Are you taking advantage of your workers?
Very recently, during my Inclusive Leadership workshop in a corporate business, one of the leaders said, “But my workers are simply not bothered, they’re not interested!” It turned out that he was routinely ringing them outside of work hours, asking them to work unethically, and getting them to work overtime without compensation. In other words, he was leveraging his power to secure their commitment given that he was in control of their pay review and work shift roster.
It appears that he was taking liberties. The strange thing is that he knew what he was doing, and still complained that they weren’t motivated.
In the African Caribbean community, we have a saying: “Stop taking liberties!” It refers to the practice of giving it large, mugging someone in front of their mates or taking advantage of another’s goodwill. In essence, you’re acting disrespectfully, without consent, constraint and responsibility.
There is a difference between liberty and freedom.
Liberty is the absence of constraints or responsibility. Freedom is the responsibility you bring to it. It is what you do with your liberty.
A fugitive who broke out of jail may be at liberty to do what (s)he wants or so (s)he thinks. However, when another human being is involved, one’s liberty requires responsibility and accountability.
Exercising freedom requires a leader to generate the conditions for the requestee to own their ‘yes’ or even their ‘no’. Part of the conditions set will be that of enabling ownership. When an employee experiences ownership of space, project and mission, their level of commitment and willingness to take initiative and own the outcomes rises with a deep sense of responsibility.
Like the outcomes of the work I do in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging:
👉🏿 it triggers a “can do” attitude
👉🏿it motivates your team to go the extra mile
👉🏿it sets the climate for embracing change
👉🏿it provides better customer service
👉🏿it increases productivity
👉🏿encourages good communication.
This means that they go beyond the call of duty and you will see positive emotional engagement.
So, stop taking advantage and you will see the advantage. This is what I mean by freedom!
Stop taking liberties!!