2 Things Effective Leaders Know About Goal-Setting in order to Hit the Mark Every Time
Over the years, I must have had thousands of conversations with leaders about goal-setting and achieving organisational targets. What surprises me the most is how many are so focused on the ‘what‘ of goal-setting (i.e. what goals they need to achieve) that they miss out on the real magic – the ‘why‘ and ‘how‘ of goal-setting.
That said, the truly effective, engaging and transformational leaders are absolutely clear about ‘why‘ their goals are important and know ‘how‘ to create goals that really do engage their people and always hit the mark.
This means going way beyond SMART or SMARTER goal-setting.
For a deeper insight into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of effective goal-setting that always hits the mark, check out the final principle I share in the A-Z of Personal Leadership.
#goalsetting #coreleaders #compellinggoals #effectiveleadership #engagingleadership #transformationalleadership
Why is it Critical for Leaders to have a Strong CORE?
Difficulties break some men [and women] but make others.” – Nelson Mandela
For more than two decades, I’ve been fascinated by the difference that truly effective, inspirational and transformational leaders make to those around them. I’ve discovered that the best of the best have learnt the secret of effective influence – it begins with mastering one’s self and channeling one’s ego in the service of others in order to lead in a way that is deeply purposeful, authentic, and courageous.
Having a strong CORE, developing your character, as a leader is critical. In this video, I share why.
Enjoy!
What is the Best Way to Lead?
Trade wars, evolving expectations of new entrants into the workforce, increasing global competition, political instability, and technological advancements are just some of the reasons that organisations all over the world are experiencing phenomenal change. Although this triggers lots of discussions at senior management level about strategy, organisational structure, risk management, diversification, and digital transformation, it’s not creating enough of a focus on a fundamental question – What is the best way to lead? Or, to be even more specific, what is the best way to lead others so that you win their hearts and minds and unleash the best of their productivity, motivation and engagement as you navigate global and organisational challenges? The answer is surprisingly simple. The answer is … influence. In his book, Chasing Daylight, Erwin McManus has this to say about influence:
“Influence is about winning the heart and soul of another person through the strength of your own character. Influence flows through relationships. Influence can do what command can never do. Influence is born out of who a person who is. Influence is rooted in character.” Perhaps the reason so many leaders prefer to rely on their power, authority, or intelligence as the foundation of their leadership, rather than rely on the strength of their character, is that they’re afraid they will have very little influence otherwise. And yet, the sort of leadership that wins hearts and minds, the sort of leadership that brings out the best in those around us, the sort of leadership that increases engagement and productivity isn’t power, authority, or intelligence-based leadership, but character-based leadership. The best leaders – the truly effective, inspirational and transformational leaders – have learnt the secret of effective influence – it begins with oneself and not with others. If you want to lead in a way that stands the test of time and really makes a difference, then you need to focus on your influence and remember that influence has everything to do with your character.
***
Want to go deeper? Sign up to access the A-Z of Personal Leadership Success video series, today!
Why Does Character Matter in Leadership?
As a leader, if you asked anyone in your team or organisation, in almost any context, if they’d prefer to have a leader with or without character, you’d struggle to find someone who wouldn’t overwhelmingly want to work for a leader with character.
The question must then be asked, what is character? Many would describe it in terms of how a person behaves or their qualities.
Character actually has its roots in the ancient Greek word, kharaktêr, which means chisel or stamping tool. The idea is that what is desired is created and forged by shaping and removing the junk or unwanted material. So, when we think of a leader with character, we really mean one who has undergone the painful process of getting rid of undesirable qualities and becoming a person who can be described with words like tenacious, trustworthy, resilient, reliable, courageous, full of integrity, or being purpose-driven rather than ego-driven.
Character building doesn’t just happen; it requires intention. You’re not simply born with qualities like reliability, resilience, integrity; it’s something you take responsibility for building.
Why does any of this matter? Why does character matter in leadership?
Let’s step back in time for an answer – more than 130yrs back in time.
So, it’s 1888. A Swedish chemist, who had made his fortune inventing and producing dynamite, was reading a newspaper and suddenly came across a headline and story that literally rocked him to his core!
What could have been so shocking as to cause him much despair?
Well, the story was meant to be an obituary about his brother, Ludvig, who had recently died in France. Instead, the obituary, in the French newspaper, was about him. The editor had mixed up the brothers. The headline read, “The Merchant of Death Is Dead.” Alfred Nobel’s obituary went on to describe a man who had amassed riches by helping people kill one another.
This summary of his life shook him to his very foundations. And so, upon reflection, he resolved to use his wealth from that moment onwards to change his legacy. The Nobel Prize awards that we have today are thanks to the more than $9 million he left after his death to fund awards for people whose work benefits humanity.
In a sense, Alfred Nobel had a unique and rare opportunity to live his life all over again and do it right. To live a life that counted.
As leaders, if we’re really honest, we too want our lives to count. When all is said and done, we want what we did with our lives to have made a difference, not only to our organisations but to our families and even our communities.
The challenge is that we get sucked into the false notion that we can rely on our authority or power to lead and we don’t put in the hard work of growing in character.
It’s no wonder Abraham Lincoln said,
“Nearly all men [and women] can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
What would people say about you? Are you a leader with character?
Our world needs more leaders who are committed to doing the hard work of growing from the inside out. That’s the sort of leadership that wins hearts and minds. That’s the sort of leadership that results in thriving organisations. That’s the sort of leadership that truly unleashes the best in others.
