Why did we start LeedHR?
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”
This famous quote has been attributed to many people over the years and rewritten multiple times. It appeared for the first time around 1971 but in more recent times has been accredited and popularized by Maya Angelou.
The quote has been used in various settings since its publication serving as a motivational mantra from customer service excellence, to relationship building and leadership competency. Its effectiveness relies on the simplicity in which it highlights the importance on “how” we go about doing things and the impact those actions have on the people around us. In today’s leadership landscape, it resonates well. The experience we create for our employees is a growing concern for many organizations; and leaders must step up.
When it comes to helping leaders create better work experiences for their employees, Canadian employers have a new firm they can rely on. Monday May 4th, 2020 marked the grand opening of LeedHR, a leadership development firm focused on emotional intelligence.
The firm is co-founded by two business leaders and long-time colleagues Angela Payne and Charles Fortier. Together, Angela and Charles accumulate 40 years of team leadership experience in various industries connected to the Human Capital space.
Why Start LeedHR?
LeedHR was born from their belief, that more than ever, leaders in today’s complex and ambiguous business world need to lead with a greater sense of emotional intelligence, and in turn generate increased employee engagement and productivity. This belief is supported by two distinct observations made throughout their own personal careers perfecting their evolving leadership skills in corporate environments.
The first observation came when Angela and Charles realized they had a similar annoyance for what they called bad bosses. Bad bosses were leaders that left them frustrated, uninspired, or stressed out based on their leadership behaviours. These bosses were the ones who would be quick to lose their temper, did not walk the talk or invest time in their career development and relationships. Angela and Charles believed that most of them had good intentions, however the main issue resided in the ineffective way they went about executing ideas and decisions. Oftentimes, it unfortunately left these leaders giving the perception they were only interested in the state of the business or the bottom line. Leaving the wellness of their direct reports seemingly second hand.
Charles and Angela also realized they were not alone, as countless clients, colleagues, and friends encountered these types of bosses in their organizations as well. Consequently, all of them wanted to find a way out from under their uninspiring leadership. It was eye opening to see these leaders contributing to the turnover of their organization without realizing it.
Nevertheless, for our founders, there was a silver lining. The experience gathered along side these leaders was beneficial as it exemplified what NOT to do. It allowed them to reflect on their own leadership style and the experience they created for their teams.
The second observation came from an organizational view; why do very few organizations teach leaders how to lead other human beings?
Like other leaders, Angela and Charles had been promoted to leader positions in their respective organizations based on their successful track record as high-level individual contributors. The mindset driving their organization was common: “If they are successful in their individual contributor role, surely they will be able to show others how to replicate their success once they become managers”. Both eager to prove they could succeed as a leader, none of them raised any concerns over this mindset. Little did they know at the time that becoming a leader required use of different skills on a day to day basis. Like most new managers, they stumbled out of the gate. For the first time in their career, their daily responsibility was to inspire, listen to their team, build trust, coach, communicate, and make decisions that would impact others. Unfortunately for them, their organizations did not provide any support on how to develop these skills. Like so many before them, they were left to their own devices, subsequently figuring things out by trial and error. Some failures could have been easily prevented had they been afforded the opportunity to learn and practice the fundamentals of emotional intelligence in the corporate landscape.
Now fast forward 15+ years and multiple business leadership roles later; LeedHR was born, to help leaders learn how to lead with better human skills. Going above and beyond as a leader by inspiring, building trust, and developing others. Its services are ideal for organizations looking to achieve improved performance by developing engaging leaders through emotional intelligence, but are in need of guidance on how to get started. LeedHR can help organizations assess (using EQ-I2.0), train, and coach their leaders to fulfill and surpass their leadership and team potential.
Imagine the level of your organizational engagement,alue, and performance if all your leaders were as good as your best ones?
Launching during one the world’s most difficult crisis – COVID19
In the weeks leading up to the launch date, Angela and Charles did discuss moving the opening to later in 2020. However, they kept coming back to the fact that now more than ever, leaders and managers would need to lead with more emotional efficiency and empathy because of the pandemic and its effect on our population. From working remotely to interacting with colleagues impacted by uncertainty, emotional intelligence can help a leader manage the current reality and its aftermath. Organizations and leaders who have the overall wellness of their employees at heart during these difficult times are the ones that will build long term engagement and retention of their workforce. Overall, our founders foresee this being a challenging time to launch a business but their services relate to a pressing need for organizations that really cannot wait.
Interested in learning more? Reach out to Angela and Charles for an initial consultation to understand how EI may fit into your Learning and Development programs.