While leaders have to be held accountable for their relationship with the people underneath them, both leaders and followers are responsible for the quality of the relationship they develop. Leaders' goal should be to build a solid relationship with the staff members, where there is space to offer feedback without fear of being reprimanded. As long as the employee is not the destructive kind, if they are treated fairly, well remunerated, and not verbally abused by the manager, they'll respond in the best of ways. Productivity and happiness will increase, stress and bad experiences will go down, and the work environment will be healthier. 

Joining us today is the brilliant Sherri Malouf, Chair and Principal at Situation Management Systems Inc, Ph.D. in Human Development, and author. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Law from the University of Plymouth and a Master's in Philosophy from the University of Bath. At SMS Inc, they teach to successfully handle lateral, upward, and downward influence situations without getting positional power involved. Their focus is on helping people be authentic and successful when working with others. 

Sherri kindly shares her knowledge and expertise on building stronger and healthier relationships between leaders and followers. She explains how good relationships between managers and employees translate into engagement, productivity, and satisfaction growth. We also talk about her theory on how idealized images of leaders and followers in our minds will lead us to make automatic, unconscious decisions about who's worthy of our time and who’s not.  

If you want to better understand the leader-follower dynamics and how to enhance your experiences at the workplace, tune in to Episode 273 of Becoming Your Best and listen to Sherri's beautiful insights.  

Some Questions Asked: 

• You have a new book coming out about the science behind the leader-follower relationship. Can you tell us a little about the book? (5:19) 
• How do you help somebody that is misusing their power in an organization? (9:52) 
•  What actions should the followers take to strengthen their relationship with their boss? (15:02) 
• How do you help people get in this frame of mind? To create a positive plan, get things on track, and rather than blame to take control of the things they can control? (17:56) 
• What is the science behind the leader-follower relationships? (22:57) 

In This Episode, You Will Learn: 

• Some of the turning points that led to Sherri's realization: there are always ways to grow and evolve (2:54) 
• People don't leave their jobs; they leave managers (6:59) 
• Leaders have to be held accountable for the relationship with people underneath them (10:08) 
• The secret to a strong, healthy leader-follower relationship (13:56) 
• Who's responsible for having an excellent manager-employee relationship (16:22) 
• Every person requires something different from their leaders (22:29) 

Resources: 

• Situation Management Systems Inc website 
• Situation Management Systems Inc Twitter 
• Book: Sherri Malouf, Wally Bock - Science and the Leader-Follower Relationship: The Implicit Social Elements 

Connect with Sherri: 

• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 
• Facebook 

Becoming Your Best Resources: 

• Becoming Your Best Website 
• Becoming Your Best University Website 
• Becoming Your Best Library 
• Email: [email protected]  
• Book: Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders 
• Book: Conquer Anxiety: How to Overcome Anxiety and Optimize Your Performance 
• Facebook Group – Conquer Anxiety 

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