Incongruency in leadership is a chronic problem. Leaders want their companies to innovate but punish employees for mistakes. They demand high accountability but miss their own targets and promises. They say they trust their people but micromanage. Take a moment and reflect on what your leadership style is and how you practice what you preach…
The old proverb, “a fish rots from the head down,” applies to organizations. Leaders cannot expect high performance and accountability in others that they don’t model themselves first.
Leaders have to be change agents. Organizations that want to stay relevant into the future adapt quickly and efficiently. They don’t expect that what made them successful in the past will necessarily be true in the future. Savvy leaders understand this, and part of their role is gathering information, watching trends, and looking forward to identifying both threats and opportunities. Armed with this insight, they muster resources and initiate the change projects required to keep the company healthy in the future.
But change can be difficult, and it is human nature to resist it. We get comfortable and sometimes fear the uncertainty that comes with change. Great leaders understand this. They listen and empathize with their people and give generously of their time to ensure employees feel heard and understood.
These same leaders understand that change follows a typical emotional pattern, sometimes called the change valley. To get to a new and better ‘normal’, an improved status quo, people need to move through the valley of chaos, discomfort, and uncertainty, followed by phases of learning and experimentation.
Skilled leaders know this pattern, and help their people understand it too. They make it okay for employees to feel uncomfortable and incompetent on the change journey.
How to Refresh Your Leadership Style
- Motivation – leaders make it clear to employees why the future state is better than the current reality. They explore the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for every individual. And they align rewards and accountability for moving through the change.
- Ability – leaders give their teams the training, tools, and resources they need to learn and step into the new reality.
Over the past few decades, leadership style has changed. The command-and-control style of the last century is outdated. People don’t just work for a paycheque anymore. Today the best performers, especially the younger generations entering the workforce, are looking to follow leaders who are transparent, caring, supportive, and forward-thinking.
In this article, we covered the last theme of our Predictable Business five-part blog series. Hopefully, this series has been useful in your journey to reach predictable success.
If you’re eager to start today, you can download our full guide now to start learning how to achieve greater predictability in your business with bonus access to an assessment quiz. This will help showcase how ready you and your organization are to thrive in these times of uncertainty, identify some areas of opportunity, and contains further advice with some suggested action steps.
Next Steps
Are you ready to create predictable success for your business and transform your leadership style in 2021? The Results team wants to help with a customized plan! Book a chat with a member of our team for professional advice to improve business strategy and execution.