🚀 Why Are So Many Employees Disengaged?

What truly keeps us engaged in our work? What makes a leader inspiring and motivating?

Many believe that rewards and career advancement are the key drivers of motivation. However, research tells a different story:

Workplace disengagement is at an all-time high.
📉 Employees feel uninspired, unmotivated, and disconnected from their work.
💡 The real issue? Leaders struggle to inspire their teams to see and reach their full potential.

🔎 So, how do we change this?

🌊 A New Approach: Leadership & The Art of Surfing

Imagine riding a wave—balancing power, direction, and momentum. Leadership works the same way.

🏄‍♂️ Surfing as a Leadership Metaphor

• 🌟 Anticipation: Just like surfers read the waves, great leaders anticipate challenges and opportunities.
• 🌊 Adaptability: No wave is ever the same—leaders must adjust to changes with agility.
• 🎯 Balance: Success in both surfing and leadership requires a mix of skill, intuition, and courage.
• 🤝 Momentum & Teamwork: The best waves are ridden together—leaders empower their teams to move forward in sync.

"When leaders understand how to ride the waves of change, they unlock their team's full potential."

🛠️ How to Lead Differently: Key Lessons for Reimagining Leadership

💡 1. Create a Culture of Engagement

✅ Inspire, don’t just manage.
✅ Align personal growth with business success.
✅ Build teams that feel empowered, not just employed.

🎯 2. Motivation as a Competitive Advantage

🚀 The most successful organizations don’t rely on traditional incentives—they create environments where employees feel:
✔️ Valued
✔️ Challenged
✔️ Connected to a meaningful mission

🌟 3. Balance Structure & Flexibility

🏄 Surfers don’t fight the wave—they ride it.
💡 Leaders must learn when to guide, adapt, and step back so their teams can thrive.

📚 My Journey: From Classroom to Boardroom

🔹 20+ years in leadership roles across industries & global markets.
🔹 10 years as a teacher & professor.
🔹 Published author: Leadership and the Art of Surfing.
🔹 Adjunct professor in Organizational Development & Theory.
🔹 25,000+ hours leading teams.

💬 What Others Say

📢 A CEO of a multimillion-dollar global organization said:

"He’s built, motivated, and led this team to be the most dynamic unit in the company’s 30-year history in morale and overall potential."

🎯 The Takeaway: Leadership Is More Than Just Managing

Traditional leadership is outdated. Employees crave purpose, engagement, and inspiration.

💡 Great leaders don’t push their teams—they guide them.
🏄 Just like in surfing, success comes from balance, adaptability, and momentum.

👊 Ready to Transform Your Leadership?

✔️ Learn how to engage, inspire, and elevate your team.
✔️ Reimagine leadership with a fresh, innovative perspective.
✔️ Create a culture where people thrive—not just survive.

"Leadership isn’t about being in control; it’s about unlocking the potential in others."

📢 Join Me!

📖 Book: Leadership and the Art of Surfing
💻 Online Course: The Rick Hansen School of Leadership
🔗 Website: rickhansenleadership.com

🚀 Let’s Ride the Wave of Leadership—Together!

Source Guide: Summary

This source, titled "Surfing Leadership: Engaging Teams Through Adaptability and Balance," explores novel approaches to leadership aimed at increasing employee engagement. It argues that traditional leadership methods are often insufficient in today's workplace, contributing to widespread disengagement. To counter this, the text introduces the analogy of surfing, highlighting key elements like anticipation, adaptability, balance, and teamwork as crucial for effective leadership. Ultimately, the source aims to provide insights and lessons for leaders seeking to inspire their teams, foster a culture of engagement, and motivate employees through purpose and connection rather than solely through conventional incentives.

Quiz, Answer Key, Essay Questions, Glossary of Key Terms:

Quiz

1. According to the source, what is a significant reason for high levels of employee disengagement in today's workplace?
2. The text introduces an analogy to reimagine leadership. What is this analogy and what are the four key elements of this analogy as described?
3. What are the three key lessons presented for leading differently to foster greater employee engagement?
4. Instead of relying on traditional incentives, what kind of environment do successful organizations create to motivate their employees, according to the source?
5. Explain the concept of "Balance Structure & Flexibility" in the context of the surfing leadership metaphor.
6. What is the author's background and experience that lends credibility to their perspective on leadership?
7. According to the CEO's quote, what impact did the author's leadership have on their team?
8. What is the central argument presented in the "The Takeaway" section regarding traditional leadership approaches?
9. The source suggests that effective leadership involves more than just managing. What does it emphasize instead?
10. What resources does the author offer for those interested in transforming their leadership approach?

