Leadership comes from the top, but what if you’re still examining your own leadership style?
There’s a reason the business mantra of “leadership starting from within” is accurate and relevant, and that is because in order for a team to truly work, a leader needs to begin by looking inwards. That’s the kind of ‘lean in’ that is more relevant than any business buzzword.
Start by looking at how you operate, how you think, and what kind of impression you give to staff. If you don’t know what your employees think about you… Ask them!
Create a forum where it is completely comfortable and acceptable for staff to speak up about what makes them happy and what makes them not look forward to coming to work so much. The results of these sometimes uncomfortable conversations will form the basis of the reshaping of your company’s mindset. You have to go into these conversations with an open mind – you can’t be defensive or aggressive if you don’t like what’s being said, the idea is to listen with an open mind, think about what is said and then decide whether or not to take action.
In doing this it shows that you care about what is important to your staff.
If, when and how you implement changes based on staff feedback, it is demonstrating genuine commitment to positivity in the workplace, showing their happiness is important and in turn boosting morale and no doubt increasing productivity.
I still remember the day I changed my own company’s mindset to reshape our business. It started with a news article which quoted David Hurley (former Chief of the Defence Force) “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept” and it resonated with me. It crystallised the concept of complete ownership for the behaviour of my staff. It made me have the above conversation with our staff, about what behaviour was and was not OK and why. What came out surprised me. It was small things, like the women being asked to get petty cash items from the supermarket or just the men being asked to carry heavy boxes, or comments around casual racism or isms in general. We implemented changes to fix that to make it clear what is and is not OK, and now if I see a behaviour that is not OK, I call it out. Because it starts and stops with me.
Our credo is: what got you here, won’t get you there.
That is, to get there, you need not just the tools but the mindset to constantly change and improve.
Enter the Authentic Leadership Summit 2020.
Back for its fifth year, the Summit will focus on teaching you how to lead with greater purpose in the contemporary business climate.
In this 4-day program, you’ll learn how you can employ its principles in your organisation to drive better business outcomes and make our world a better place at the same time.
Core values, authenticity, strength, innovation and disruption are the key drivers for a successful business, and this Summit will help extrapolate what that means.
In short, you need to discover your true purpose and values as a leader, and the Authentic Leadership Summit 2020 will get you there. Check out more information here.