What Keeps You Awake At Night? (Part I)
In my conversations with leaders about the pressures that they face, it’s common to hear those burning issues described as “the things that keep me awake at night.” I get it. As an entrepreneur, CEO or senior leader there’s a lot of responsibility resting on one’s shoulders – from business development to team development, from product innovation to process innovation, from customer engagement to employee engagement. With burnout and mental health challenges becoming a hot topic for senior leaders, there’s a critical change in the way that we lead that would address any barriers to sustained leadership effectiveness.
At the beginning of this year, I participated in a 3-day leadership conference in Lubbock, Texas. The conference was attended by CEOs and their senior leadership teams and covered many fundamental areas, including building a purpose-driven business, aligning culture around a clear set of values and leadership styles. I noticed, as I read the bios of the various speakers, that one of the breakout speakers described himself and his wife as the “Stewards” of their family-run company. I was immediately drawn to that description and had a great conversation with the speaker later that day. I couldn’t help but wonder, what would happen if more CEOs and senior executives saw themselves simply as stewards, responsible for doing their absolute best to look after, grow and nurture someone else’s assets, even if it was in fact a business that they had founded or co-founded?
The answer is that they will sleep more soundly. After all, when you’ve done your absolute best to serve others, when you recognise that your ego or reputation isn’t at stake because you’re not playing that game, when you know that you’ve got nothing to hide and your conscience is clear because you’re committed to acting ethically, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, those leaders who apply the principle of stewardship can sleep like a baby and get up the next day ready to play at a level that very few dare to reach.
Many years ago, I came across a model by Steve Siebold describing the different levels at which people live, think and play the game of life. I think it’s so relevant for leaders (and complements this principle) that I like to use this model with those I train and coach to show what separates the best leaders from the rest.
- The first level is – playing not to lose – this is where, as a leader, we’re more dominated by the fear of failure or the fear of not performing well. We do what we do simply to avoid the consequences. It gets us some traction at least.
- The next level is – playing to cruise – this is where we’re all about staying under the radar. Still very much a fear-based approach to leading and playing the game of life. Some would describe this as operating at the level of mediocrity.
- The third level is – playing to improve – we’re really beginning to switch gears here. As leaders, we’re thinking that we can actually accomplish more than we thought. We might even be better than people said we were.
- The fourth level is – playing to compete – this is where we’re really focused on being the best. We see our peers as competition. A lot of driven and ‘high-performing’ leaders operate at this level. This level is about having strong beliefs and confidence in our capabilities, but we’re still driven by fear and ego. It’s still about what we can achieve. It’s still about protecting our reputation. It’s still about making a name for ourselves. When we lead at this level, we get a lot done but we can also cause a lot of damage to our organisations and the people around us because we’re highly competent, often very intelligent and have a big ego – a very toxic combination.
- The fifth level is – playing to win – this is the level where we’re no longer competing with others but competing against ourselves and are focused on achieving and being our personal best every single day. I actually prefer to think of this fifth level as “playing to contribute, to serve, to give,” because,at this level, we’re about learning, growing, contributing, expressing ourselves and running our best race. We’re more attuned to the needs of others and excel at bringing out the best in those around us for the common good of the organisation. We have no need to feel afraid of what others might think or say, because we’re no longer playing that game.
This is why leaders who operate at this level can sleep soundly at night and are way more resilient than their counterparts who operate at other levels.
So, how can you start to operate at this level? How do you apply the principle of stewardship?
More on that in Part II coming soon…
#resilience #character #coreleader
What Keeps You Awake At Night? (Part II)
In Part I, I shared one of the key principles that separates the best leaders from the rest. If you haven’t already, be sure to read that before moving on (click here to read Part 1).
In this article, I dive straight in and answer the questions that wrapped up Part I:
- How do you begin to operate at this level of “Playing to Win”?
- How do you apply the principle of stewardship?
For starters, the following three actions will help. Whether you run a FTSE 100 company, Fortune 500 company, are on the Board of a medium-sized business, or own and run a small business, these can apply to you.
1. Recognise that effective leadership begins as an inside job
It’s very easy for senior leaders to become so consumed with addressing the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of their external world that they pay very little attention to the VUCA within. This goes way beyond simply incorporating mindfulness and regular exercise into your daily routine but involves doing the hard work of clarifying your values, walking with integrity, cultivating habits that maximise your energy and courage, addressing shadow beliefs, and growing your emotional intelligence. This will help you lead from a place of purpose rather than a place of fear.
2. Stay close to where the action is
Part of the challenge of leadership is that the typical hierarchy in most organisations means that as you develop as a leader, you move further away from the frontline action and often lose touch with the reality of the day-to-day challenges your people and customers actually face. To counter that, make it a habit to regularly visit and talk directly to your customers, walk the floor of your business and have lunch with frontline colleagues. Don’t just analyse business data, get under the skin of it by having real conversations with the people at the coal-face of your business. If you see your role as removing obstacles for your people and solving your customers’ challenges, the only way you can truly do that is to intimately understand the obstacles and challenges as best as you can.
3. Guard yourself against the danger of privileges
I absolutely believe in leaders being rewarded for their work, contribution and results. However, the privileges that you receive by virtue of your position can so easily get to your head and cause you to rely on your power, authority, position and intelligence to influence others, instead of your character. That’s when leaders begin to abuse their position, make unethical decisions and compromise their values. That’s also when they begin to lose the respect of those who look up to them. So, put checks in place to guard against abusing your position and the privileges that come with it. Some great examples of checks used by senior leaders include, advisory boards, salary caps and charitable giving commitments.
Our world needs leaders who are more devoted to serving others than they are themselves. The payoff is not only improved performance, results and engagement in the workplace, but also a sound night’s sleep.
#resilience #character #coreleader