The 5-Set Leadership Lantern

The lantern usually has an enclosure which serves the primary purpose of preventing a burning candle or wick from being extinguished from wind, rain or other causes. Figuratively, the leadership lantern serves the multipurpose function of safeguarding every leader's legacy and brand from being extinguished when fully deployed in it's finest blend.

What is leadership lantern?

Every leader needs a set of illumination to guide them while on their leadership journey. The leadership lantern serves as a guide that signposts every leader, serving as a lamp to your feet, and a light to your path.

They are the 5 mutually interdependent keys for every leader. The 5-set leadership lantern are mind-set, skill-set, tool-set, heart-set and team-set.

Come with me as we unpack them.

?? Mind-set

One the most powerful things in the world is a person's mind. It is interesting how AI seem to be trending with its double-edged effects of 'good and bad' feelings depending on which side of the motion you're arguing for. The rhetorical question really is; 'how did AI come about'? 'Who birthed that idea'? 'What is the 'brain' behind it'?

Mind-set explores how you perceive, understand, see and interpret things. Your mind-set focuses on what you believe in, how you think and process things which has a direct impact on the decisions you make, the actions you take, the moves you make and how you react or respond to circumstances.

The mind-set of a person is what creates the platform for learning to occur. Learning is meaningless if you cannot apply it hence the need to move from a fixed mind-set to a growth mindset. Having a growth mind-set means developing the sense of self-awareness that helps you to absorb, respond, thrive and adapt to uncertain or new situations.

The leader's mind-set is the best travel-map that serves as a guide through the narrow, muddy and unwinding road between success and failure.

? Skill-set

Competence (knowledge, experience and skill - the ability to use your hands appropriately) is the value of skill-set. Your credibility as a person is anchored to a large extent on your expertise (skill-set) and your reliability is hinged on your consistency.

The source of skill-set is a combination of a daily consummation between knowledge, experiences, motivation/willingness to perform a certain task and consistency of practice which births mastery.

Adopting the 70-20-10 model (as postulated by Morgan McCall, Michael M.?Lombardo and Robert A.?Eichinger) is a great way to add value to your skill-set.

According to the model 70% of what we learn is through daily experiences (learning in the flow of work/job-related experiences) in the course of our daily work routines while the other 20% (coaching and mentoring relationships, buddying, networking events, etc.) is from exposure (interactions with others) and the 10% is from education (formal learning events/engagements such as seminars, academic stuff, conferences and training etc.).

Don't limit your avenues for learning, explore the 70-20-10 and add value to your skill-set.

A growth (positive) mind-set without the appropriate skill-set is a walk in the corridors of futility and vanity.

?? Tool-set

I know you're aware of a handy-man's toolbox which contains different tools for different tasks. To be successful, we all need our own set of toolbox (tool-set). Your tool-set is a toolkit that you can fall on to get things done for desired results.

Your tool-set as a leader/manager must be stocked with the right and appropriate tools - concepts, frameworks, models, appropriate technology, techniques, systems, strategies and structure. It is also instructive to know that merely having the appropriate 'tools' in your toolkit is not enough to get the desired results neither is it a guarantee for success. You must know the 'what', 'which', 'when', 'how' and 'why 'to use each 'functional-tool'.

The amount of tools in a leader's toolkit and the ability to adopt and apply the most appropriate in a timely fashion, is directly proportional to how efficient and effective that leader/manger is.

? Heart-set

Usually in the corporate, leaders/managers who use their heart-set/feel-set (feelings, intuitions and guts) are usually seen as 'emotional'. The truth however, is that the heart of a leader/manager is one of the most powerful tools in the corporate when used hand-in-glove with fact and truth.

Your heart-set (also known as the feel-set) is digging deep into your heart, listening to what that 'small still voice' is whispering to you amidst the logical and analytical pressures from within you and outside situations, and allowing that inspiration to guide you into taking decisions or actions.

Having the right heart-set is a necessary ingredient for emotionally intelligent leaders/managers.

The heart of a leader/manager is a very reliable ally she can consult in the decision making process. The good book says in Proverbs Four vs Twenty-three - "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

?? Team-set

Leaders neither work in isolation nor do they work in a vacuum. It is important as a leader to use your influencing skills to bring onboard the right people for the 'job' or vision execution. Once they're onboard, you need to effectively utilise your leadership and management skills (which is expected to be part of your tool-set) to provide direction (delegate, supervise, organise and control) and to get desired results.

Your network determines your net-worth (~ Anonymous) hence assembling and motivating the right people goes a long way in how you get results.

Tapping into the unique skills, strengths and abilities of a formidable team offers a fine-blend of experience, skills and the relevant variety needed to spice up your team. It's important for leaders/managers to surround themselves with people who contribute to the right social interactions needed for desired results. A leader must be able to use his heart-set and mind-set effectively to assemble the right team while adopting the appropriate tools in their tool-set to develop, train and add value to the talents(their skill-set) they bring onboard and at the same time, ensuring that they are cared for (with the right heart-set) adequately.

Having the right people with the right skill-set, mind-set and heart-set by the side of a leader, there is no success too big for them to achieve or insuperable obstacle they cannot surmount.

If you want to excel in your leadership journey, then my challenge to you is to be intentional about possessing these 5 mutually interdependent keys which will set you up strategically to make the desired impact.

? Reflective Question:

• How will you rate yourself in these 5-sets of capabilities needed by every leader (remember we are all leaders but effective ones are made through rigour, discipline, experience and a having growth mind-set)?
• What further support do you think/feel you need to get better?

Remember that all that matters as a leader is the influence and impact you make. Your #footprint is your #signature and #legacy - make that impact #uniquely #yours.