The tide seems to be turning for Gordon Brown - Labour are way down in the polls and every other headline seems to voice or imply some negative view of him and/or his leadership. But I wonder how this makes him feel?
We all need to feel valued and appreciated in our roles - when we’re not it starts to affect our motivation, engagement and feelings of self-worth. Whatever you think of Gordon Brown you can’t fault him for effort - he probably works in excess of 90 hours a week and (in his own way) has the best interests of the country at heart. But however focused and determined he is it can be demoralising to work this hard and still constantly receive negative feedback.
We don’t know what those close to him are saying to bolster his confidence or exactly how he feels right now, but the Prime Minister wouldn’t be human if he didn’t feel in some way depleted after the events of the last two weeks.
My university spin-off company Robertson Cooper hosts a Business Well-Being Network which brings members together to communicate about well-being issues in the workplace. A theme that comes up time and time again is that organisations have to try to find ways to ensure that their employees feel valued, appreciated and involved. First, the business and its leaders have to create the right environment for this to happen. Then, Line Managers have to play their role by providing clear direction and feedback to employees (both positive and negative) on a day-to-day basis.
Of course, Mr Brown is unfortunate because his ‘organisation’ doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t have a boss - unless you count the Queen, and I doubt she is providing too much in the way of structured feedback on his behaviour! It can be lonely at the top and the people there need to be courageous when times are tough and Mr Brown will certainly need bucket loads of courage and support in the coming months.