Answer Key

1. The source states that a significant reason for high employee disengagement is that leaders struggle to inspire their teams to see and reach their full potential. Employees feel uninspired, unmotivated, and disconnected from their work.
2. The analogy introduced is the art of surfing. The four key elements are anticipation (reading the waves/challenges), adaptability (adjusting to changing waves/situations), balance (skill, intuition, and courage), and momentum & teamwork (riding waves together/empowering teams).
3. The three key lessons for leading differently are: 1. Create a Culture of Engagement (inspire, align growth, empower teams), 2. Motivation as a Competitive Advantage (valuing, challenging, connecting employees to a mission), and 3. Balance Structure & Flexibility (guide, adapt, and step back).
4. Successful organizations create environments where employees feel valued, challenged, and connected to a meaningful mission, rather than relying solely on traditional incentives like rewards and career advancement.
5. "Balance Structure & Flexibility" means that like surfers who ride the wave instead of fighting it, leaders must understand when to provide guidance and structure, when to adapt to changing circumstances, and when to step back and allow their teams the flexibility to thrive.
6. The author has over 20 years in leadership roles across various industries and global markets, 10 years as a teacher and professor, is a published author on leadership, an adjunct professor in organizational development, and has over 25,000 hours leading teams.
7. The CEO stated that the author built, motivated, and led their team to become the most dynamic unit in the company's 30-year history in terms of morale and overall potential.
8. The central argument is that traditional leadership, which often focuses on managing and control, is outdated. Employees today desire purpose, engagement, and inspiration from their leaders.
9. The source emphasizes that great leaders guide their teams rather than pushing them. Effective leadership is about balance, adaptability, momentum, and unlocking the potential in others.
10. The author offers a book titled "Leadership and the Art of Surfing," an online course called "The Rick Hansen School of Leadership," and a website (rickhansenleadership.com) as resources for leadership transformation.

Essay Questions:

1. Discuss the effectiveness of the "surfing as a leadership metaphor" in explaining the key principles of impactful leadership as presented in the source. Provide specific examples from the text to support your analysis.
2. The source argues that traditional incentives are not the primary drivers of employee engagement. Analyze the alternative approach to motivation suggested in the text and discuss its potential benefits and challenges in real-world organizational settings.
3. Based on the key lessons for reimagining leadership outlined in the source, describe the characteristics and behaviors of a leader who effectively creates a culture of engagement.
4. Critically evaluate the author's claim that "Leadership isn’t about being in control; it’s about unlocking the potential in others." How does the "surfing" analogy support or challenge this perspective?
5. Considering the high rates of employee disengagement highlighted in the source, propose a strategy incorporating the principles of "surfing leadership" that an organization could implement to improve employee engagement and overall performance.

Glossary of Key Terms:

•Employee Disengagement: A state where employees feel uninspired, unmotivated, and disconnected from their work and the organization.

•Leadership: The art of influencing and guiding a team or individuals towards a common goal, emphasizing inspiration, empowerment, and vision.

•Motivation: The intrinsic and extrinsic forces that drive an individual's effort and persistence towards achieving a goal. The source emphasizes intrinsic motivation derived from feeling valued, challenged, and connected to a meaningful mission.

•Culture of Engagement: A work environment where employees feel inspired, empowered, and aligned with the organization's goals and their own personal growth.

•Anticipation (in leadership): The ability of leaders to foresee potential challenges and opportunities, similar to a surfer reading the waves.

•Adaptability (in leadership): The capacity of leaders to adjust their strategies and approaches in response to changing circumstances, mirroring a surfer's ability to navigate different waves.

•Balance (in leadership): The necessary combination of skills, intuition, and courage that effective leaders employ to navigate complexities and achieve success.

•Momentum & Teamwork (in leadership): The collaborative energy and synchronized effort within a team that leaders foster to move forward effectively, akin to surfers riding a wave together.

•Traditional Incentives: Common motivational tools such as rewards, bonuses, and career advancement, which the source suggests are not the primary drivers of engagement.

•Organizational Development: A field focused on improving organizational effectiveness and employee well-being through planned interventions and strategies.