From "I" to "We": Becoming the Leader Your Team Needs to Thrive

In today‘s fast-paced and ever-changing business world, the role of leaders has never been more critical – or more challenging. With remote and hybrid work now the norm, a new generation of socially-conscious employees entering the workforce, and sky-high expectations from customers and stakeholders alike, traditional top-down, command-and-control leadership approaches are becoming obsolete.

In this environment, the most effective leaders are those who embrace a "We" rather than an "I" mentality. They understand that sustainable success comes not from asserting their own authority or chasing personal glory, but from empowering and developing their teams. By making this crucial mindset shift from "I" to "We", leaders can transform their organizations, inspire employees to do their best work, and drive better business results.

The High Cost of "I" Leadership

We‘re all familiar with the stereotypical "I" leader. This is the manager who loves being the smartest person in the room, gives orders rather than soliciting input, and prioritizes looking good to higher-ups over team development. Some telltale signs of an "I" leader include:

• Using "I", "me", and "my" continuously when discussing work
• Regularly interrupting or talking over team members
• Taking credit for successes and deflecting blame for failures
• Focusing discussions on metrics and results vs. people development
• Lack of interest in employees‘ lives and well-being outside work
• An unspoken expectation that employees are there to serve leaders

While "I" leaders may achieve short-term results through sheer force of will, this approach ultimately proves demotivating for employees and toxic for company culture. A 2019 Gallup study found that 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by employees‘ manager.

"I" leaders create disengaged employees who are less productive, innovative and committed. Gallup estimates that lower productivity due to manager-induced disengagement costs the US economy up to $500 billion annually. And in a 2021 McKinsey survey, 63% of workers cited a toxic company culture as their primary reason for leaving a job.

Clearly, the hard-charging "I" leadership style is incredibly costly to employees‘ well-being and companies‘ bottom lines alike. In an era of chronic disengagement and unprecedented talent shortages, it‘s a liability most organizations can no longer afford.

The Transformative Power of "We" Leadership

By contrast, "We" leaders take a dramatically different approach – one rooted in humility, empathy, and a dedication to bringing out the best in each person. Key characteristics of "We" leadership include:

• Framing goals and achievements in terms of "we", "us" and "our"
• Actively soliciting ideas and constructive dissent from the team
• Giving public praise for successes; taking responsibility for failures
• Making team development a top priority with dedicated 1:1 coaching
• Demonstrating genuine care for employees‘ lives and challenges
• Serving the team by removing roadblocks vs. expecting to be served

This service-oriented leadership approach, which puts people and purpose ahead of ego and self-interest, has never been more urgent. In Microsoft‘s 2022 Work Trend Index, 53% of workers said they‘re more likely to prioritize their health and wellbeing over work than before the pandemic. And in the same McKinsey study referenced above, 70% of employees said their sense of purpose is largely defined by their work.

By embodying "We" leadership, managers give their teams that vital sense of meaning and inspiration. They create the psychological safety people need to learn, experiment, and innovate. And they model the empathy and compassion required to support employees‘ holistic wellbeing. All of this unlocks discretionary effort, fuels engagement, and empowers people to perform at their full potential.

Real-World Impact of "We" Leadership

To understand just how transformative "We" leadership can be, consider these powerful case studies:

• Recovering Campbell‘s Culture: When Doug Conant became CEO of Campbell Soup Co. in 2001, he inherited a toxic "I" culture where mistrust, infighting and office politics reigned. To turn things around, Conant embraced "We" leadership. He sent 10-20 handwritten thank-you notes to employees daily and made a point to publicly celebrate even small wins. By the end of his tenure, employee engagement went from the worst to the best among Fortune 500 companies, while the stock price rose 30%.

• Reigniting Microsoft‘s Mojo: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has earned widespread praise for transforming the tech giant‘s culture from competitive and cutthroat to collaborative and empathetic. His "We" mindset, which prioritizes learning, inclusion and customer obsession, is credited with attracting top talent, improving retention, reigniting innovation, and propelling Microsoft‘s market cap north of $2 trillion.

