Leadership is in crisis the world over ~ 3
The world today has all the hallmarks of living through an International Conflict, and when we emerge on the other side, we’ll not simply find a new normal, we will be living in a new era; never have leadership skills been in greater demand, and yet seemingly in such short supply.
Effective Leadership can be defined as seeing beyond the horizon, plotting a course to get there, and inspiring people to 'want-to' go there with you. So, what can we see as we start to look beyond the horizon? This is my third post exploring this topic, and here are some more thoughts.
Leadership is in crisis the world over ~ 2
It seems that increasingly, people are taking up the option to stay with remote working, at least for a few days a week, since they have been able to redeem the time spent commuting for other activities, and many people are reluctant to give that up. For example, here’s a graphic for the UK from iNews showing time spent in the workplace and public transport usage.
Leadership is in crisis the world over ~ 1
As in all periods of large-scale conflict, technology has accelerated at an enormous rate. We've probably seen a generation's worth of change happen in just a couple of years, especially in terms of communication via zoom and teams. No longer do we all have to meet in the same physical space; now a 1-hour meeting takes ... 1 hour.
I have a regular 3-hour board meeting with people from around the country, and it used to be a very long day with 6 hours of travel included to get to the meeting and back. Now it takes 3 hours in total, and I get the rest of the day to do something else.
In this blog post, I want to explore some of the hallmarks of the world we’re living in today and then look at the implications in a subsequent blog post.
Seeing Beyond The Horizon
I recently listened to one of my favourite leadership voices, and I was reminded of one of his recent messages. John Maxwell was introducing the second publication of one of his earliest and most widely purchased books "Developing the Leaders within you 2.0" when he spent a few moments talking on the two themes - that effective leaders see more than others see, and they see before others see.
“A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do.”
~ Leroy Eims
Passing the test of tomorrow
If you want to lead people, they must trust you We need to consider how today’s ‘accepted business practices’ will stand up in light of tomorrow’s exposure?
Difference Taker, or Difference Maker
Leaders with an abundance mentality and approach to their work focus on the possibilities rather than the problems, on what could be rather than what is, on what they want to do rather than on what’s convenient, on what they could achieve to make a difference.