"Leadership is not about being in charge.
Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge."
- Simon Sinek
Everyone has an idea of what being a leader is, but only a few seem to understand and exemplify true leadership. This begs the question: What are the qualities of a good leader? Confident? Fearless? Creative? These are all valid answers, but, for us, true leadership begins with an intrinsic human quality we all share – empathy. Good leaders have the ability to see things from the perspective of those under them and understand how they feel, contributing to a positive environment where everyone’s well-being and development are cared for.
To give an example, let’s first take a look at some numbers. According to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), up to 99.5% of the businesses operating in the country are MSMEs. And about 62.4% of the country’s workforce are employed by companies that fall under this category.
Having a job doesn’t guarantee financial security, though. In a lot of cases, employees struggle to budget their earnings. And this problem is compounded by how wages in MSMEs are generally lower compared to corporations. This is why a lot of Filipinos are living day-to-day, trying to fit all their basic needs within their income with little to no allowance. The PSA reported that the poverty incidence increased to 23.7% in the first semester of 2021 – equivalent to a whopping 26.1 million Filipinos.
Of course, as a business owner, you always want to try and do your part to help these people by opening up opportunities for them to have regular-paying jobs. But why stop there when you can do so much more. Sure, money is their immediate need; however, there are other, less-tangible assets that you can also share, which might prove to be of greater value to them down the line.
You might be thinking, “I treat my employees fairly and pay them on time. Why do I need to help them further?” Once again, the answer is empathy. Put yourself in your employees' shoes, what do you think they value most in their job? Chances are the answer is security and safety – they want to know they’ll be able to put food on the table for as long as they can work. For them to feel this way, they have to see you, get to know you, and eventually trust you. They have to know that you’re aware of what they’re feeling or going through. And how can you possibly do that if you don’t try to interact with them?
As such, you have to show compassion to their own needs and connect with them on both a professional and personal level. Because if you can do this, you can expect them to reciprocate the empathy. So much so that when it one day comes to the point where you’ll have to let them go, it won’t hurt that much for them since they can also see the situation from your perspective. They know you fought hard to keep them in their jobs and that despite how events turned out, you still care.
Perhaps the best way to show your leadership is to give them the chance to uplift themselves and their families not through monetary aid but rather through a personal finance education. Sometimes getting out of tight financial situations is a matter of how one decides to use and manage his earnings. And when you’re financially aware and literate, you’re capable of reaching a bright and secure future.
There are five steps to go about teaching personal finance to your employees:
Responsibility
First and foremost, your employees have to understand that their personal finance is their own responsibility. There will be people who can and will help, yes, but the final decision of where they put their money is ultimately on them. So they can’t blame anyone else when, say, they’re not able to pay their bills on time. At the end of the day, they have to learn to work within their means and budget. And in case that’s not enough, it’s up to them to figure out ways to increase their income, be it boosting their output to earn a promotion or finding a side hustle.
Dream
They additionally should have a dream. It doesn’t necessarily have to be big, but having one puts them on the path to success. A dream is a vision in life created by the mind to help motivate people to continue to work towards whatever it is they wish to have in the future. But a dream remains in the mind unless action is taken.
In contrast, a goal is a “dream with a deadline”, as famous self-help author Napoleon Hill once said. And because a dream has a deadline, it always has to come with a specific and concrete action plan. So in this case, your employees must have realistic timetables for their goals to be able to later turn their dream into reality. Otherwise, there won’t be much urgency or intention in their actions.
Habit
They then have to start developing the habit of saving and investing. Although the two words are sometimes confused for one another, they have different meanings. In the most basic sense, saving means setting aside money for later use; whereas investing means putting money into products or assets to make more money.
Habits can take a while to form so it’s always advisable to start as early as possible. It might help to take it one step at a time, investing whatever they can currently afford and go from there. What usually turns people away from investing is the misconception that they don’t have enough to put in. But in reality, starting to invest with a very small amount will always be better than not investing at all. The important thing is their commitment to themselves and their goals. Because if they’re committed, forming and sticking to a habit will come naturally.
Access
This is where you, as their employer, come in. You can leverage your connections to finance professionals and invite them to educate your employees about saving and investing. In a way, you’re kind of giving them an extra push to engage in these activities that, regardless of whether they realize it or not, could help them later in life.
Action
Last but not least, your employees must use the learnings they gain to take action. And you can encourage them to do so through benefit solutions that allow them to invest. For instance, you can offer a voluntary program wherein part of their monthly salary is automatically invested. It might require them to rework their budget, though once they build that investment tolerance and come around to realizing that it all helps their future, they’ll surely be appreciative of your efforts.
Whatever they manage to take away from this program, they can hopefully later pass on. As an old Chinese proverb goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This quote encapsulates the purpose of educating your employees about personal finance.
When you spend money, it’s gone forever and you’ll have to earn it back. Whereas learnings can stay with them for the rest of their lives and can be imparted to future generations, creating a ripple effect of positive change. And it all starts with your leadership.
linkiNG you to opportunities,
photo from www.freepik.com
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