How a results-focused leader became more inspirational
You want to change your leadership style in a couple of ways but don’t really know how to do that, or if it’s even worth it. You’re getting results, but not getting promoted. And you’re not even sure if you’re on anyone’s succession plan. You want to become a more agile leader, the right fit for every audience.
An adaptable, agile leader is effective in complex, uncertain, and rapidly changing environments. The kind that the world is experiencing in spades right now.
Being an adaptable leader is not just about responding to the demands of the moment or to an unexpected social or industry shift, it’s also about adapting your leadership style to respond to a new role, a new team, a new environment, or to new aspirations.
INSPIRATIONAL LEADERS
are flexible in the ways they look at a situation, and cultivate that in others
are curious, ask questions, listen, observe, and coach
leverage diversity of thought to create smarter and more efficient teams.
present recommendations with poise, and with curated, compelling, information that forwards a decision.
Here’s how one leader we worked with adapted.
A well-liked senior leader was put on the succession plan for the president. Another region needed his can-do, direct, say-it-how-it-is approach to turn around the business and he took the role to round out his enterprise experience.
Overseeing a huge chunk of the business and thousands of staff was daunting so he focused on operational results and turning the business around. It wasn’t until one of the staff in a plant he visited asked, “Why should I follow you?” that he realized he was missing a huge piece in his efforts; bringing the people along with him. Within 3 months of working with us, he was able to see the importance of developing thousands of people in his region, as well as being responsible for their livelihoods. This softened his approach without diluting results. As a result, he turned around the business in that region, was put on 3 succession plans, and within 18 months was promoted to a more senior role with global reach.
He now has a reputation as a leader who inspires and develops people, and who gets results.