Far Sighted Steadiness – by Arnie Wohlgemut
Providing leadership to a team, that has developed deep roots from past practices, and unquestionable loyalty to past success, is not a task for the faint hearted.
The biggest challenge is breaking the adoration with the past, while being careful not to contradict or insult the recognized success that it was back then.
I have had numerous experiences with several such organizational roadblocks over the years, and the lessons I learned are profoundly simple. Do not be fooled. Simple does not mean easy. Without going into details, I can tell you that I often felt like an outsider. I did not know all the history, or what deep roots were established at that time. I did know however that in being an outsider I needed to be more objective.
- To affect any change, one of the key strategies must be listening.
“Anyone’s voice at anytime can be mission critical.”
Amy Anderson
Often when we take time to listen to the long-time staffers, we uncover lessons learned that as a leader, you can strategically avoid or manoeuvre around. As with all the insight I am providing you today. Time is of the essence, and skill is needed to be able to discern what is personal bias and what is valuable insight.
- Effectiveness is achieving desired outcomes successfully.
“Is every element of your leadership going the same pace?”
Michael Todd
I believe there are several leadership elements that a leader should posses. Not just in crisis situations but also in everyday situations. Here are seven leadership elements I have found to be valuable: Intelligence, Integrity, Humility, Empathy, Curiosity, Inspiration and Resilience.
When any one or more of these elements are ahead of another, making impactful change may be difficult. For example, if curiosity out paces humility, we compromise integrity. Or if our quest for intelligence is out of step with empathy, we impact our ability to lead.
I know that each one of us will not have high skill levels in each one of the elements, and that is okay. When a situation or context requires us to exercise one or more leadership element, we should not hesitate.
- A leader must be inspiring enough to build consensus around a dream and reach out to those that have influence within the organization.
“The onus is on me to understand. Not sit back and make you understand.”
T.D. Jakes
As the quote says, the onus is on the leader to understand why some staff are engaged and some are not engaged. Until they know you care and are willing to understand their experience or point of view, not much will change. No amount of effort in making them understand your plans will change their mind.
Every leader must determine where they will place efforts in building consensus. It is easy to build consensus with those who are engaged. In my view, focus efforts on those that are not engaged. There is a great opportunity to inspire and gain success.
I encourage you to listen and to try and understand your employees as you move your organization and team forward. Learn from “the deep roots” that have been planted from the past. Add to the success stories through the use of these seven leadership elements:
Intelligence, Integrity, Humility, Empathy, Curiosity, Inspiration and Resilience.
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