Advantageous Leadership Communication

Academy Sports and Outdoors Chairman, President and CEO Ken Hicks

Communication is more complex than it seems when it comes to developing trust and building relationships that work in pursuit of the organizational mission.

When it connects positively to people’s emotions and feelings it helps shape conclusions and inspire helpful behavior. This creates an opportunity for positive impact and willing followership.

Ken Hicks knows this and he was recently profiled by Mark Murphy in Forbes magazine.

This CEO Shows How You Get Ahead By Not Hogging The Spotlight showed how Hicks, the chairman, president and CEO at Academy Sports and Outdoors, is a socially-aware thinker who realizes how critical it is to constantly show his people that they are not just parts of the organization but instead valued human beings deserving of more personal communication.

Today, James “J” Chitwood, Ph.D. and an Army Infantry veteran, former university and college president and professor and administrator, talks about Murphy’s article.

Chitwood, known by many as “Dr. J” runs PerformanceCulture.Expert and has taught leadership, organizational behavior and organizational communications.

Communication Intelligence looks at the highlights of the Forbes piece.

Once asked about his proudest achievement, “Hicks paused, looked out at the audience, and asked them, ‘Over the time I've been here, how many of you have either been promoted or have more responsibility?’ When around 80% of the people raised their hand, Hicks told them, ‘That's what I'm proudest of, your growth and development,” he says.

For Hicks to credibly make that statement to his people, he had to have the evidence as proof to back up such an assertion for his comment to carry weight. Since he did, that commitment, effort and communication was helpful.

“When the team knows that the leader wants to see them grow, wants to be available as a resource to help them develop and is proud of their accomplishments, they are more willing to put in extra effort and to go the extra mile,” Chitwood says.

Murphy writes that “Hicks told me that ‘when you become a leader, it's not about you anymore; it's about the organization and your people. My job is to make my people better than me, and if I can do that, then I succeeded.’”

When a leader communicates, employees are going to be perceiving and judging. The question becomes what perceptions and judgments are developing?

“There is this old adage in leadership, ‘When it goes right, it is the team. When it goes wrong it is the leader,” Chitwood says. “This philosophy is perfectly explained by this leader and likely received very positively by the team. People want to know that the leader is going to put them first.”

That can inspire desired, beneficial, valuable behavior towards the mission.

“People in this type of environment are also more willing to think outside of the box for ways to improve the organization,” Chitwood says. “When personnel knows that leadership will acknowledge their contributions and not ‘steal their ideas,’ they are far more inclined to engage with the organization beyond the job's requirements.”

In his Forbes’ piece, Murphy writes that across the one million leaders who've taken Leadership IQ's test, What's Your Leadership Style? over the years that “the most desired leader is one who wants to learn and grow and wants everyone else on the team to do the same.”

Most leaders are required to grow and naturally want to yet it is not an absolute and that reality impacts a workforce. The ones who show they care, therefore stand out.

“Employees are proud to know their leader believes in self-development and is putting forward the effort to grow,” Chitwood says, adding,
”This in turn empowers employees to do the same.”

James “J” Chitwood, Ph.D., runs PerformanceCulture.Expert

Hicks tells Murphy that he likes to cross the paths of his people at the end of the day and engage in quick conversations, asking questions, such as “What'd you do today? What'd you accomplish? And do you feel good about it?”

Chitwood says that to do this effectively requires upfront development of a comfort level within the organization.

“It takes a very positive environment to ask such questions and not put the staff on the defensive,” he says. “I have seen leaders use such questions in a negative way, to put people on the spot.”

Yet when there is a healthy culture for employees, leadership and the mission benefits in ways it otherwise wouldn’t.

“When a leader truly cares about what accomplishments employees feel good about they are not only more inclined to answer the question directly by explaining what they did accomplish, but they are also more willing to share the struggles and failures,” Chitwood says.

And that is a plus and necessary.

“This is where real organizational and personnel development occurs, at the moment an issue is identified,” Chitwood says. “A great leader is likely going to learn the good and the bad and also the personal stories of the staff.”

Surprising answers can be given, ones that can provide insight into the employee, the humanity of the workforce and what drives them.

“What the person accomplished that they are most proud of may have happened during a break when they did something great for their family. This type of information is invaluable in organizational culture,” Chitwood says.

“When a leader has created a strong enough culture of transparent internal communication, the staff are more willing to share their personal life stories. As we spend more time at work than at home, this type of communication is critical to building a strong team environment,” he says.

Hicks believes, as a leader, he has to show his people each day he values them and why so.

“I have the opportunity to let them know that I appreciate what they accomplished and why it's important,” he says.

Helpful conversations like these can become commonplace and an organization’s people can learn more and make the team stronger.

“When the organizational collective believes the leader will praise their accomplishments and help when there are opportunities for improvement, an environment of transparency and collaboration is created,” Chitwood says.

This raises the odds of a trickle-down effect.

“If the leader is open and looking for opportunities to lift up employees, so too are the team members,” Chitwood says.

He says ongoing, open communication from leadership with their people in more personal interactions is invaluable.

“The leader learns more from one-to-one communications with the front line than any internal briefing. I have a Youtube video based upon the premise that the best market research is found within the organization. The front line is often the ‘canary in the coal mine,’” Chitwood states.

Acknowledging others contributions is important. Yet it isn’t always done. Hicks describes how it benefits the leader and organization.

“People see that I give them credit for this idea and they think, ‘Maybe I should also be giving people credit, congratulating and thanking them.’ If that's what their leader does, then that becomes a guide for them as well,” he points out.

Chitwood nods in approval.

“This leader is spot on. When people see the leader lifting up others, they are more inclined to do it as well,” he says.

“My doctoral research and many studies before mine showed that the leader influences the environment. The environment influences the productivity of the organization. The team decides how productive they will be,” Chitwood says. “When the team is built upon a foundation of trust, mutual support and development, they are inclined to lift each other up for success.”

Questions open up dialogue, provide insights and teach. They can help both the person asking and the person responding. Hicks is a believer.

“You get more from asking a question and getting people to think about the issue than you do just telling them, ‘Move this or say this.’ Sure, they moved it or said it, but did they learn anything? They performed a task, but that's not learning,” he says.

Questions. Powerful. Asking, not always telling.

“I call this the Power of Pause,” Chitwood says. “It is very true that people will engage in a situation with a stronger sense of ownership if they have had the opportunity to come up with the solution themselves.

“When the team believes that the leader will intentionally listen and also offer ways to improve an idea, while keeping it as their idea, the team will be more inclined to problem-solve, even if that solution creates more work for them.”

This psychological safety creates influence, Chitwood says.

“For they will know that the work has real value for the organization.”

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