3+1 Ways to Shift Gears & Accelerate your Leadership

Hi from Gudrun Lind,

I was driving home the other day, reflecting on a coaching session I had just finished with a client.

Then, this struck me: driving a car and leadership share many parallels.

In fact, multi-dimensional leaders are like skilled drivers.

They know their “vehicle” well and leverage the available resources effectively to have a safe journey and reach their destination.

Similarly, leaders need to optimise their diverse resources (personal skills and competencies, people, budget, influence, etc.), navigate uncertainty and change, and reach their goals, i.e. their destination.

Here are the 3 ways (plus one bonus tip) to accelerate your leadership like a skilled driver.

1. First and foremost, when you drive, you need to know where you are going and follow the road signs and GPS. Leadership is the same. You need to have a vision and direction for your team and organisation, establish roadmaps, and empower your people to follow them toward the desired destination.

1. Furthermore, even if you don't know the entire road ahead, having clarity about your direction can reduce anxiety and prevent “team dysfunction”.?

1. What about speed and pace? When driving, you need to adapt to the traffic conditions, change gears and accelerate or break accordingly. As a leader, you need to adjust to changing circumstances and shift gears: be more assertive to accelerate and more empathetic for difficult roads or tight turns.

EXTRA TIP: Avoiding potholes is also essential (literally as a driver and metaphorically as a leader). They slow you down, but you learn to navigate them successfully and move forward.

So, where do you need to start from?

The first step toward becoming more skilled,? well-rounded, and versatile is self-awareness.

As a starting point, you need to identify and understand your “default gear” or habitual leadership style.

You can’t drive a car if you don’t know the vehicle and how it works.

Similarly, you can’t lead effectively if you don’t know yourself, how you approach or respond to situations and challenges, and why.

Under stress, we often revert to our habitual leadership style, overplaying our strengths while becoming less aware and more reactive.

As a key learning, prioritise self-awareness at the top of your list and intentionally work on understanding and managing your default responses to build versatility.

What is versatility in leadership?

The prominent one-dimensional leadership style is now obsolete.

In theory and practice, leadership that relies solely on one major style no longer works.

When leaders reflect on their style (or receive feedback on it), they often become stuck in binary questions like

?? Am I authoritative or empathetic?

?? Does my style rely more on trust or control?

?? Am I protective of my team, or do I motivate my people to achieve more?

All those questions create loops ???

There is often no clear answer. Even if you decide which side of the spectrum you are on, you will immediately realise it’s not enough.

Because contemporary, versatile leaders need to be well-rounded.

Labelling yourself is significantly limiting to how you respond to situations.

Responding to everything in the same way is not effective anymore.

There may be competing demands that require a customised approach.

How about opening up to a new set of competencies and building versatility?

?? Instead of continuously dealing with dilemmas, nurturing a variety of leadership skills can help you be more effective as a leader, navigate challenges confidently, and achieve better results.

Key takeaway

Embracing multidimensional leadership is essential for today’s leaders in complex landscapes.?

It requires a deeper understanding of adaptability and balancing diverse skills, which can be polar opposites.?

For example, how do you balance being results-driven and fostering a supportive team environment?

However, that does not mean you will lose your personal style or become a people-pleaser.

On the contrary, how you mix and match those versatile competencies and leverage them in each situation is in your hands, and you can sprinkle it with your unique personality and talent.

If you want to level up your leadership and become empowered to induce positive change in yourself, your people and your organisation, let's talk ???

Scroll down to the end of the page to find out how we can do that!

Quick tips

This concludes this week’s newsletter.?

If you’re ready to shift from reactive to proactive leadership and lead with greater impact, I may be able to help!?

Book your FREE 20-minute Strategy Call with me here ?? thrivereimagined.com ?

It’s free and can provide immediate insights and actionable next steps, regardless of your decision to work with me.

#executivecoaching #leadershipdevelopment #teamcoaching #leadership #ThriveREimagined