Leadership Through Human Connection — with Special Guest Lisa Baker Murray

You know, when you hear the phrase leadership through human connection, what does it actually mean to you? I

think it, first of all, it means to me self as a human being.

So it's that kind of self-awareness, self-working and understanding how I can use some of my strengths and my skills to work with other people.

And then it's about being able to connect people.

So Allowing conversations to happen, question responses, I think is a really critical.

If someone's trying to bring a problem to you, do you listen to what they're saying? So I'm a really big advocate for trying to shut out the rest of the noise that's going on, whether that be your internal dialogue questions or the noise around you to really focus on what's that person trying to tell you? What's that person trying to ask you? And kind of really try to connect with them, you know, using rapport skills.

So, you know, mirroring, listening and really kind of taking that time to connect with people.

Because actually it's that value that people bring that I think is really important through that connection.

No, definitely.

And I think it's, you know, it is about that.

How can we kind of bring everybody, you know, together together? And I think, you know, it kind of then naturally leads on to my next question, which is around, so what do you think separates a respected leader from someone who simply holds a senior position?

Yeah, and that's a really interesting question because I've worked with some people who are very title driven, that it's really important that I'm more senior than you, therefore.

And actually, I think for me, titles are irrelevant because it's about how you act as a leader.

And actually it's, You don't have to have a title to make you a leader.

I think everybody can be a leader in a work organisation.

And I kind of believe that, that the title doesn't make you the leader.

Often you're the leader and then you often get promoted because of those skills that you kind of have and you use.

So for me, it's someone who really takes the time to listen, to understand and to encourage their teams and the people that they're working with to do things with them and not be told you've got to do this all the time.

It's actually that encouragement piece, getting people to really engage with what's happening.

And really taking that opportunity to say, you know what, how how can we do this better? Do you have ideas and suggestions? You know, I've got ways that I think we could do it or showing that vulnerability to say, actually, I don't know what to do in this situation because I've never dealt with it before.

Has anybody else got any suggestions? And so sometimes for me, it's that vulnerability.

It's the ability to listen to others, encourage others.

And it's not necessarily because I've got an executive title or I've got a manager title or, you know, it's because I'm there to kind of enhance and empower other people to do things as well.

Yeah, no, absolutely agree with that.

And I think after Nick, just because somebody has a title sometimes, you know, and this is kind of goes back to our conversation about around sort of almost the bad leader, for want of a better word, where it is, you know, purely because they've got that job title, you know, and, you know, it sort of then feeds on to, you know, around maybe a question for you about, you know, why do, you know, why do you think employees disengage from managers? You know, do you feel like, you know, obviously you sort of alluded to already because of that, assumption because you've got that title? Do you think there's something else that kind of could lead people to disengage?