Five Big Questions Leaders Can’t Ignore Today
Photo credit: Unsplash
Turbulence Creates Opportunity: Five Essential Habits for Leaders To Thrive
There is no doubt that we are living in incredibly challenging times. Previously stable systems and established institutions continue to be disrupted. Entire industries are being radically transformed by digital technology, deregulation, new competition and geopolitical upheaval.
But we also know that when things get difficult, new opportunities - and new leaders - emerge, and those who are able to sense those possibilities within the challenges will have a huge advantage.
That’s why there is no better time than now for you to examine yourself as a leader.
Five Big Questions Every Leader Should Ask
Here are questions, drawn from our Leadership Model, to help leaders pause and reflect - and maybe even reimagine possibilities - when the world feels unsettled. Effective leaders are intentional, aware, deliberate, and thoughtful - growing and evolving within the times they live. They ask themselves the big questions, like:
Where do I place my attention? Am I focused on the urgent and trivial or the big ideas like purpose, vision, mission and values?
How do I work with others? Do I leave every person I engage with better as a result of our interaction?
How do I gather information? Is my mind open to new thoughts and ideas?
What is my relationship to well-being? Am I paying equal attention to the health of the organization and to the people in it?
How do I decide and take action? Am I acting from emerging and new information? Is my team innovating and iterating enough?
Five Leadership Habits to Master
To support better leadership and a healthy work culture where all your people thrive, consider making it a priority to master the following five areas of skill or habit building:
Integrated Ideals
Team members often get “heads down” and forget about the broader view. Ideals remind people of the larger picture they are part of. As a leader, it’s your job to integrate ideals like vision, mission and values into the day-to-day work to help team members remember what they are giving their time and energy to.
Productive Engagement
Leaders who engage productively with others will gain more respect than those who exude an always-in-command attitude. Collaboration improves markedly when managers have consistently positive and productive interactions with people at all levels and make them feel valued and smart.
“The energy you create around you is perhaps going to be the most important attribute — in the long run, EQ trumps IQ. Without being a source of energy for others, very little can be accomplished.” — Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Intellectual Agility
Leaders who maintain intellectual agility exceed what they think is possible. They are open to new ideas from all sources, whether they come from the front lines, customers, suppliers, or the board. Often, the most important ideas that companies must act upon exist at the bottom or the middle of an organization, not at the top.
Vital Fulfillment
Vital fulfillment creates a culture where employees use their full range of abilities, tapping into their intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual best. Leaders feel they’re being “well-used” instead of “used up.” Leaders who have a full life outside of work and who subjugate personal lives for the corporate good only during critical periods will be much more productive.
Innovative Action
Embracing innovative action not only helps leaders reduce bureaucracy and hesitation, but it also creates an environment of curiosity and experimenting - of trying new ideas and abandoning those that aren’t working after reasonable effort. Leaders who take innovative action can get people fully engaged and aligned on goals. The result is much faster decision-making and action-taking, and that creates strong, collective momentum.
A Path Forward
Getting up on the balcony and answering these questions helps leaders sharpen their awareness and strengthen their impact. Together, the five areas in our Leadership Model offer a pathway to pause, reflect and reimagine what’s possible when things feel particularly challenging.
Henley Leadership Group’s Leadership Model
What steps can you take to help your team thrive in challenging times? Coaching offers the support to turn reflection into action.
Our executive coaching and leadership retreats give leaders the space, guidance and partnership to put these habits into practice.
