How to make leadership easier in our opportunistic times

We live in a context of fantastic opportunities; and leadership is the vital component that creates an agile high performance culture where we make the most of them!

Our times also lead to foggy situations. One of the challenges we face is that the rules for leadership have be rewritten and it has become unclear how to lead effectively in our opportunistic and foggy times. My answer to this in Leadership Laid Bare: the naked truth of great leadership, is to outline for the first time a blueprint for your leadership success. A guide to ensure you are on the fastest and easiest track for success - the new rules for leadership.

So what do great leaders need to do in today's world?

They understand that the role of a leader is to CREATE A HIGH PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENT WHERE SUCCESS IS INEVITABLE. Combined to the role the purpose of leadership is to AWAKEN POSSIBILITY IN PEOPLE TO DELIVER EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS. The operate in collaborative and inclusive ways that deliver results with people.

They also need to operate with three guiding principles: BOLDNESS, SIMPLICITY AND SPEED.

They then need to live what I call the 7 LEADERSHIP TRUTHS.

1. They are 100% AUTHENTIC. They understand themselves and have a story to tell, they have an authentic leadership brand, they build on strengths, they are happy being vulnerable, they are themselves, they share their leadership philosophy, they build trust, they are positive, healthy and happy.
2. They INSPIRE ACTION. Purpose is at the heart of everything they do, they make a difference, they have courage, they go out on a limb, they are bold, they tell stories and give examples that give meaning and inspire action. They create a sense of real value.
3. They CREATE HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS. They are comfortable with collaboration, empowerment, autonomy and know how to build teams quickly.
4. They UNLEASH INNOVATION. They create a culture where everyone comes up with great ideas to improve performance and add value. They innovate in every aspect of business. They are relentless discoverers. They exploit technology and platforms.
5. They MANAGE AMBIGUITY AND KILL RISK. They are comfortable with paradoxes, they make the complex simple, they understand the need for evolving plans, they are agile. They are mentally tough and resilient to deal with a world in perpetual crisis. They anticipate and kill risk quickly. They stay in touch with the real world.
6. They EDUCATE. They help people and organisations learn, they inspire curiosity, they only tell when direction is absolutely needed, they ensure learning is applied, they lead with questions, they coach, they develop and nurture capability.
7. They DELIVER WITH PACE. They translate strategy into meaning and inspire action, they join the dots, they are comfortable speeding up by slowing down, they deliver through people and teams, they execute.

If you want to find out how you stack up compared to great leaders go and get the 7 truths leadership questionnaires... 

7 Truths Leadership Questionnaire

Every success

Graham

Graham Wilson, Leadership Wizard