Your social impact superpower hiding in plain sight
Turn to an organisation’s ESG Report and under the heading of Social Impact/Sustainability you’ll find details on diversity and inclusion initiatives, the introduction of modern slavery policies, and activities like building a shelter for the homeless in the organisation’s local community. All important work having positive social impacts for employees, supply chain partners and local communities. No question.
But when it comes to impacting the mental and physical wellbeing of your employees, their families, and their communities; recruiting, promoting and developing effective and emotionally intelligent people leaders could be an organisation’s most impactful set of social sustainability initiatives of them all.
This claim isn’t a surprise to anyone that’s experienced the full spectrum of leadership capability. Great (and even good) people leaders create a psychologically safe space for individuals to speak their mind, try new things, make mistakes, develop, and bring their authentic selves to work. They co-create reasonable and challenging goals and they communicate them clearly and often. They create a sense of purpose and fun. They create goals and empower their teams to figure out how to get there. They care. In short, they are good for the mental and physical health of their team. Sometimes the impact is direct, other times it’s through the “buffering” role they play in making difficult situations related or unrelated to work more manageable.
The opposite impact is true for those reporting to leaders operating at the other end of the leadership quality spectrum. Poor people leaders and managers can be extremely damaging to the health and wellbeing of those people reporting to them.
Research consistently cited in peer-reviewed academic journals and the popular business press demonstrate the societal impact of people managers.
But this impact multiplies and goes even further. Living with a family member experiencing work related challenges can be stressful. Research links poor leaders and managers to a range of negative consequences for their reports, including depression, work-family conflict, burnout, and addiction issues. The spillover impacts on family members can be devastating. Negative consequences can spill over into the local community. Over time, these ladder up to broader societal impacts.
The initiatives undertaken by an organisation to recruit and develop great leaders, weed out the poor ones are rarely recognised, let alone reported on, as social sustainability initiatives.
Perhaps it’s because traditionally, people leaders are viewed primarily through a business impact lens, leaving academics to think about the societal impacts.
A lack of focus and reporting on the social impact of people leadership is a lost opportunity on several levels:
If businesses voluntarily or eventually by mandate, report on the social impact linked to their people leaders, it will raise the stakes to recruit, promote and develop great people managers. This will be excellent for both business and for society.
If business and performance processes were anchored in an understanding of the social impact leaders have, it could lead to more targeted and effective leader and line manager recruitment, promotion, and development initiatives.
If people leaders were aware of the “social” impact they cast over the health and wellbeing of their team, their team’s families and by extension, broader society in addition to their business impact, this would potentially change their initial motivation to become a people leader and their commitment to developing leadership capabilities.
Put simply, a business is a connected human system.
How people leaders and managers think and behave has direct and indirect societal impacts, as well as business value. Organisations can improve their social impact through the critical role of their line managers, this impact can be measured, tracked and drive continual improvement initiatives in the same way “landfill to waste” or “carbon emissions” are common measures in the Environmental Sustainability section of the ESG report.
Making your people leadership strategy a pillar of your Social Impact strategy can start with a conversation.
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