Jon Michail is Founder & Group CEO of Image Group International & best-selling author of Life Branding. Follow him on LinkedIn & Twitter.
getty
The root of the term “congruency” can perhaps best be considered from a seventeenth-century mathematical foundation. Congruency there denotes a harmonious relationship, or a sense of agreement, between two or more geometric figures, such as triangles.
If math isn’t your forte, don’t zone out, because this article is pertaining to “congruent leadership,” a relatively modern concept that went under the microscope in the late 1990s through health care research in the United Kingdom. David Stanley, of the University of New England in Australia, conducted a follow-up study to delve deeper into what that theory entails.
Stanley defined congruent leadership as “where the activities, actions, and deeds of the leader are matched by and driven by their values and beliefs about [in this case] care and nursing.” In the overall context, it’s where leaders find their mark on beliefs, principles and values.
Fast forward to today, in the wake of a pandemic. The wheel of congruent leadership, as it were, is still the same. Sure, some will try to redefine it by inserting or removing spokes. Be careful, though, that any imbalance doesn’t make the wheel wobble.
Effectively, five spokes must remain for that congruent leadership wheel alignment:
• Consistency
• Integrity
• Reciprocity
• Transparency
• Authenticity
As effective communicators, congruent leaders provide the framework for their team to not just articulate values that inspire others but to motivate them to follow.
It isn’t ‘look-at-me’ management.
What differentiates congruent leadership from other ideologies is the quality of the individuals to become part of the floor furniture. Those leaders aren’t conspicuous in their physical presence. You don’t find them sitting in a sterile cubicle, yearning for an ivory tower.
Instead, such leaders have few qualms in making a smooth transition from the high-rise office premises to their remote domestic settings at the height of a crisis. They don’t lose sleep over sharing a grid alongside a montage of faces on a computer screen. Ditto standing at the head of the boardroom table with a projector image on the wall behind them. What matters to them is that the staff members’ ergonomic workstations and chairs are the same, if not better than theirs, because that’s where the daily grind occurs.
You won’t find the employees feigning interest in the Zoom hook-up, their fingers massaging smartphones out of sight, waiting for the leader to get the ball rolling. No, they’re making small talk about how the weekend panned out. The congruent leader smiles (and even engages with genuine interest), letting them build a rapport that will translate to a meaningful work brainstorming session.
Just like the overhead projector, the message isn’t lost because the congruent leader is kitted out in a luxury designer suit. Smart attire is commendable, but a congruent leader knows it mustn’t alienate staff to foster an us-and-them mentality. In fact, the message isn’t even in the words. It’s what employees feel the second the leader strides through the door.
The glue of integrity binds workplace culture.
Congruency equals integrity. It kicks cosmetic culture in the teeth. Company principals know that honesty is the aura a leader creates to project oneself in a good light to others. Integrity, on the other hand, surfaces when the leader’s head hits the pillow of self-appraisal each night.
Head honchos know lip service isn’t going to cut it. To be an empathetic human comes from within and trickles down to the base of the corporate pyramid. That sense of morality becomes the glue that binds the workplace culture.
In other words, don’t follow me. Take staunch strides alongside me, so we can shoulder the workload head-on. Congruent leaders recognize what makes companies tick: people. Not chiefs becoming robots just to drive profit margins to satisfy shareholders at the expense of a cohesive workplace culture. Such congruency champions the need to share impending accolades with the entire floor with pride and satisfaction, rather than identifying a “visionary” or two.
The alternative is a plastic culture of hypocrisy where “prophets” preach from the pulpit but fail to practice the sermon themselves. It can be something as simple as chiefs not expecting the floor to quibble about working overtime but themselves leaving the office half a day earlier to play golf and “put my liver on the line for the company.” If the boss can cut corners, so can employees, provided they don’t get caught.
Congruent leadership boils down to keeping faith in the employees to meet their deadlines, not why they were offline during a 9-to-5 shift. Such leaders know their dedicated staff will burn the candle at both ends to ensure the brand isn’t tarnished.
To ward off the imminent danger of sanctimony that can leave the fabric of enterprise frayed, congruent leaders tend to adhere to a steady cycle of consistency. They're mindful that staff recognize positions of authority but will lose respect for it at the drop of a hat. In such situations, the workplace can easily revert to a cockroach colony.
Leadership’s a two-way street.
By virtue of an elite position, leaders can demand subservience, but that only fosters a sheep-herding mentality. To provide leadership is all good, but the skill is in recognizing it’s a two-way street. Congruent leaders receive leadership as much as they give it.
Adroit leaders identify and embrace leadership qualities, not just at their own headquarters but across numerous borders where new constitutions have emerged around an age of remote engagements. Those qualities demand a reciprocal arrangement, no matter how stretched those borders may be.
It pays to note that the elevation of smartphones, and other digital platforms, isn’t an excuse to trample on cultural boundaries. To anticipate answers at the snap of your fingers—especially if employees are based overseas—falls within the realm of unrealistic expectations.
Congruent leaders tend to have a finger on the workforce pulse. That foresight not only wins the floor’s respect but also highlights a leader’s sensitivity in helping find a true work-life balance, an example of leadership congruency at its best.
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
