Dr John Mervyn-Smith, Chief Psychologist at The GC Index, speaks to Jenn Selby, guest columnist for Every Woman, about the rise of the ‘beta’ boss.

 

Dr Mervyn-Smith says, “The key beta skill is not listening. You might have a boss that has learned to appear as though they are listening, but it’s not the same as having a boss who actually takes your points on board and makes decisions with you. Being open to influence encourages collaboration by instilling a sense of empowerment and self-worth in the individual doing the influencing.”

John talks about the fact The GC Index framework is designed to view leadership and team participation in a more diverse way, identifying individual talents and empowering the employee to use them to their optimal advantage. He says, “Collaborative leaders become ‘play makers’, a genderless term that comes without the associated connotations of ‘alpha’ and ‘beta’.”

 

Vicky Sleight, Chief Play Maker at The GC Index and Founder of Perfect Ltd believes that by shining a spotlight on her team this allowed them to flourish and produce lasting results.  She says, “Making sure that at board level they don’t just see one person, but a leader of an amazing and diverse team is so important. It is also about taking risks because you believe in people and not just about mentoring them, but championing them.”

 

To read the article in full please visit Every Woman.