• Making Compassion Contagious at LinkedIn: LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky has baked "We" leadership into the company‘s culture via "Compassion Week", a bi-annual event where all employees take five days off and spend time on personal development and giving back to their communities. Roslansky says the initiative helps prevent burnout, gives employees a deeper sense of meaning, and makes compassion a habit across the company. The result? Sky-high engagement, retention and business performance.

What all these examples illustrate is that when leaders commit to "We" over "I", incredible things happen. The false dichotomy between people and profits evaporates. Employees‘ innate desire to learn, grow and contribute fully to their work is unleashed. Customers notice and become raving fans. The business flourishes across every metric.

The uplifting truth is that by leading with genuine compassion and care for people, "We" leaders don‘t just improve lives – they also maximize organizational success over the long-term. It‘s the ultimate win-win.

Putting "We" Leadership Into Practice

As a leader, transitioning from an "I" to a "We" mindset is one of the most important changes you can make – for your team and yourself. But it requires intentional, consistent effort to reframe your thinking and behaviors. Here are some actionable steps to get started:

1. Reframe your language. Pay close attention to how often you say "I," "me," or "my" vs. "we," "us," or "our" when discussing work. Make a conscious effort to put the focus on collective, not individual, effort and success.

2. Make recognition a habit. Set a goal to recognize at least one employee‘s great work every day, whether it‘s through a thoughtful email, a shout-out in a team meeting, or a spontaneous spot bonus. Celebrate effort, not just outcomes.

3. Ask more than tell. In discussions with employees, make a habit of asking questions to solicit their ideas and opinions before offering your own. Suspend judgment, listen deeply, and make it psychologically safe for people to ask questions and voice concerns.

4. Prioritize development. Block off dedicated time for one-on-one coaching conversations with each team member at least bi-weekly. Discuss their goals, give constructive feedback, and ask how you can better support them.

5. Share challenges authentically. Let your guard down and discuss problems you‘re grappling with openly with your team. Ask for their input on how to solve them. Be vulnerable in sharing your own fears and development areas.

6. Connect as humans. Take time to learn about employees‘ lives outside work, from their families to their hobbies to their long-term dreams. Remember birthdays and work anniversaries. Treat the whole person, not just the worker.

Embracing "We" leadership is a journey that requires humility, vulnerability and commitment. It may feel unnatural and uncomfortable at first, especially if you‘re used to being the sole leader. But if you model "We" behaviors consistently, you‘ll be astounded by the ripple effects on your team‘s cohesion, engagement and performance.

Making "We" the Way

We are at a inflection point in the world of work. The combined forces of post-pandemic burnout, a mental health crisis, stakeholder capitalism, and fierce labor market competition have created an urgent moral and business imperative to put people first. In this new reality, "I" leadership is a fast track to irrelevance for companies and career obsolescence for managers.

Embracing a "We" leadership approach isn‘t just the right thing – it‘s the smart, strategic choice for leading thriving teams in the 21st century. Gallup has found that organizations that excel at employee engagement realize:

• 17% higher productivity
• 20% higher sales
• 21% higher profitability
• 41% lower absenteeism
• 59% lower turnover

Meanwhile, in the Society for Human Resource Management‘s 2022 State of the Workplace study, 90% of HR professionals agreed employees‘ expectations around work have permanently shifted due to the pandemic. In particular, Millennials and Gen Z workers increasingly expect their jobs to provide a sense of meaning, align with their values, and support their holistic wellbeing.

The best leaders understand that in this new world of work, people are the ultimate source of competitive advantage. By empowering employees as partners, developing their full potential, and uniting them around a shared purpose, "We" leaders create organizations where both people and profits flourish over the long run. They know that maximizing human potential and maximizing shareholder value are goals that should co-exist – and are increasingly one and the same.

At this watershed moment for leadership, each manager must choose: will you stay stuck in the "I" mindset of the past, or will you embrace the "We" approach needed to lead people and organizations to a better future?

By consistently modeling "We" behaviors, any leader can experience for themselves the incredible impacts of putting people first. You‘ll be amazed by the transformation – in your employees, your organization, and not least yourself. Because in empowering others and bringing out their best, "We" leadership also brings out the very best in you.

When "We" becomes your way, everybody wins.