Leaders as role models
Last month, Madalyn Parker, a developer at Olark sent her team the following message: ‘Hey Team. I’m taking today and tomorrow to focus on my mental health. Hopefully I’ll be back next week refreshed and back to 100%.’ Madalyn.
Now in many organisations, the top leadership team would frown upon this. Whilst the company’s values might espouse a supportive, great-place-to-work ethos, the reality is somewhat different. You can’t talk about mental health. Sure, you can be sick, but the kind of sick that needs antibiotics. The response from Ben Congleton, Olark’s CEO was surprising to many: ‘Hey Madalyn. I just wanted to personally thank you for sending e-mails like this. Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health—I can’t believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work.’ Ben.
Action Centred Leadership nurtures leadership at all levels, but without a clear steer from the Strategic Top Team, it won’t work. The imperative of the executive team is to provide direction, to build and release corporate spirit, to be clear, and to make it happen. This helps others in the organisation to interpret the rules and to follow the example set by those leaders. It means the Task can be achieved through people and Individuals working as a Team.
As Ben Congleton says on the Olark Website: ‘We've grown and changed so much since the beginning, but at our core Olark has remained about the people: our team, our customers, and our customers' customers’.
On the same page, Madalyn writes: ‘I've benefitted first-hand from Olark's #assume and #practice values as I've had to take significant time off work to address my mental health and have had complete support from my team.’ For the record, Olark’s values are:
Chill Out - Help Each Other Grow - Assume Good Faith - Make it Happen - Practice Empathy - Speak Your Mind.
Olark are practitioners of Action Centred Leadership. They might not know it, but they have the three circles in balance. And their leadership teams are providing the leadership functionality needed by the broader team. And it is great to hear.
Call us to find out more about how John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership (ACL) can help you build the right culture in your organisation. Download our guide to ACL here.
