The Evolving Face of Leadership

It has been a minute since I penned an article. Truthfully, I found myself caught up on the ferris wheel of the “doing”, which has lead to the dreaded feeling of burnout. My personal experience has taught me that any meaningful change begins with moments of deep reflection. I am therefore grateful that the intensity I have been feeling in this season has led me to find quiet time for reflection as I assess where I am now in my leadership journey and what I need to step into my next level as I seek to redefine what success looks like.

In a 2023 McKenzie article entitled “New Leadership For a New Era”, the experts spoke to reimagining leadership and emphasized a shift from traditional models focused on profits and control to a more holistic and collaborative approach; one that focuses on creating positive impact and building thriving organizations. From where I sit, the face of leadership in today’s fast pace world, where business appears more complicated and leading people has become way more complex, is constantly evolving. I would even argue that the fundamentals of leadership remain unchanged while the leadership skills, leadership mindset and needs of the workforce continue to evolve. Essentially, the playbook of leadership has shifted.

Leadership has never been easy! But today, it is calling for a new playbook. 

The reality is that as leaders, the business environment has become way more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA); presenting the greatest leadership challenge of all times. The pace of disruption across all business streams has accelerated and the rapid advancement of digital transformation feels like a constant race to an invisible finish line. The “ease of doing” business almost feels like a lost phenomenon, and dear I say, it almost feels like employees are expecting more but delivering less. 

The truest form of leadership is in the ability to lead one’s self; therefore, I was grateful that my level of self-awareness ignited intentional moments of pause in order to recognize the source of my depleted energy and growing frustration and emotional agitation.  According to Steven Bartlett in his book “The Diary of A CEO”, “self is the only thing we have direct control over, to master it, which is no easy task, is to master your entire world.” Introspectively, through reflection and engaging with my mentors, I came to the realization that my leadership playbook was not evolving to match the intensity of the challenges before me. Recognizing that “what got me here won’t keep me there”, I was forced to make time to better understand all the contributing factors that I had been experiencing mentally, physically and emotionally in order to recalibrate. Being at a crossroad in pursuit of purpose, while harnessing my potential to fulfill my leadership responsibilities really caused me interrogate whether my original definition of success was still relevant to me and what this next leg in my leadership journey required of me. The reflections unleashed one jarring revelation – as a leader who leads from the core of my heart, a more balanced approach to enforcing accountability within my team was necessary if I were to ease the tension of my own elasticity, while making room to foster greater collaboration and deliver with greater strategic clarity.

By no means do I have all the answers for what the new face of leadership will reveal; however, allow me to share these invaluable insights garnered from my leadership journey:

1. As leaders, we must be close enough to inspire change but far enough to empower growth through action. Giving your team room to grow does not negate your need to hold them accountable for maintaining high standards of work.
2. We need to be bold and courageous in addressing issues. What we ignore is given a playground to grow. Visible cracks within the desired culture needs to be tackled head on.
3. Leadership today is less about control and more about connection and collaboration. My mentor recently challenged me to consider the areas where I needed to slacken my need for control.
4. As leaders, our success does not hinge on having all the answers but more about asking the right questions in order to stimulate an environment of innovation and thinking. Be sure to get the right people at the table that help to inform your decision making.
5. Leaders must accept that they can create the best environment to stimulate growth in others but it will only excite those that are open to growing and those that still have the capacity to grow. Understanding this will help to ease your frustration.
6. The art of negotiation lies in truly understanding what’s driving your partners interest in having a seat at the table.
7. Human-centric leadership requires you to lead with empathy and care while being candid in delivering constructive feedback. Leading from the heart does not circumvent the need to set clear boundaries and deliver with clarity.
8. Strength and character now come in the form of vulnerability.  Storytelling helps to build connections and stimulate relatability.
9. Purpose-driven leadership is paramount in our approach to decision making. Where are you leading yourself? Clarity is produced through purpose and passion both of which are needed to lead your team towards the North Star.
10. Having trusted advisors with pure intentions and more leadership experience than you do, is a key strategic advantage. 

While the face of leadership is evolving, it must continue to be defined by purpose, passion and personal values, including the courage and resilience to persevere in the difficult times.

As a leader in this new era, your courage and creativity to think outside the box and to pivot is a source of real power. Truthfully, titles and authority are becoming the smaller denominator, while the need to inspire, impact and transform to in order to achieve results has become greater. Diversity in opinions and ideas across your teams must be embraced as you remain intentional at fostering collaboration towards a greater overall performance.  The blend between being results driven and people focused ultimately remains our greatest leadership challenge.