A respected local leadership coach with more than three decades of real-world experience has launched a new book highlighting that poor leadership behaviour is at the heart of widespread unhappiness at work, but insists the problem is both fixable and low-cost.
Margaret Brown’s new book, Culture Pays, draws on over 35 years spent coaching leaders in environments ranging from offshore oil platforms and engineering firms to financial institutions, retail, hospitality and public sector organisations. The book focuses on the link between leadership behaviour, workplace culture and both organisational and societal outcomes.
Brown says that, on a daily basis, she hears employees across all sectors speak emotionally and negatively about their experience at work and that the issue is rarely the job itself.
“Almost without exception, it comes down to how people are treated by their bosses,” she said. “Not being listened to, a lack of respect, perceived unfairness and inequality. This is evident everywhere - from large corporates to the smallest businesses with just a handful of employees.”
According to Brown, in all but the most extreme cases, these behaviours stem not from malice but from a lack of self-awareness among leaders - something she believes should be encouraging.
“The good news is that this means it’s fixable, and at minimal cost,” she said. “Empathy, humility, recognition and listening cost nothing, but their impact is profound.”
Drawing on her own leadership journey, Brown describes herself as her “own most powerful case study”, having learned first-hand the bottom-line and societal impact of leadership behaviour.
“Culture always begins at the top. Period,” she said. “How leaders treat people determines engagement, performance and trust, and ultimately whether people give their best or disengage entirely.”
As part of her work, Brown has interviewed thousands of employees around the world while initiating transformational leadership programmes. She says the same messages are repeated time and again.
“I constantly hear things like: ‘You only ever hear when you get something wrong,’ or ‘They don’t care about us, only bonuses and shareholders,’” she said. “And then leaders wonder why people are disengaged, unproductive, frequently absent, signed off with stress, or simply leave.”
Culture Pays is aimed at leaders at all levels and encourages a shift away from command-and-control leadership towards cultures built on trust, accountability and respect.
To mark the launch, the Kindle edition of Culture Pays is available at a special introductory price of 99p from the 29th-31st of January.