To be an outstanding leader, prioritize value, purpose, and passion, and empower individuals and teams. Adopting 8 principles of a value-driven approach sets exceptional leaders apart and inspires others to follow their lead.
I made my homework by counting the numerous superiors, manager and inspiring leaders in my career so far. I’ve literally read 5’500 qualitative comments and analyzed 50’000+ data points from employee engagement surveys and held 110+ result-workshops with leadership teams during the last 3 years. Last but not least I hosted, coached or followed community meetings with engineers and leaders.
Throughout my professional journey, I have had the good fortune of collaborating with a wide range of leaders, including those above and alongside me, as well as influential engineers. I have consistently sought out opportunities to learn from mentors and opportunities to build my network across various fields, from executive coaching, artistry, and entrepreneurship to universities seniors from human aspects, software engineers to product development and creative engineering.
All in all to truly inspire others as a leader, it's crucial to adopt a value-driven approach. Below are the eight fundamental components that I refer to as value-driven leadership:
- Co-Create the Mission & Vision - Effective leaders possess a clear sense of purpose and vision that align with their values. They engage in ongoing conversations and adapt as they make progress, creating empowered, diverse and high-performing teams.
- Communicate effectively - Successful leaders prioritize effective communicating being open, transparent and honest, while they mind their language. They actively listen and demonstrate empathy and authenticity while valuing diverse ideas and opinions.
- Being passionate about Cultural Transformation - Exceptional leaders are highly motivated to drive change and foster innovation, encouraging a culture of excellence that values simplification, continuous improvement, and learning from mistakes. They maintain a focus on the bigger picture, while inspiring others to strive for greatness.
- Provide and seek Feedback and recognize - Outstanding leaders invest time in building and maintaining relationships and interact across all levels and beyond organizational silos. They regularly provide and seek feedback. They celebrate success and recognize individuals and teams and learn from them.
- Up-skill and grow - Visionary leaders are curious and creative. They invest in their own development and encourage their teams to learn and grow to compete with the complexity, create innovation and stay on top of technology and emerging trends. They prioritize mentoring and being mentored.
- Self-Awareness and Reflection - Transformational leaders possess self-awareness and take the time to think and reflect on their next steps and bigger vision. They transparently monitor and share fearlessly their and the organization's progress
- Compassionate towards Teams and Individuals - Successful leaders give priority to their teams and individuals demonstrating genuine concern creating an environment for performance and well-being. They take active measures to protect them from distractions and tackle any obstacles that might impede the success.
- Prioritize values and purpose - Inspiring leaders prioritize values and purpose and lead by example, demonstrating their commitment to these ideals in their actions and adjust their behavior, when needed. They always go first.
Simply mastering basic managerial skills is not enough to become a successful leader, whether you lead a team directly or influence others as an expert. The biggest mistake that leaders and organizations make is cultivating a leadership culture, driven by fear, individual heroism, competition, poor listening, a culture of ‘not good enough’ and resistance of cultural change.
To excel as a leader, you must adopt a mindset that prioritizes purpose, passion, and compassion, and actively empower individuals and teams to reach their goals. This value-driven approach is what sets exceptional leaders apart, inspiring others to follow their lead.
Articels:
The Art Market is challenged: The Art Market is challenged.... (Guest Blog)
Crowdsourcing: http://www.digitised.art/index.php/about/106-wisdomcrowd
Self Reflection: http://www.digitised.art/index.php/about/92-deep-change-comes-with-experience
