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I spent the past two days in a great leadership program, led by a fantastic team (Xpand) and their master-chief coach, Paul Donders. It is always useful to pause and reflect on the critical topic of leadership, particularly in the context of the crisis, as we struggle to juggle and take control...
So let's think a minute on leadership and what it means today. In fact, I think that the word "leadership" is often misused by consultants, executives, MBA's... Most individuals love to be seen as leaders, whilst they usually fall in one of these 3 categories :
- Managers: Those are the ones who run well their teams, programs, projects et al. They manage using toolkits, milestones, budgets, reporting and the whole lot - Things progress well and steadily, but frankly, where is the spark of creativity, the burst of emotion, the foresight, the out-of-the-box thinking?
- Directors: Those are the ones who act as if they were commander-in-chief, who always direct, give orders, set instructions, tell the plan... and are in great need of "followers". This is a bit old-fashioned style for generations Y and Z, who need heroes and success stories, not generals and authoritative dogmas.
- Influencers: Those are the ones who advise, counsel, coach, teach. They can exert fabulous influence (and thus power) over business or society leaders; But they are not true leaders themselves, they are thought-leaders and influential gurus. In French we say "les hommes de l'ombre", i.e. the men in the shadow...
In today's world, which needs purpose, guidance and help (more than ever), true leaders in my opinion are the ones who are Connectors and Guides, at the center of the ecosystem in which they live and work. Nowadays' leaders are connecting people and ideas. They are connecting past, present and future. They are connecting generations. They are connecting concepts and reality... Leaders must be solid and respected cornerstones, amidst the tsunami of information that people produce and act upon.
Today's successful leaders will be inclusive, set direction, build trust and kill complexity.
