[How about this book] "Praise Can't Make the Team Dance"

Ultimately, It’s People Who Achieve Goals and Daily Results
Human Attitude and Importance Remain Unchanged
More Important to 'Acknowledge' Than to 'Praise'

"Creating a team that consistently delivers sustainable excellence."

This is the definition of leadership given by Sujeong Shin, Head of KT Enterprise Division. According to her, leadership is the act of ensuring that an organization maintains the continuity of value creation for customers, shareholders, society, and its members. ‘Flash-in-the-pan’ achievements are unacceptable. Since luck or oppressive management cannot guarantee ‘sustainability,’ she emphasizes ‘leadership’ that goes beyond these.

Ms. Shin introduces this book as a ‘leadership textbook.’ She stresses that it is practical content viewed from the perspective of players working on the ground, enriched with an understanding of humans and organizations, rather than theories detached from reality or content specialized in certain areas. The book contains her experiences of co-founding a company at age 33 and growing it from 3 to 60 employees before selling it to a KOSDAQ-listed company, memories of leading a venture business division in a large corporation growing from 50 to 800 people over 12 years, and insights gained from managing an organization of thousands with sales reaching 4 trillion won.

According to Ms. Shin, domestic corporate organizations are currently at a major turning point. The era when relatively homogeneous educational backgrounds, values, and promotion desires worked in a vertical work environment is shifting to a horizontal environment with diverse values. Unlike the past when organizations ran to some extent without special leadership, she explains that an era has arrived where performance is greatly influenced by leadership.

The three missions of a leader emphasized by the author are managing goals, work, and people. The essence is establishing the company’s mission, vision, and strategy, creating a work environment to achieve them, and motivating people. Among these, people management is the core of leadership because ultimately, people are the ones who turn goals and work into results. This is also why Ms. Shin stresses treating team members as ‘humans.’ She emphasizes, "Leaders need to support each member in expressing their inner motivation, growing, and maximizing their capabilities."

The importance of a ‘humane attitude’ does not change even as organizations grow. While one might think that reliance on systems increases with more people to manage, in reality, middle managers exist, so the number of people a leader directly manages is limited. However, people management is considered the most difficult area because "it is not standardized and cannot be solved by logic alone."

A humane attitude is often misunderstood as unconditionally embracing others and encouraging them with praise. But Ms. Shin says, "People don’t like leaders just because they praise them. If there is sincerity, honest feedback can also be given. People are not whales; they don’t move only by praise." She adds, "The reason for parting is not usually because someone is a bad person, but because they simply don’t fit each other. Parting with someone does not mean you don’t treat each other as humans."

The important thing is the connection between the individual and the organization. Borrowing words from football coach Jos? Mourinho, Ms. Shin explains, "Don’t coach the players. Coach the team. Teaching Ronaldo how to take a free kick is not the coach’s job. What must be taught is how to play football ‘in the team.’" In this context, she advises leaders who obsess over individual employees and their motivation methods, "In the professional world, developing and growing individual capabilities is the individual’s responsibility, not the leader’s. (The leader’s role) is to coach and teach members to regulate themselves, create harmony, and cooperate for the team’s victory, producing something greater than the sum of individuals."

She issues a warning about trusting human ‘goodwill’ in problem-solving. According to the author, when Britain sent prisoners to colonize Australia, about 10% of prisoners died from starvation or illness on the ship. Although food and medicine were sufficient, the captain was busy embezzling them. Even appointing human rights monitors or devout captains did not change the situation. However, when payment was changed to be based on the number of prisoners arriving in Australia, deaths greatly decreased. Ms. Shin says, "People are neither especially good nor especially evil. They simply choose the direction that benefits themselves the most. Everyone is selfish." She continues, "This can be guided toward good or evil. That is the role of leadership and the power of systems."

So how can companies get people to focus? Ms. Shin emphasizes an environment where employees understand purpose and meaning, grow with excellent colleagues, and can be recognized. Employees need to understand why they must do their work for what contribution in the company and be given opportunities to enjoy the joy of growth and recognition through this.

She also calls for a change in perspective toward the MZ generation, often criticized for avoiding unity and being selfish. For example, regarding company dinners, Ms. Shin quotes her Z-generation son, "Everyone likes work and wants to do well. They also like having a drink. They just dislike the way work is ordered unilaterally and company dinners where you have to please your boss and talk only about work."

Ms. Shin emphasizes ‘recognition’ over ‘praise’ for members. Praise is an expression of behavior, but recognition is acceptance of a person’s existence and value. She advises, "Instead of worrying about what to praise, ask what the person finds rewarding, what they want to be recognized for, and what gives them pride, and acknowledge that."

Leadership of Giants | Written by Sujeong Shin | At Work | 276 pages | 18,000 KRW