Sustainable Leadership: Are you a Diminisher or Multiplier?

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Dec 30, 2010 2:14 PM ET

Taiga Company blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Compa…

The post, How to Bring out the Best in Your Boss, identifies two types of bosses, "diminishers", who get less than 50% of the capability of people around them, and "multipliers" who get virtually 100%."   Another post,  The CEO Is the Chief Energy Officer, states, "Above all else, a leader is the chief energy officer. The most fundamental job of a leader is to recruit, mobilize, inspire, focus, direct, and regularly refuel the energy of those they lead.  Energy, after all, is contagious — especially so if you're a leader, by virtue of your disproportionate position and power. The way you're feeling at any given moment profoundly influences how the people who work for you feel. How they're feeling, in turn, profoundly influences how well they perform. A leader's responsibility is not to do the work of those they lead, but rather to fuel them in every possible way to bring the best of themselves to their jobs every day." 

What do these posts have in common?  Leadership’s ability to make it or break it for employees, teams, departments, and the bottom line.    "In a comprehensive review by the researchers Bruce Avolio and Fred Luthans of more than two hundred leadership studies, only one quality among leaders consistently had a positive impact on their employees. It was the capacity to recognize potentials that the employees didn't yet fully see in themselves.  Put another way, the best leaders used their own positive energy to bolster their employees' faith in their own abilities and to fuel their optimism and perseverance in the face of stresses and setbacks. That belief from a leader is intoxicating."     Bridging the gap between corporate sustainability programs and employees rest in the sustainable leaders vision - being a "multiplier".    How does this happen?  Click here to continue reading.  

Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".

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