With the disruption that we see today, how you lead your org and teams makes itmore relevant than ever. People look up to you on how you adapt to the disruptions,pivot, and take your teams forward.
Leadership is about 3 broad Es that encompass ingredients in making it wholesome.They are interconnected yet unique in their own way, each equally important. Some leaders are strong in a couple of them, but all are needed for them to be stronger leaders.
Empathy: This is core to the model because leaders lead leaders and people. This is the ability to ensure everyone feels included, valued, and respected. It is about creating psychological safety that enables people to bring their authentic self to work.It is about creating the space for everyone to feel belonged. It is also about empowering people and letting them work on their strengths. And it is about caring for the work we do and the mission we have.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What do I want to be known for as the leader?
- Where do I need to show up with courage? What’s the work to stand up for?
- Where do I need to show up with more care?
- How do we show up as a team?
- How can I be genuinely inclusive in leading this org?
- How can I prepare myself (and them) to have hard conversations? When/how
can this be achieved with maximum care?
Entrepreneurship: This is the ability to think long term, have a compelling vision and most importantly bring purpose to the organization. It is the ability to change course based on the external and internal factors. It is the ability to take risks, make bold decisions and prudence to let go of things for the bigger purpose. It is also the ability to articulate and communicate that purpose to the teams in simple terms.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What are the factors I need to address as I shape (or reshape) the strategy?
- What are the biggest challenges and opportunities connected to those
factors?
- What are the payoffs from a longer-term perspective for setting the right
strategy? What is at risk?
- What headwinds/tailwinds are we facing across the industry?
- What do I have to be comfortable with not knowing?
- How do I communicate this to the teams that is simple to understand and yet inspirational?
Execution: It is the ability to get stuff done. It is about getting the teams together to deliver and create an impact. It is about driving performance through ways of working that glues the teams together. In essence it is engaging and motivating people to execute on the purpose.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What leadership do I need each person to bring?
- What do they need from me? Where do I lean in and where do I let go?
- Where do they need to run, walk, crawl? What can they experiment with?
- What excites me about the growth potential of my teams?
- How will they separate the signals from the noise?
- What indicates success of the relationships? What indicates dysfunction?
- To what extent do stakeholders understand the expectations and outcomes
that we are striving for?
- What hard conversations I may need to have?
Note: The list of reflective questions is not exhaustive.
Curious to know more about the model and dive deeper to explore skills under each of the Es? Want to check out some practical tools to assess and work on each E? Get in touch with me.
DEVELOPING TEAMS
Healthy teams that have trust and inclusion lead to higher engagement, more innovation, and better business outcomes. Whether you have a new leader taking on a team or a dysfunctional unit that needs a deep analysis or ineffective cross functional collaboration, depending on how deep the issue is, I have solutions ranging from a “first-aid” to a “surgery”. Get in touch to understand my methodology based on extensive experience of having worked with leaders and teams across levels and geographies. The philosophy is based on bringing out authenticity, openness and transparency that are key to building trust and effective communication. The solutions are bespoke based on the context as sizes differ.
