Typically, a business looks to its leaders to lead the way to high performance and profitability. But, from time to time, the persons designated to lead, pose the greatest danger to the way forward, simply because their style of influencing the people and the business operations, is destructive. This type of leader can create so much internal tension, strife and chaos, that the business suffers irreparable harm to its reputation with employees, customers, stakeholders and to its revenue stream.
When this damage is significant enough, it would be safe to assume that the end is near. Teams will collapse, employee trust will evaporate, and customers will never have magical experiences that make them want to return to the scene of the magic.
I have encountered leaders who are intentional about promoting their agenda for orchestrating tumult, as well as leaders who are blissfully unaware of the discord that their style sows. In both cases, the leadership experience is real, with catastrophic effect on the employee and the customer experience.
Whilst leaders may not be responsible for all the ills of a business, they are accountable ultimately, for its outcomes.
These catastrophes are often preventable, so, wherever and whenever possible, leaders should do whatever is necessary to forestall experience impairment, at all levels of impact. Whilst leaders may not be responsible for all the ills of a business, they are accountable ultimately, for its outcomes.
Consider the case of the legacy leader. Often, he or she is about preserving the known and resisting contemporary or emerging practices. This leader may be a hostage to misconceptions about how leadership should be cast in a business. The prevailing mindset may include the mistaken belief that tenure confers a lien on brilliance. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, tenure may obscure such a leader’s ability to recognize what is no longer of value to the business, simply because he or she is using tools that have gone past their expiry dates.
Individuals may not start out as legacy leaders, they become that way over time. Without exposure to continual professional development, coupled with their own, self-driven, evolutionary cycles, they experience stagnation, a condition that deprives individuals of becoming better and better versions of themselves. Needless to say, when these individuals land in positions of leadership, maybe by dint of technical ability, they bring their condition of arrested development with them and unfortunately, create climates that are resistant to positive momentum.
Without exposure to continual professional development, coupled with their own, self-driven, evolutionary cycles, they experience stagnation, a condition that deprives individuals of becoming better and better versions of themselves.
Leaders who generate positive momentum, on the other hand, energize whatever is in their orbit. People, processes, interactions, decisions and most of all, business outcomes. Some of the most critical value contributions that these leaders deliver, are clarity, order, stability and cohesion. These are not just textbook values that sound deep and profound. They are enacted by the self-same leaders who become the standard bearers of these values, applied uniformly across both their personal and professional lives.
When there is order in the way actions are undertaken, teams feel a sense of balance and do not live in fear of their stability being upended daily, based on the moods, whims and unpredictable meanderings of a leader who lacks a steady mindset. Sadly, some leaders believe that this is the way to, “keep people on their toes, in order to get things done.” These leaders fail to realize that this is not leadership in action, it’s leadership ineptitude.
Every leader should be clear on what should characterize the epicentre of his or her style of leadership, if team members and customers, are to come away feeling that they matter. So, my favourite epicentre characteristic is care and the first domain in which this should be discharged, is in how the leader demonstrates self-care.
My favourite epicentre characteristic is care and the first domain in which this should be discharged, is in how the leader demonstrates self-care.
What’s one telltale sign of effective self-care? Energy management. Often this shows up as a calm, emotionally-stable and balanced temperament, belonging to an individual who is not easily triggered by external forces and who understands that people do not steal our joy……we give it away by reacting to every stimulus, without filtering out those that are undeserving of our attention.
Another reflection of the care attribute in leadership, is the effortlessness with which a leader feels and demonstrates care for others. We live in a society where there are competing forces of self-centeredness and human-centeredness. A leader aligned to care, will favour a human-centered approach to leading teams and employee communities.
These are the leaders who harmonize multi-generational workforces effortlessly, who can entertain opposing points of view, without feeling the need to compete for intellectual superiority and who find a way to infuse positive energy into their encounters with others.
Similarly, an individual missing the core value that defines his or her leadership style, becomes a prime candidate for running adrift.
Defining the foundation for the epicentre of one’s leadership style, is a mission critical action for building leadership effectiveness. Can you imagine the fate of a ship without a rudder?
Similarly, an individual missing the core value that defines his or her leadership style, becomes a prime candidate for running adrift.