Are You Addressing the World’s Biggest Challenge & Opportunity?
At maximy, we believe that leadership is the world’s biggest challenge and opportunity, and that we all have a role to play in addressing it.
The importance of leadership can’t be overstated. Leadership is about sustainability or extinction, wellbeing or suffering, life or death. Leaders in organisations and society play a special role in determining the future – what to design and build, what opportunities to seize, what threats to tackle. How the world is, and how the world will be for generations to come is the result of leadership. The competencies, character and morals of our leaders determine how the big challenges of our time get prioritised and tackled. The most important decision that organisations and societies make is deciding on and managing their leaders.
With such huge responsibilities and impact, is there enough focus on developing the best possible leaders?
Research and experience would have us believe that this is not the case. Leaders are in trouble. A startling 86% of respondents at the World Economic Forum believed that leadership was in crisis1, 67% of investors2 and 71% of organisations3 "do not believe their leaders are able to lead their organisations into the future", and 84% of organisations4 "suffer from an unhealthy pipeline". The 2020 Trust Barometer5 found that "despite a strong global economy and near full employment, none of the four societal institutions that the study measures—government, business, NGOs and media—is trusted".
Whilst some are ego-centric, full of hubris, selfish, manipulative and narcissistic, most of the leaders we meet are very hardworking, sincere individuals trying to do their best. But because of the changed landscape, they don't have many valid business models to use or role-models to imitate. Leading in these volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) times is tough, and there is no road map. Leaders often fall prey to common human frailties; they are pressurised into short-term results and vested interests; are unaware of how their behaviour produces anxiety, depression, fear, and poor health in their team; and follow bad and outdated practices, all of which negatively impact stakeholders and slow down productivity. Poor leadership can have lasting and sometimes irreversible negative impact - for example, less-than-optimal leadership is costing the average company an amount equal to 7% of their annual sales, and most organisations operate with a 5 - 10% productivity drag that more effective leadership practices could eliminate6.
It should not be forgotten that there have been great leaders who have and are achieving great things for many. However, ‘great’ leadership is relatively rare.
There is a massive opportunity for us all to improve the quality and competence of our leadership and followership. Improving leadership and followership will see exponential benefits.
At maximy, we believe the solution to turning 'the challenge' to 'the opportunity' is six-fold:
One. Working with a new definition of leadership
A new definition of leadership is needed that balances achieving results with the wellbeing of stakeholders and the environment. Achieving success in a vacuum without knowing or caring about the full cost and impact on stakeholders and the environment can no longer be seen as ‘great’ leadership.
We define a Leader as a person who effectively enables success & wellbeing for themselves, others, organisations and the wider community.
What we are saying that is evolutionary in leadership is that wellbeing is as equally important as achieving. Wellbeing is a construct made up of happiness, satisfaction, having a sense of meaning and purpose, and the optimum awareness and management of mental, emotional and physical health.
Two. Having everyone recognise and own the responsibility of being a good leader and a good follower
If we are to be successful in a fast-changing, demanding world, leadership can no longer be confined to the few, and it can't be done as it used to be done. Everyone is a leader of themselves and their behaviour impacts others. As a follower, the way we engage with leaders makes a massive difference to what they choose to do and whether they are held to account.
We are not just talking about leadership at work. Leadership happens through our different roles - within our friends, family and communities. You might be a leader in your family, community or friendship group. In this highly connected and interdependent world, it is worth remembering that our decisions and actions can have a wide impact. The more senior the leader, the more likelihood of a greater impact and, therefore, the greater the responsibility the leader must uphold. We work to help leaders become more self-aware, take ownership of their attitude, beliefs, decisions and actions so that the impact they make achieves positive results for the people they work with and for, for the majority of stakeholders, and the planet.
Our mission is to help everyone to be the Best Possible Leaders they can be – to have clarity on what that means for them, prioritise their learning, ensuring they are correcting the things that could make them poor leaders. Learning to be a great leader is a lifetime's commitment that involves ongoing learning, development, experimentation and feedback. The pace of this leadership journey will depend upon the goals and context around each person.
Three. Owning that leadership starts with understanding and managing oneself
Many people think they know themselves but do they manage themselves? Science shows that we are not aware of our most of our beliefs, attitudes, let alone behaviour; nor are we aware of the impact we have on others and the consequences to our families and teams. Some people think they or others won't or can't change. Science, again, shows this is incorrect. People can and do change all the time – even at a cellular level. We help the leader mature by constantly seeking insight into themselves, regularly asking for specific and constructive feedback, broadening their awareness of their impact, and learning tools and techniques to manage themselves in a way that is appropriate for the situations they face.
