete workplace environment, not only how the leader and organization feels about them, but their entire worldview that encompasses their managers, coworkers, colleagues and the company itself. In the best sense of the word, professional loyalty is a mutually beneficial agreement where the employee and organization both experience the safety, respect and admiration that lead to powerful teamwork and the collaboration that leads to the organization’s success.
As an executive, seeing loyalty as a mental model or key framework helps you personalize the employee experience in your organization, so that every individual can ask for and receive the tools, resources and support they need to do their best work. And, remember here, we are not defaulting to a “loyalty oath,” — a locked-down definition of the term that means total dedication to an idea, person or institution without the ability to question, think freely or challenge. In fact, today’s version of loyalty is the exact opposite.
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As a leader, you are building an employee-focused business, which means adapting your managerial style to meet the needs of each individual employee. You are tuning in to your employees’ diverse identities and life experiences,, so you can give them what they need to be successful. And, because you’re creating a leadership infrastructure built on loyalty’s central ideals (trust, mutual respect, common objectives), your colleagues and employees are empowered to speak up when your ideas and tactics aren’t landing correctly. Not only do they feel they should speak up, but they feel compelled because doing so is best for the business.
Authentic loyalty is not creating cliques or a cult of personality around the C-suite. Rather, it centers on building high-octane learning and feedback loops that drive real culture change across the organization. A culture built on loyalty also has real value – it fuels bottomline results.
C-SUITE LEADER’S LOYALTY ROADMAP
Building loyalty is not a management fad and certainly not checking a box on a workplace survey. The stakes are too high in a tight labor market and as inflation-nervous leaders tighten their belts. As a C-suite leader, you have to be intentional about creating loyalty and then working to foster it across the organization.
Remember Erickson’s declaration, “money is the new meaning.” Workers are not mercenaries. A stay-on bonus or pay raise isn’t going to keep a disgruntled person in the seat for long. Employees want to be happy, empowered and feel like their contributions matter, especially your key leaders and teammates.
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Here is a roadmap for a loyalty-centered leader to begin this essential work:
- Build trust: Loyalty is created one conversation at a time. Taking feedback is essential, particularly taking into account that most people have been conditioned to acquiesce to their “superiors.” Be specific in praise and recommendations for improvement.
- Recognize and appreciate: There are many excuses for not thanking those who created the environment to win. The loyalty-led leader is going to search out those individuals because their commitment is essential for future success.
- Connect to goals: Employees, managers, future executives and your most experienced leaders all have options. You may give someone $10,000 to remain in the seat, but are you actually retaining them? A better scenario is understanding their personal and professional goals and finding a way to achieve them together.
Leadership has changed over the last several years based on unprecedented challenges that pushed anxiety levels through the roof for employees, communities and workplaces. As executives, we have to tailor our styles to center on flexibility and resilience as a counterbalance to the chaos. Loyalty follows after the groundwork laid by intention and authenticity. A C-suite leader who follows the loyalty roadmap is going to see gains in areas that move the needle, from increased productivity to better retention.
In my chat with Adam, he quoted Don Amaechi, the former NBA star who is now a renowned organizational psychologist and author, who said: “leadership is energy expensive.” It was a lightbulb moment for us both. My response is that as leaders we have got to be willing to pay the expense to achieve the outcome that we want.
If we have loyalty as a central facet of our culture, then we are better equipped at all levels to address challenges, make adjustments and work together toward wins.
About the Author
Donald Thompson is CEO and co-founder of The Diversity Movement which has created an employee-experience product suite that personalizes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) through data, technology, and expert-curated content. Their microlearning platform, Microvideos by The Diversity Movement, was recently named one of Fast Company’s “2022 World Changing Ideas.” With two decades of experience growing and leading firms, Donald is a thought leader on goal achievement, influencing company culture and driving exponential growth. An entrepreneur, public speaker, author, podcaster, Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) and executive coach, Donald also serves as a board member for several organizations in marketing, healthcare, banking, technology and sports. His leadership memoir, Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success, is available for pre-order. Connect with or follow him on Linkedin to learn more.
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