Leaders live in a world that revolves around a perpetual cycle of deadlines, decision dynamics, risk management and human conflict. Alongside this crucible, they’re held accountable for meeting business revenue expectations and driving progress.
With all of these imperatives jockeying for the leader’s attention, no wonder some leaders lose touch with another fundamental mission, which is to “release brilliance.” They get entangled in their own “self-anointed brilliance.”
I’ve met leaders who just could not resist the urge to suck up all of the oxygen in the room. They parade their knowledge, flex their authority and extol their skills, rendering others around them who are just as bright and competent, invisible. Know any leader who behaves like this?
Leaders live in a world that revolves around a perpetual cycle of deadlines, decision dynamics, risk management and human conflict. Alongside this crucible, they’re held accountable for meeting business revenue expectations and driving progress.
There’s nothing wrong with being a “know-it-all,” it’s just important to have the sense to not behave like one. This sets the individual up to become a good relationship whisperer.
I believe that a pivotal question facing current-day leaders who intend to transition into effective future leaders is, “What does it mean to be an evolved leader?” Well, from my vantage point, the answer includes three endowments; a revolutionary level of self-control, way making and engagement centricity.
Evolved leaders have an extra helping of self-control. Yes, I know that I speak incessantly about the concept and practices of self-control. I do so because I know just how critical a skill it is for managing how we process emotions and externalize our thoughts through either helpful or harmful behaviours. It is said that the most powerful individual in a room, is the one who has control over himself or herself.
With all of these imperatives jockeying for the leader’s attention, no wonder some leaders lose touch with another fundamental mission, which is to “release brilliance.”
In a world where customer evolution is fuelling the experience economy, being proficient at spontaneous combustion is not a badge of honour for a leader. Additionally, leaders should not be living in a state of self-denial regarding how their words and actions impact others.
When, throughout a business, starting at its apex, there’s revolutionary advocacy for self-leadership, self-mastery and self-control, the business becomes empathy-centric and the complexion of customer encounters is altered forever, for the better. Depending on its level of sufficiency, an entire business therefore, can rise or fall on the sword of leadership self-mastery.
Next, evolved leaders build businesses that are “way-makers” for their customers. A way-maker is a path-clearer whose focus is to remove barriers to getting things done. Typically, way-maker and path-clearing leaders have an unimpaired line of sight to solving customers’ problems and providing gains that are either above and beyond, or significantly different from those offered by their competitors.
I believe that a pivotal question facing current-day leaders who intend to transition into effective future leaders is, “What does it mean to be an evolved leader?”
Not all leaders understand this assignment. It means having the capacity to lead a community of employees who harness the momentum needed to make a way for customers. Firstly, creating such a focussed and committed employee community, is not a walk in the park and secondly, sustaining this momentum requires an unyielding commitment to normalizing innovation and to releasing brilliance.
Engagement centricity occurs when leadership teams create a culture where the power of positive human behaviour is allowed to flourish in a workspace that green lights curiousity, appreciative enquiry and conflict engagement. This type of centricity is wrapped around practices that force human interactions to go through the evolutionary cycles associated with arriving at progressive methodologies.
Often, teams and team members within businesses are so gridlocked in conflict, tension and self-interest, that they fail at executing the simplest of tasks. Engagement-centric teams, on the other hand, follow a handful of practices that yield a football field of results. These practices range from immutable terms of interpersonal engagement, to ritualistic efficiency routines.
Well, from my vantage point, the answer includes three endowments; a revolutionary level of self-control, way making and engagement centricity.
Evolved leaders possess a kind of ruthless conviction that emboldens them to reject practices that inhibit goal achievement and to sustain those that do. Meetings for example, become efficient because the use of time is matched to productive results. Simple codes for meetings, such as start on time and end on time, are followed without deviation, enabling meeting agendas to become tight, discussions to stay on topic and points of disagreement, unless resolved, to be discussed at another time.
What these simple practices force teams to become, is laser-focussed on both the desired end results and on the efficacy of the methodology.
There’s another practice that sets the evolved leader and the evolved team apart from their less effective counterparts.
Pragmatism. It’s the ease with which they are willing to abandon methods that no longer deliver desired results and the discipline to stay the course until the new behaviours have been mastered.