Gallup's Chief Scientist Says Only 20% of People Trust Leadership — Here's How to Fix That Problem We asked someone who has studied workplace engagement for 40 years about leadership. His findings reveal a trust crisis and a surprising solution.
By Jon B. Becker Edited by Mark Klekas
Key Takeaways
- 70% of the variance in team engagement comes right back to the manager.
- There's nothing more valuable than one-on-one conversations.
- Not recognizing blind spots is a big mistake many leaders make.
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What happens when you spend four decades studying how people interact with their workplace, leaders and each other? You discover some uncomfortable truths about the state of modern leadership.
Dr. Jim Harter is the Chief Scientist for Gallup's Workplace Management and Well-Being practices. For almost 40 years, Jim has been studying the way we interact with our workplace, with our leaders and with each other. His latest book, Culture Shock, is a fascinating look at how the pandemic has affected the modern workplace environment, our ability to lead people and keep them engaged with their work and with each other.
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In this interview, we asked him to distill decades of research into seven fundamental questions about leadership. His answers reveal a striking trust deficit in modern organizations, why 70% of team engagement comes down to one role, and how his approach to sharing scientific insights has evolved over time.
Q1: What is the role of a leader from your perspective?
Harter: We've done a lot of research on leadership over the years, and I'd say four pieces go into it.
- Purpose — They've got to define a clear purpose for the organization
- People — They've got to motivate people
- Inspire — They've got to inspire people in the organization
- Decisions — They need to make great decisions and drive performance
Q2: What's the one thing that every leader needs to know?
Harter: I think for right now, 20% of people strongly agree that they trust the leadership of their organization. That's a problem. And it flows through layers of management. So it starts with leaders really listening versus purely delegating and listening to people close to the customer so that they can get those messages right.
Q3: What is your most important habit?
Harter: I would say making sure that I am intentional about one-on-one conversations that happen regularly with each person that I work with and with an extended group of people that our team works with, that builds cadence, and there's nothing more valuable than one-on-one conversations.
Q4: What's the most important thing for building an effective team?
Harter: Highly talented and skilled managers. 70% of the variance in team engagement comes right back to the manager. So there's nothing more important than having highly skilled and talented managers in your organization.
Q5: What's the biggest mistake you see other leaders make?
Harter: I think not recognizing their blind spots and, interestingly, creating awareness around blind spots starts with knowing your own strengths and knowing the strengths of the people around you. And I think leaders can close those blind spots by leveraging the strengths of other people and knowing when to slow down, when to speed up in terms of making decisions.
Q6: What's the best way to deliver bad news?
Harter: Well, I would say from my own experience and from the research we've done, but particularly for me, it's context. You put it in the right context. You make sure it's transparent, and you build a future around it. So, you help people see how any decision you're making today affects the future. So, they can feel like they're a part of something bigger than just that one decision.
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Q7: What is something you've changed your mind about recently?
Harter: This has been more gradual, recently gradual — let's call it that — but I'm a scientist, and so I've been used to learning what works, what doesn't work, and communicating that. You need to tell people this is what works and this is what doesn't work. But I've kind of adjusted that a bit; my approach to science is that it's really about informing leaders. And when you inform leaders and educate them, and not just tell them what to do, they can individualize it for themselves. They can follow the principle and individualize it. So, really informing and educating through science is a different perspective and communicating from what I've learned about.
The full interview with Dr. Jim Harter can be found here:
