Author: Archil Gelashvili
These days, only 15% of employees love their job and are actively involved in the company’s work. It affects not just the outcome of business but the overall economic prosperity at the end of the day. Can you imagine what we can achieve by involving another 85% of the working power in the process and how much this new paradigm will affect the overall business for every company and Georgia itself? Then if you are the founder of a company, top manager, leader or a specialist in different fields, Leo Institute and the Entrepreneur invite you to join our new adventure, a movement with a great goal of finding out what changes can involve employees in the working process, make. And how we can increase the number of employees in love with their job from 15% to 100%.
“85% of employees in Georgia don’t like their job and are switched off the process. A third of them hate what they do. The reason for such statistics is the lack of leadership from managers. Most dissatisfied employees are a true treasure, but the companies are to blame for not knowing how to use them. With micromanagement, permanent control and commanding from managers make employees less motivated, while the leadership is all about shining the team bright!” – Sami Cohen, Founder of Leo Institute and co-author of Leo Methodology.
Participation of employees in the process, raising enthusiasm and forming the team as one reliable company are the main challenges we face in modern days. Local and global Top managers are aware that demotivated employee who doesn’t like their job, is dissatisfied with the working environment and is separated from the organizational culture is an obvious correlation with the company’s annual account. Long story short, a satisfied employee equals more profit for the organization and vice versa.
Alexander Dzneladze, president of the Banking Association of Georgia, explains what challenges and opportunities finance and banking sectors in Georgia face:
“For the past 30 years, since the foundation of the Georgian banking system, they are considered one of the most stable and desired employers with around 30000 people employed. They have an unprecedented experience in the development and management of human resources. But generational changes and acceleration of the pace of life brought new challenges for the banking system. One of these is the new Generation Z, which is about to join the global job market with its unique motivators and needs.
Gen Z is a generation born in between the periods of Postmodernism and Globalization. The education source for them is not just parents and educational facilities but social media channels all around the world. What’s interesting about Gen Z is that they are less interested in higher salaries or more perspective posts at the job. On the other hand, they refuse to do the work they don’t want.
The young generation is interested in creating something unique, is fighting for freedom of choice, and is willing to experience new emotions and gain different experiences. Gen Z breaks the rules and principles of management of human resources we use for developing personal effectiveness. None of the traditional methods of management and leadership is valid any longer. To raise the motivation and participation of the younger generation, we need a new vision, approach and slightly different corporate culture. It is the challenge the banking sector has to respond – swiftly, flexibly and interestingly”.
But if we take a glance at the correlation between the participation of employees and the success of companies, we’ll see what lies behind it. On a global scale, Tech giants are the ones who take the lead in becoming the most valuable companies in the world. For several years already, their capitalisation has passed a Trillion dollars. But when it comes to the best of the bests, most corporations name Apple, and such an opinion also has some obvious reasons.
Apple’s capitalisation reaches 2,8$ Trillion dollars. Isn’t that impressive? – But still, most interesting is the answer to the question – How?
To measure the success of the Tech Giant, we have to speak about not just the capitalisation itself but the enormous contribution it made to the development of civilisation, as well as introducing a new vision of thinking. Thanks to Apple, we can no longer imagine the life of a modern human without personal, portable computers. On the other hand, even after many, most leaders are inspired by the mesmerising and motivational speeches of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. Apple managed to become successful because it prioritises not the product, but a human, and this culture remain irrevocable for the company.
These days, Apple has a workforce of 160 000 employees worldwide. Can you imagine what an effort it needs to keep so many people happy and loyal?
Year by year, more and more people leave companies, but when it comes to Apple, it’s vice versa. The statistics made during the Pandemic show that while many went to their jobs, the percentage of retention of employees at Apple increased from 61% to 89%. According to the Glassdoor rating, Apple, along with another Tech Giant – Google, is among the Top 100 companies with the highest level of employee satisfaction.
And still, what’s the secret of Apple?
There are five key reasons why Apple is considered one of the best employers:
1. Employees are united around the idea, powerful vision, and mission; every single employee is appreciated, and the team’s mood is permanently under monitoring.
2. People are informed
3. Employees are hired wisely.
4. The company promotes the constant development and growth of employees.
According to research, most employees are ready to give up 23% of their salary to work at a more exciting and essential job. Besides that, it’s scientifically proven that considering coworkers’ ideas affects the company’s productivity and increases the chance of better teamwork by 4,6 times. According to statistics, successful companies capable of having an outstanding consumer experience are receiving 5,7 times more revenues from sales than their competitors. Success is the broad participation of employees, which creates an organisational culture where every person is appreciated, and their opinions are taken into account.
Let’s get back to Georgia. Even though, year by year, the local corporation environment is constantly and radically changing and companies little by little realise how important the employee’s happiness is, in the big picture, the situation is unenviable. Sadly, according to some research, 85% of workers don’t like their jobs, are switched off the process, and face difficulties communicating with the Leader.
Unlike older generations, who willingly work at the same, less exciting and unsuitable job for years to get some salary, Millennials and Gen Z are willing to do something else. They need to be appreciated by others, the working environment to be acceptable, the attitude towards them to be respectful, and the prospect of professional growth to be precise. It’s no wonder they typically are job hoppers who constantly look for something new or, in the worst-case scenario, become pessimists who are willing to leave the country. But the problematic conditions at the local markets leave no questions unanswered.
You may have met people who want to start doing business independently and constantly speak about it. There are several reasons for it. One of them is that they don’t want to work for others. Besides that, they feel unappreciated, expressed in lower salaries and a bad attitude from the boss. These reasons kill motivation.
What do these tendencies speak about?
The problem is that we analyse it superficially, looking at it only from a positive perspective, thinking that an entrepreneurial spirit is rising, which is suitable for economic development. Even though some people have a clear business idea, and they even manage to start their ones, most people who say – “I want to start my own business”, have no idea, what they have to do, how and for what purpose.
What else do these tendencies speak about?
We have many unhappy employees whose fundamental needs still need to be satisfied. Such needs are to be appreciated, realise themselves at work, and take their ideas into account. It’s clear that beneath thick layers of unnecessary habits people build during their lifetime lies the creative energy and the will to dedicate life to work.
What does the participation of employees mean, and why is it necessary?
One of the influential analytical and consulting companies, Gallup, which pays a lot of attention to researching employee participation at workplaces, published the results of surveys they made in more than 165000 companies worldwide. They found out that while 85% of employees don’t like the job, 1/3 of them hate it. Along with Gallup, McKinsey conducted research to determine what hinders them from participating in the process. According to Gallup and McKinsey research, managers and leaders are to blame for it. It proves the well-known phrase – “People leave their managers, not the companies”.
To identify employee engagement, Gallup observes their enthusiasm and the level of tackling problems. Then we use this data to measure their attitude towards the main elements of working culture and to direct them to it.
It’s easy for a Leader to find out how much the employees are involved in the process. Also, they can recognise those who spent time doing nothing. Besides that, we can ascertain how effective our actions are in the teambuilding process and how co-working can impact the outcome of the business. A leader can bring the company and its employees closer with a correct approach.
Every day, employers make decisions affecting both the organisation and the working culture. It’s important to underline that the company’s attitude towards its employees defines how coworkers will interact with each other. It may be positive for the company’s results or put it at risk.
According to some research, the involvement of employees and a sense of unity positively affect the organisation and the country. It’s directly proportional to increased economic gain. But according to statistics, globally, only 15% of employees are involved in the working process.
So, there’s a question – Who’s responsible for increasing employee engagement?
70% of the responsibility for how the team will be engaged in the working process is on the manager and actual Leader. The increasing involvement of employees is the primary purpose of a manager who has not just to tell others what to do but show them support, protect their interests and explain how their work and the organisation’s success are in correlation. For that very reason, a Leader has to be more than a specialist in their profession; good coaching is also necessary.
Many managers lack coaching skills and focus on micromanagement, which damages both team and the organisation.
Employees who receive daily feedback directly from their managers are engaged in the working process three times more than those who receive feedback once a year.
According to Gallup, there are five most crucial elements to increase the engagement of employees:
• Goal
• Development
• Caring manager
• Constant communication
• Focus on strengths
Modern people need to know for what purpose and result they work. They must be informed of their strengths to develop in those directions. Nowadays, more than a warm working environment and high salary is needed to satisfy employees. People want to be unique, with the more evident prospect. Besides that, they want to feel more empathy from their bosses, which they think will help them to level up.
It’s interesting how influential organisations ascertain the level of employees’ involvement inside companies. It’s clear that the results are not 100% accurate, and there will also be some errors. But to see the situation in a bigger picture, it’s essential to know what workers think about the organisational culture. Looking at it from short and long-term development perspectives is also enjoyable.
To estimate engagement and employee satisfaction, Gallup created a questionnaire with 12 questions or 12 commandments, as others call it. Employees answering these questions will help us understand how realised and engaged they consider themselves. Here’s the questionnaire:
1. I know what the expectations towards me at the job are.
2. I have all the tools I need to do my job well.
3. At the job, I’m allowed to do my best work constantly.
4. In the past seven days, I received recognition and positive feedback for my work.
5. My boss or other colleagues care about me as a person.
6. At the job, they care about improving my career development.
7. The company takes my ideas into account.
8. The company’s mission and goal make me feel like I do an important job.
9. My colleagues do high-quality work.
10. I have a best friend at my job.
11. The boss spoke to me about my progress in the past six months.
12. In the past year, I had an opportunity to study more and improve my professional skills.
According to this questionnaire and the level of engagement at work, we can divide employees into three different groups:
Engaged – This type of employee does the job with passion and enthusiasm. Mentally, they feel like they own the company, positively affecting their productivity and innovativeness. In a word, we can describe them as “Locomotives” of the company.
Disengaged – Employees perceive that they are not part of the organisational culture. Usually, they spend a fair amount of time at the job, but they need more energy and passion towards the work they have to do. The only motivator for them is duty and not enthusiasm.
Detached – This type of employee seems to be unhappy and feels like their needs, wishes and offers are never heard by others. They often spent time negatively criticising colleagues, projects and even bosses. At the same time, they search for an alternative jobs.
How to raise employee engagement?
When we speak about the relationship between people, we have to underline that there are no quick and easy ways to fix problems. So-called, Teambuilding or simple, one-off activities can’t change organisational culture.
Before the management and the team start speaking with each other, working effectively and establishing productive business relations, leaders have to be the first to act.
We can start with establishing simple activities like sending employees feedback and recognising them daily. This way, we will thank them for their contribution. On the other hand, we have to show some interest in finding out what would make our employees feel like worthy members of the team. We must work individually with team leaders to make them believe they are appreciated. Become lobbyists for the ideas of your employees. Keep them accountable and do your best to turn such ideas into reality.
Can you imagine Georgia, which is capable of working six times more?
As long as we said everything about the importance of employee engagement and left nothing indistinct, there is one question left: What would Georgia look like if local companies had not just 15% but 50%, 60%, 70% or even higher number of employees engaged with the working process. Would it raise their motivation and enthusiasm and bring slightly better results?
As said at the very beginning, Entrepreneur and Leo Institute are inviting leaders, top managers, founders and other stakeholders to join our new movement, which is oriented to transform the paradigm fundamentally.
Since we mentioned Leo Institute, it’s important to say a few words about this uniquely personal and organisational transformation centre. Our institute, founded 40 years ago, has a particular methodology that helped many global organisations make inner cultural changes. We’ve been operating in Georgia for four years already.
“Our aim at Leo Institute is to teach people how to become creators of their own personal or professional life; How to avoid coming under the influence of the environment, other’s desires and evaluations and, most importantly, own restrictive thoughts” – Sami Cohen, Founder of Leo Institute and co-author of Leo Methodology.
It was 2017-2018 when Sami Cohen introduced his methodology to Georgians for the first time. He and his team were invited to Georgia by the Bank of Georgia, which was interested in transforming its leadership team. He was so enthralled with the local atmosphere, with the people with whom he found a lot in common and, in general, with the human relations he found in the country that he decided to found Leo Institute in Georgia so that he’d be able to introduce his methodology to more and more people and organisations. 4 years have passed. Since then, Sami and his team have created programs that best suit people and organisations. It helps companies to reunite divided groups, improve co-working effectiveness, let employees express their full potential, and, most importantly, create new paradigms for the business’s success.
Entrepreneur spoke with Leo Institute – Sami Cohen and Anna Cohen co-founders, company director Giorgi Burchuladze and coach Tina Kukhianidze to learn more about LEO methodology. It’s truly interesting who represents Leo Institute in Georgia and what has been achieved in all these years locally and internationally.
As Sami Cohen said, LEO Methodology was invented in 1982, in the darkest days of the family, when his wife – Claire Nuer was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors said that she had only a few months left. Such a difficult situation caused depression for her, but, at the same time, it raised existential questions for Sami and Claire, and that’s when a new methodology was invented.
“Very often, we see our lives from the viewer’s perspective instead of being main actors. This methodology is for those who want to create the life they want the most. We people are creative; we want to discover more but are always hindered by something. Most people think that the experience they gain through life will help them and their business ideas to be successful. But we have to define what experience is – These are several events that happened in the past which ended up being positive or negative for us. And as long as the experience is based on the past, it may often become a hindering factor in creating something new. Faith and desire are necessary to o wake someone’s creativity up. Of course, experience is crucial, but in the state of creativity, humans see the opportunities beyond challenges they may face later and can tell the inner whisper from loud calling from their own ego. This is one of the key aspects of methodology”, – Says Sami Cohen
At first, the priority of the LEO methodology was personal empowerment, and no one thought about adjusting it to business. That was before Sami and Claire met Peter Zenger, who believed that LEO methodology would be perfect for transforming an organisation. Soon after, one Californian businessman, a participant in the seminar, told Sami that he’d send him members of the management team every month. After a month, 80 managers went to the LEO methodology seminar.
“Firstly, this person was purchasing companies, then was uniting people of absolutely different corporative cultures, and at the end was selling the company on the market. He had to deal with many obstacles in the process because people of different company cultures couldn’t work together. For that reason, 3 to 4 organisations went bankrupt before selling purchased companies. The Californian businessman thought that the LEO methodology would help him successfully transform employees’ company culture, increasing the company’s value. It turned out to be the right decision. Hence, we decided to transform the LEO methodology into a business. Nowadays, my children continue the job in San Francisco while my team and I are in Georgia,” – Says Sami.
In the past 40 years, Leo Institute successfully worked with many international brands and organisations, such as NASA, Shell, Visa, Boeing, Moleskine, and Anchor Capital. In his latest book, worldwide recognised motivational speaker Simon Sinek writes about the results of a one-year leadership program between Shell and Leo’s team:
“On average, operational stability and sustainability of oil platforms is 95%, but Shell URSA managed to increase the index to 99%. At the same time, performance has exceeded the standard by 43%. These oil rigs even exceeded targets of production volume by 14 million barrels. Besides that, they made some progress in fixing the lamentable ecological situation oil rigs create. In other words, to create a highly effective team, firstly, we have to earn trust and listen to employees”.
Speaking about Georgia, in the four years, Leo Institute worked with the Bank of Georgia, consulting company PMCG, well-known creative agency Leavingstone, international organisation EY and GHG, for which our institute exclusively made “tailor-made programs”. Besides that, many representatives of leading local companies took part in Leo seminars, including 500 employees, founders of medium and large-size companies, and management of C and middle levels.
Anna Cohen says that even though all the Leo Institute programs are based on LEO methodology, each company’s programs are designed differently. “Firstly, we find out the specific of the company and problems they face; then we work on a specified program which will fit their needs the most. Even though there are many similarities between companies, they have to deal with a specific challenge at some point, so we build our course design according to it. It is our advantage. I remember the EY case, which best describes what I just explained. As you may know, during the Pandemic, most employees were working remotely. It harmed their teamwork. So, in the post-Covid period, we helped the team to reintegrate. I also remember a case of the financial company challenge, which was the lack of communication between employees, and because of that, they could never meet the strict deadlines. Leo Institute studies every single case and offers businesses with best solutions. It usually yields good results”, – Says Anna.
In the interview with Entrepreneur, Giorgi Burchuladze, CEO of Leo Institute, talked about the results of one research project of the international research organisation Gallup. According to data from 165000 organisations worldwide, only 15% of employees are involved in company activities, while 85% don’t like the working environment or switch off the process. “Even though the percentage of engaged employees is meagre, we can consider this challenge an opportunity. Just imagine what we can achieve if companies realise their full potential. The research has also revealed several reasons, so many employees are apathetic towards their jobs. The most important one is the relationship with the manager. Still, managers have a huge responsibility, but not all of them are good leaders. True Leader has to have some skills, but it’s possible to adopt them. The team’s success depends on how good a Leader the manager will be. We believe that if the Leader wants the team to be more engaged in the process and love the work, they must improve four basic skills: Listening to others, Showing empathy, Sending and receiving feedback, and delegating tasks effectively. We don’t teach companies how to do their work; we are not business consultants who give advice. Leo has the expertise and experience to help leaders and their teams make the cultural transformation, which will help them unite and increase employee engagement. If they manage to transform, they will perform miracles”, – Says Giorgi Burchuladze.
Leo Institute coach Tina Kukhianidze explains that the main principle of LEO methodology is that they need to prepare decisions or receipts for teams. “We are not a traditional consulting company. We use practical examples to explain to the participants of the program what we advise, and the decision is theirs to make. We can only recommend what’s better. We can help them see what hinders them from being more effective and productive. Just imagine opening dozens of windows in the browser. It overloads the system and makes it harder for you to use it unless you close some of the windows. The human mind works the same way – If we give the employees too many tasks, it will be hard for them to focus on any. We help the participants to close extra windows and to look for new possibilities – Says Tina.
LEO methodology aims to make cultural changes and fundamental transformations. Even though many companies hold training to make cultural changes, most of them are superficial and have short-term effects because they don’t focus on the origins of cultural behaviour.
Leo Institute works on improving two directions: the first is increasing employee engagement to its maximum, and the other is the transformation of leaders. It enhances teamwork culture. Giorgi Burchuladze says: “We create the environment for leaders and members of the company team; we facilitate the process of seminars and workshops, where each participant can detect and change bad behaviours for the welfare of everyone. It is the only way to make real changes”.
At present, Leo Institute has two projects in the framework of organisational transformation. The first one is “Gamoanate”, which is focused on changing company culture by curbing the Silo mentality and developing leadership skills for every employee. The other project is “Conscious Leader”, which aims to transform leaders.
We’ll provide you with details of these two programs later. Still, before that, we’d like to introduce you to Leo Institute team members in charge of organisational transformation in Georgian and beyond.
• Bios of team members with quotes
Leo Institute program “Gamoanate”
Cultural Change. One at a time. Altogether – the Leo Institute program “Gamoanate” is a facilitated process of initiating cultural transformation, which starts for every employee individually and affects the engagement in the working process. It helps organisations get highly effective results.
The Leo Institute’s year-long “Gamoanate” program allows teams, employees, middle and lower-level leaders, and ordinary team members to overcome their fears and other obstacles, see the bigger picture of reality, and experience a transformation that will last a lifetime.
If your team members have what it takes to perform at the highest level, be it skills, experience, enthusiasm or resources. If you want to bring out the team’s full potential, Shine is an excellent opportunity to do so.
The one-year program of “Gamoanate” is divided into two areas, namely:
“Gamoanate”: joint work – the so-called Eliminating silo-mentality
Our readers already know about silo-mentality, which in the case of organisational culture, puts personal interests above other people’s interests. In the context of teams – the team’s interests are in a superior position over organisational goals, which may seem reasonable. Still, this kind of mentality sets a limit. This limit hinders the company’s development because it is impossible to unite towards common goals, the work of departments is asynchronous, and energy is spent in different directions.
“Gamoanate”: Working together aims to shatter such notions, instilling in people the desire to win together and the motivation to strive for cooperation and collaboration as team members achieve more meaningful goals than individually.
“Gamoanate”: Developing Leadership Skills – Working to Increase Employee Engagement
As for the second “highlighted” direction, developing the leadership skills of employees and increasing their engagement rate, it is based on the fact that globally, only 15% of employees are actively involved in service activities, have the enthusiasm and a conscious, sincere desire to be a significant contributor to their team members. and contribute to the company’s activities. The remaining 85% do not work with this attitude. The same studies indicate the reason for this: the lack of specific leadership skills in the organisation’s managers. This statistic, on the one hand, may seem negative, but in reality, this 85% represents a “gold mine” that the company’s leadership is unable to access. The level of contribution of each employee is directly correlated with the company’s results.
As for the structure of the “highlighted” program over one year, the employees of the organisations attend four facilitated seminars (the first seminar lasts a day and a half, and the other three – one day each), within the framework of which Leo’s experienced coaches carry out a fundamental mental transformation with a pre-written method adapted to the needs of a specific company. Process. Between seminars, coaches, and so-called follow-up format, online meetings are facilitated, where team members share the progress of the real-life implementation of the techniques discussed at the workshop, how well the team is handling the cultural transformation, and continue to organise workshops based on this information.
“We have many programs for leaders, which are more focused on high-level management; however, “Gamoanate” allows meeting with them middle and so-called “Junior”-level managers participated and implemented the change jointly and in agreement. “Gamoanate” is available financially and in terms of time since it includes only four workshops. We constantly try to make cultural changes both from the bottom up and vice versa, which means that within the framework of the workshops, the transformation takes place both in one person and the whole team, regardless of whether it is a manager or an ordinary employee. With the help of “Gamoanate”, people are more involved in work activities and acquire leadership skills in their work”, says Tina Kukhianidze, Leo Institute coach.
The one-year program “Gamoanate” is led by: Sami Cohen, co-founder of the Leo Institute and author of the Leo methodology; Anna Cohen, co-founder of the Leo Institute; Giorgi Burchuladze – director of Leo Institute and coach – Tina Kukhianidze.
It is worth noting that “Gamoanate” is presented as a one-day or one-and-a-half-day one-time seminar, as well as a year-long program, which is open to everyone who wants to start the process of cultural change.
Conscious Leader – transformational seminar for leaders from “Leo Institute.”Based on the LEO methodology, the 6-day transformational workshop Conscious Leader LEO Institute helps leaders and teams to get out of the existing mental framework and see themselves, the company, the product, the customer or the entire market in a new way, without any limits. Management is a position and responsibility, but leadership is what managers lack to make employees fall in love with their jobs.
The purpose of this seminar is for the Leader to discover in what form and subconscious mechanisms he limits the organisation’s development and to show its next development stage. At the LEO Institute seminars, leaders come together with their teams, giving much more significant results since going through the transformation process together effectively impacts individual and organisational growth.
Readers of Entrepreneur are already familiar with the Leo methodology and the history of the institute’s formation, but this time we will try to tell you more about the transformation process, the role of the Leader and the seminar itself, for which we spoke to the co-founders of the Leo Institute – Sami Cohen and Anna Cohen, the company director Giorgi Burchuladze and the coach – Tina Kukhianidze.
“Several years ago, during one of the workshops, we came across a concept that clearly expresses the role of leadership. If the Win-Lose approach works in the material world, i.e., one side of any agreement wins and the other loses, such a concept does not exist in personal relationships. There are only Win-Win and Lose-Lose results during communication, both in the organisation and at the individual level. Can a dispute between a husband and wife ended with someone winning? Not.
The same is true in the relationship between the Leader and the team members within the company. The role of a good leader lies in this – he should give the team the opportunity and direction. The group’s success is possible only when the Leader realises that the interests of the team coincide with his own or that the success of each team member means his success. We have worked in many countries, and we face similar challenges everywhere. Teamwork is not an innate ability, it is learned and developed, and the role of a leader is to give opportunities to the team to play independently,” Sami Cohen says. To tell people what to do. Therefore, it is the Leader’s role to ensure the boat is going in the right direction without being at the helm. It is enough to realise that you will never strive for first place again and let the team achieve results themselves.”
As Anna Cohen mentioned in a conversation with Entrepreneur, the advantage of the LEO methodology is its ability to adapt to the needs of companies. As in many other countries, the seminar in Georgia also required some changes due to many cultural and historical peculiarities, although there are universal challenges that characterise companies in all parts of the world. This flexibility, the ability to consider the reality and the overall context, makes the Leo methodology a unique opportunity for organisations to overcome barriers and see room for growth, both leaders and team members, with a systematic approach tailored to their problems.
According to Giorgi Burchuladze, director of Leo Institute, leadership is a person’s ability to create opportunities for others so that they can grow and do more for themselves and the organisation to achieve the set goal. For this, the Leader must possess the so-called four essential skills: listening, empathy, giving and receiving feedback and delegating with support.
“A leader needs these four skills to interact with team members and achieve overall growth. During the workshop, special attention is paid to strengthening the skills of listening and empathy because these are the most often neglected skills that determine the level of employee engagement. Within the framework of Conscious Leader, we offer the participants the basics of giving feedback and delegating, and the development of these skills already takes place during a specific workshop”, – notes Giorgi;- “When one person starts a business and hires an employee, he shares certain responsibilities with him, thus reserving space for himself for creative activity and growth. The more people take responsibility for a certain role towards a common goal, the stronger the organisation becomes. Each individual perceives reality in a limited way, but two people already see a bigger picture. When a leader does not delegate and only hires “executive hands”, he does not enrich his perception of reality and limits the space leading to the goal. If a leader manages to open up and see what others see, emulation occurs, and the organisation’s growth is inevitable.”
As you know, most of the leadership programs on the market develop specific skills for leaders and help them overcome the challenges in the given reality. What distinguishes the Leo methodology from all other approaches is transformation, seeing new realities and questioning the existing situation, overcoming the beliefs and ideas that limit us and prevent us from discovering opportunities. According to Giorgi, the leadership transformation seminar helps leaders and their teams change their future through joint efforts, removing limitations, and perceiving an entirely new reality.
And yet, what is the difference between transformation and change? Where does the transformation process begin? These are the fundamental questions that underlie the LEO methodology and have been the basis of the successful growth of many companies for decades. According to Leo Institute coach Tina Kukhianidze, if the change is a spontaneous, natural process without our direct involvement and effort, transformation means breaking or correcting the framework bed in which these changes occur.
Many international and local organisations have already passed Leo Institute’s Conscious Leader seminar, achieving impressive results.
Team Members and Quotes
Sami Cohen – co-founder of the Leo Institute
“I was born in Egypt in 1949 in a French-Jewish family. I became an engineer in Canada in 1972 and started mentoring with the Leo methodology in 1982.
The Leo Institute and I aim to share the knowledge and experience that can turn the worst situation into a beautiful opportunity. Two significant events in my life preceded the development of the Leo Methodology: when my wife, Claire, had only a few months left to live due to an illness, although she lived for 17 years; And when my competitor bought my supplier, I lost 97% of my turnover, although the same competitor bought us seven years later. Today, the Leo Institute can help organizations achieve incredible results by helping to increase the level of employee engagement.
In my current team, the team members are teaching me how to change the situation in Georgia so we can present ourselves globally. In addition to loving my team members, they push me to grow. I would have started this activity if I had only looked at it from a commercial point of view.”
Giorgi Burchuladze – director and coach of Leo Institute, co-founder of “Livingstone.”
“I look at organizations simply in two dimensions: the business (results) dimension and the people dimension. In some cases, leaders focus on one size at the expense of another. More often, they look at business results; sometimes, they focus on the happiness of people with various entertainment-incentive programs and interfere with their engagement and productivity, which does not positively impact business results. Only those companies achieve sustained success whose leadership sees a clear connection between these two dimensions and cares about both equally. Because, in reality, these two dimensions do not exist separately – they are two inseparable parts of one whole, an organization.
Anna Cohen – Leo Institute co-founder, coach
“My story begins with the untimely death of my parents and grandparents, which pushed me to overcome these dramatic events. This constant search for the meaning of life has led me to a thorough study of life patterns and the use of various tools that help us navigate the storms of life.
This search led me to discover one of the fundamental components of life – relationship, and the importance of our contribution to it.
In the Leo methodology, I found a connecting chain of all the knowledge I had gathered throughout my life, scattered in different approaches and techniques.
Its unique applicability to all types of relationships makes the method a valuable asset in personal and professional life.
The Leo Institute supports companies on the path to increasing their human resources engagement and helps employees make their unique contribution to achieving company and personal goals precisely because together we are so much better.”
Tina Kukhianidze – Leo Institute coach
“People often create frames for themselves, by which we define our worldview, self-perception, and evaluate the environment in which we find ourselves. And the transformation begins by seeing and challenging this frame, and once you see clearly beyond that frame, it becomes virtually impossible to stop. What prevents us from seeing them? Most often, what prevents us from discovering our mental frameworks is that we equate our identity with these boundaries and perceive them as part of our character. Since childhood, we have been led to believe that this is who we are, that this is our character and that we cannot change anything, while the framework is simply a set of our habits, and we define its contours ourselves.
Our task is to create so-called A safe space where they feel good. Executive teams are made up of many people, and it is impossible for everyone to believe that what they thought was the truth is a mental framework. Such a forced transformation is ineffective and can cause stress. Leaders must first see the bedrock they want to change and then pass that charge on to the rest of the team. As a rule, once the transformation process starts, it becomes impossible to stop it.”
Eko Chubinidze – marketing director of Leo Institute, coach
“Engagement means being in the present, fully feeling the moment and experiencing it. This applies equally to both personal and professional life. By putting the Leo methodology into practice, I discovered what it means for me to be in the present. I saw how productive and enjoyable it was to be in this state and how useful it was to others, and I also noticed that being in this state was solely my decision.
Since I joined Leo’s team, I have entirely rethought my relationships with people, my abilities and desires, leadership and teamwork, and the importance of productivity and success.
After ten years of diverse work experience, it has become clear to me in Leo what contributes to a high degree of engagement for me as a team member:
• Trust and connection with team members, especially when we face challenges individually or as a team;
• Clarity of the driving purpose of the organization and my personal goals and their unity;
• Ability to work on oneself, to do something new or in a new way.
When I observe all this in the daily work process of myself and my team and see how it affects the quality of life of each of us and the success of the company, I feel a lot of motivation and energy to continue my personal development process and what we create for the organization as much as possible. Available.
Every person has a sun – boundless energy of creativity, strength and desire to connect with other people. My goal with Leo’s team is to support as many people as possible to learn how to shine.”
Anano Tomashvili – Leo Institute Community Manager
“Before I joined the Leo team, I worked in several large organizations and then, at the beginning of the pandemic, I started a small financial consulting company with a friend. I met Sami Cohen, one of our first business clients here.”
While working in corporations, I always had inner dissatisfaction and a feeling that I didn’t belong there. Anano in “Leo” is very different from the Anano who worked in big companies years ago. Many factors contribute to my happiness and, therefore, involvement in Leo. First, I am fulfilled by our work together, connecting with the purpose and common intention of why we do what we do. The team and the environment we created together allowed me to be involved. At “Leo”, we work and communicate according to the learning attitude principle. No one here is a “knower” who knows better than anyone else or points to another. I have a strong feeling that I am accepted for who I am. This creates a lively and creative workflow. However, of course, there are also difficulties in this team. People are more sincere and sensitive to each other when there is such a high degree of sincerity between people. It is not a job that ends at a particular time. Everything that happens here is our life.”
Kiara Brunor – Leo Institute Coach
“I am one of the Italian team of the Leo Institute. I worked in Italy in the industrial field. I was establishing connections between business people, managers and entrepreneurs to improve their businesses, professional growth of employees and technological development.
In a past life, with the teams I had to work with, I saw a trend that I experienced myself: me at work and in my personal life were two radically different people. When I left home in the morning, I began to adapt to the role of a hired employee and left part of myself at home while the rest went to work. This happened to my team members as well. Instead of 10 people at work, we were all a little “less”. I believe that engagement comes from the goals we all pursue together, but more so from how each can achieve 100% productivity. For this, you need a place that invites people daily to open up and take the initiative into their own hands.
In Leo’s team, I found it. There are days when we miss the scheduled time when we can’t decide something when some team member is “out of order”, but I always feel the full involvement of each employee to achieve the common goal.
For me, a team is a place where I can be who I am and be fully involved in the process because I know that my friends are always close and will support me in my personal development, which is reflected in the joint growth. I think the basis of this is the trust and openness that we build between each other, resulting from constant individual work.”
Gloria Morsanuto – Leo Institute coach and facilitator
“My education is related to philology and literature; however, I am also a singer. Working with Leo broadened my understanding of what the workplace is like.
It used to be a battleground for me and never left me feeling trapped. I thought I had to do something and automatically did it to get to the end of the work day. Since I joined Leo’s team, the old way of thinking simply evaporated and was replaced by a new way of thinking, which drives my maximum involvement in working with Leo.
Leo’s recipe has four essential ingredients: commitment, communication, honesty and support.
It’s incredible to work in a space where each of us is fully involved in the work process because that allows us to be honest in our relationship and support each other in overcoming difficulties on the way to growth.
There are no significant challenges when we know that we are all “in the same boat” and “swimming” in the same direction. I like that I can share my problems with the team and not only; Be honest with my co-workers about the challenges I face at work, and sharing the proper feedback about each other creates a deep connection between us, which in turn makes the best work environment. Those four ingredients are not only for personal and team growth, but also build trust: this powerful combination drives my engagement in work processes.”
5 symptoms of low employee engagement
Employee engagement is not constant – it is dynamic and cannot always be 100%. We are sometimes only 100% aligned with the company’s purpose, and our enthusiasm and desire to serve that purpose differ.
At the group level, people’s average level of engagement varies – sometimes it increases, sometimes it decreases, and periodically it fluctuates.
Any company, especially leaders, should “keep your finger on the pulse” of this indicator. They can have the effect of increasing or decreasing engagement. This, other things being equal, is directly correlated with business success.
Employee engagement surveys are essential, but before you do, we suggest you look for these signs that will make it easier to see the dynamics:
Increasing expression of dissatisfaction:
Expression of dissatisfaction with the workplace, boss, colleagues, rules, and compensation is increased if the demand for a salary increase is increased.
Quitting work:
People are leaving. If this indicator increases, it indicates a decrease in engagement. Nothing stands still – if it stays the same and you don’t do anything to improve it, it will worsen sooner or later. Often companies compare themselves to industry benchmarks and say it’s normal and stagnate. However, the key to an employer’s competitive advantage lies in an environment that fosters high engagement.
Increase of disconnect:
Active use of vacations, the so-called Day offs, absences due to illness, leaving work early – if you look at the statistics of various honourable and non-honourable wants over time, you will see the dynamics of engagement.
Productivity and effort:
Employees need to show initiative, effort and proactivity are reduced.
Look at your company, review these metrics, and ask yourself, “What am I doing or not doing, or what can I do to increase employee engagement?”