Four. Making leadership development more accessible and timely
We are using information technology and a connected group of associates to help make leadership development more accessible: that is, financially – via multi-methods (online, books, audios, podcasts, live events); bite-sized or in-depth; helping with analysis of needs and prioritising learning; keeping it timely; as well as offering delivery in different languages and countries.
We believe this work needs to be accessible at schools and universities. The success and wellbeing of ourselves, others, organisations and the wider community depends on the quality and competence of our leadership, at all levels. We believe leadership needs to be taught from the earliest age.
Five. Making sure leadership development content is fit for the future
Our content uses evidence-based knowledge married with innovative exercises that engage deep thought and provoke change. We have created the Best Possible Leader (BPL) Framework: a holistic and integrated model that brings together capabilities that have been proven to contribute to success & wellbeing. It includes these dimensions under which sit scores of capabilities:
- Understanding & Managing Self and Stakeholders
- Understanding the Environment & Being Alert
- Setting Direction & Managing Expectations
- Enabling Defined Success & Wellbeing
- Facing and Addressing Constraints to Success & Wellbeing
- Reviewing & Adapting.
Six. Use of a proven learning and development cycle
We have created a tried-and-tested leadership development cycle. It’s called the Best Possible Leader (BPL) Cycle. It is built on validated psychological 'learning cycles' and has been updated using contemporary research results so that it is fit for the modern world.
i) Step Back & Ask
Core to being the Best Possible Leader is regularly taking the time to Step Back and Ask about your current situation – what are all the things you are trying to achieve and why? How is it going for you? Then, we ask leaders these two "Leadership Meta-Questions":
Leaders ask of themselves
"Am I being the Best Possible Leader I can be?"
"How can I better contribute to the success & wellbeing of myself, my team, my family, organisation and the wider community?"
Groups of leaders ask of themselves and of the team
"Are we being the Best Possible Leaders we can be?"
"How can we better contribute to the success & wellbeing of ourselves, others, organisations and the wider community?"
ii) Reflect & Analyse
After the first step, we help the leader benchmark themselves against research standards of great leadership. This can be self-report, but preferably via a 360 that includes work colleagues, family and friends. It helps highlight the capabilities and task-specific role development areas. We help them process their needs and build a practice of reflection and perspective-building through constructive dialogue.
iii) Decide & Plan
Through coaching questions, we help the leader identify development goals, select which of the multi-channel methods of learning would be best for them, and choose their development priorities; making the engagement really pertinent to the individual's needs and wants.
iv) Take Action & Measure Impact
Using an agile and iterative methodology, the leader then experiments with their development and practises the learning. They reflect with an accredited professional coach who can help them gain self-awareness, insight and plan their next steps. Our system allows leaders' change to be measured, the stories of their journeys promulgated with stakeholders, their successes used to inspire others, and analytics to be made visible.
This development cycle aids individuals and groups of leaders to continuously develop their leadership capabilities, be more alert and agile to their environment, and be more potent and impactful. It sets them up for success in a changing world.
Pause, if you will, now, to imagine the benefits if all your leaders moved towards being the Best Possible Leaders by just 5%! How about 10%, 20%?
Would YOU like to lead such a solution – use your leadership challenge as an opportunity for you, others, the organisation and community?
If so, contact one of the co-founders, Deborah Tom: [email protected] or call Deborah directly on 07721588269
Take a look at our website: https://maximy.life/organisations/
Written by Deborah Tom, Chartered Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Chartered Fellow CIPD, Chartered Manager CMI, Registered Management Consultant CMC and Master Coach (Associate for Coaching). Deborah was runner-up Psychologist of the Year and was awarded The Excellence In Occupational Psychology Practice Award, 2019.
References
1 World Economic Forum Leadership Index, Outlook on the Global Agenda, A Call to Lead: Essential Qualities for Leadership. 2015
2 The Self Disruptive Leader, a Korn Ferry survey of 795 investors/analysts in 18 countries
3 The State of Leadership Development 2015: The Time To Act Is Now, (c) Brandon Hall Group licensed for distribution by DDI
4 State of Succession Management, 2015. Brandon Hall whitepaper, licensed for distribution by Skillsoft
5 Edelman Trust Barometer https://www.edelman.com/trustbarometer 38,000 respondents in 28 markets
6 Making the Business Case for Leadership Development: The 7% Differential. Published in Perspectives, The Ken Blanchard Companies