Open your eyes to the blind spots

As a leader you know your council inside out, right? You're connected to your people, and confident you know where the biggest opportunities, risks and challenges lie. 

You know exactly what your people think.... Or do you?

Our data from Australian and New Zealand councils reveals leaders' perceptions are really quite different from that of their people. At AskYourTeam, we call gaps greater than 10% between leaders' and employees' perceptions, 'blind spots'. We ask the same questions of both groups to shine a light on the difference between leaders' perceptions and employees' reality. 

Do blind spots matter? You bet they do. 

Leadership blind spots can be incredibly costly. Disconnection between leaders and teams inhibits council performance, employee engagement, productivity and ultimately Council’s ability to create thriving communities. To pour fuel on the fire, it can also cost you your greatest asset – your people. It’s time for leaders to burst the leadership bubble where they’re insulated from the realities and perspectives of their people.

Read on to see the blind spots councils need to set their sights on, and the common themes we're seeing come through .... 

Restoring trust in leadership 

The ‘leadership bubble’ is particularly prevalent in local government. It’s easy to become insulated from the realities and perspectives of your people if you mostly interact with others at your level, rely on filtered information, and are removed from day-to-day operations. If that sounds like what’s happening in your day to day, change it up!

Restore the confidence of your people. Open, transparent decision-making, and sharing top table decisions with teams is a critical to closing the gap. Lift the shroud of secrecy and bring your people on the journey with you.

Tapping into employee motivations

Our data confirms what we all instinctively know - people who work in councils are more purpose driven than those in the private sector.

They’re there because they want to make a genuine difference to the communities they serve.

How can council leaders leverage this insight to boost productivity?

Give your people a voice : Your richest source of insight is right in front of you; your people. They hold a wealth a knowledge and lived experience and they want to contribute their ideas. Let them. Making them feel heard and valued is a win-win opportunity to boost motivation and productivity while improving service delivery to your community. 

Deal with poor performance : When top performers see non-performance not being addressed, it can be both frustrating and demotivating. Leaders cannot afford to confuse being caring, flexible, and supportive with absolving them from the responsibility of honest conversations and giving ongoing, regular feedback on areas for improvement. Our data also highlights a significant gap in the perception that people are held to account for meeting deadlines, so that’s a great place to start.

For top tips on how to deal with poor performance, check out our blog here. 

Recognise a job well done : As a leader your words and actions carry weight. Remember to offer praise where it’s due, whether it’s a quick shout out in a team meeting, a short email or through a formal recognition program, make sure you call out the hard work of individuals in real time.

Communicating workplace bullying polices

You know how serious the effects of bullying and conflict can be within the workplace and you’ve likely already put appropriate policies and procedures in place to address this.

But how confident are you that anyone in your council experiencing bullying or intimidating behaviour knows how to deal with it? Our data suggests many don’t. The remedy is simple. Communicate, communicate, communicate, before it’s too late.