The Three Pillars of Leadership
You are the CEO, COO or one of the top executives in your company or you are the founder and owner of the company. You got here with hard work, dedication, commitment, risk and often blood, sweat, and tears. Congratulations, you have obviously demonstrated your leadership!
AND, even though you have the title, the evidence, and the results, your “title” is not what makes you a leader. At iNSPIRE BUSINESS SUCCESS, we believe there are three key pillars to you being an extraordinary leader.
Pillar #1…Integrity
In a recent blog about integrity that I wrote, I was surprised when I looked up the definition. Integrity: “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility.”
What got me was the word…”incorruptibility”.
Integrity is not corruptible. When you are in your integrity, you are not corruptible. Not by money, not by fame, not by ego, not by fear of judgement or failure. Here I stand I can be no other.
As a leader, your integrity is paramount to your success, your ability to empower and frankly the leverage you have as that leader. Integrity means you do what you say. Integrity means you live by the principles you have set out as beacons for your organization. Integrity means you make the hard decisions for the right reasons. Integrity means people can count on you, you walk the walk from your part time employees to your high-level executive team.
Integrity means if someone randomly asked ten people in your organization to describe your characteristics, they would all say something similar to: countonable, honest, fair, walks his/her talk, leads by example, trustworthy, lives his/her principles, never waivers from the mission, inte-grous! Even if they have never met you or had a conversation with you, this would be their “experience” of you.
Without integrity, the people around you do not know what to count on. The game changes based on the conditions. This is not to say that you don’t adapt to changing environments and circumstances; that is an aspect of leadership that is vital. Integrity means that your leading and managing of people is not random or inconsistent. Who you are for each person is distinct, how-ever there is a clear mission and vision and you are not only aligned with that mission, you sup-port everyone else in aligning with that vision by example.
When you are choosing and making decisions from integrity, there is a resonance of clarity, a feeling of empowerment within yourself. If you have or do operate outside that integrity, then if you are willing to check in with your ‘gut,’ it usually feels pretty lousy.
Integrity is not only about your leadership in your organization, integrity is integrity is integrity. I am asserting that how you ‘be’ anywhere is how you be everywhere. Checking in on your integrity with yourself…do you keep your word to yourself? Do you eat in ways that support your body, do you exercise, are you present with your spouse and children, are you being the kind of son, daughter, sister, brother and friend that you want to be.
For many of your colleagues, your integrity will show up in your authenticity. That your energy is aligned inside and outside. You can tell when someone is not being authentic or wholly truthful; so can your co-workers, clients, friends and family.
Your “wholeness” must show up everywhere, not get turned on when you drive into the parking lot, or say hello to your assistant.
Pillar #2…Vision and Purpose
When you hear vision/purpose, what do you hear?
When we speak of Vision, we are not talking about your company Mission Statement.
Your mission is important to your organization, especially if you created your mission with participation and inclusion. You mission gives you direction and a way to see if you are getting the job done.
As a leader, you are a visionary. Visionaries see the future before it happens and enroll every-one around them in the vision. Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi,
If you are old enough to remember the movie, “Field Of Dreams,” then you remember the famous line: “if you build it they will come.” Standing in that vision, especially when there is little or no evidence is a key characteristic of visionary leaders.
Keeping the vision and purpose alive, vibrant, and clear isn’t always easy. As a leader, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details, the day to day. You are the CEO or COO because you can hold the vision! Visionary leaders are most important when the “crap” hits the fan. Some big breakdown occurs and you aren’t going to hit your numbers, the big golf tournament gets rained out, your best sales person leaves the firm. These are the moments when your team is most looking to you for leadership and inspiration. They will bounce back quickly when you are already up, standing and leading the charge forward.
Your ability to articulate and inspire the vision of the organization and why it is important (purpose) is instrumental to your team’s success. How many sports movies have you watched as the underdog coach fires up his/her team when the chips are down. Or a political or military leaders inspires his/her troops before a critical battle or time.
When speaking the vision of your organization two things are critical:
- Speak the vision in the positive, never the negative. We have a transformational saying, “what you resist, persists.” What you give energy to, grows and expands. I love the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. His vision was for EQUALITY. He was a stand for equality for everyone…African Americans, poor people, etc. He was passionate about what he saw as possible. Speaking to what you are creating, not what you don’t want!
- Your energy and enthusiasm MUST match the vision! You cannot be dead, dull, boring or flat as you inspire the vision for your team!
Your vision should:
- inspire you and others
- be easy to articulate
- be inclusive to all employees (meaning they are on board)
- reconnect everyone with a higher purpose than just money/production
Let us say something about that….yes, people get motivated by making money. If your team is going to get a bonus and they are close to accomplishing the result…it may look like the money is the key motivator. However, I believe it is equally the achievement of a lofty goal, the winning as a team, as well as what the experience of making the money will give them: security, pride, leisure, freedom.
Pillar #3. Empowerment
Empowerment: “The state of being empowered to do something.”
Think of empowerment as to lift someone up…be a space for their power to shine. By power, I am not talking about control or force. To inspire someone to be their best.
As a leader, you already know the value of developing your staff and employees. Many organizations have a “track” for development. Empowerment is more about who you are “being” for your team.
Empowerment has three components:
- Allow people to make mistakes. If you don’t give your team space to risk, try new things, go for it and make mistakes, then they will be afraid to take a leadership role in their own departments and areas. And the folks who manage under you will do the same to their staff.
Mistakes are difficult to see and witness and they often cost money or possibly clients/customers.If you are a parent, you know all too well how important this is to your child’s development and ability to navigate the world. The same is for your team…clearly if they don’t learn FROM the mistake they are not the person for the job!
- Keep telling them they can do it. Encourage while still being honest. So many people look up to the leaders in their lives for encouragement and motivation. Especially if the project or task is challenging, or it’s the first time they have taken something like that on…let them know you believe in them, it goes a long way.
- Always be their safety net. This means encourage them to leap off the cliff always knowing you will ultimately not let them crash and burn. This may mean intervening with some mentoring and advise. This may mean a gentle nudge in a particular direction, and it may mean diving in and saving them with a fire extinguisher. If your team and employees know that you have their backs, as long as they are operating in integrity with the principles of the organization they will put their heart and soul into for you.
The trainings and coaching at iNSPIRE BUSINESS SUCCESS empower CEOs, Business Owners and Corporate Executives in living and leader with these three pillars.
