Edition 13: Leadership Is (Still) What Matters Most
Photo of Gena Cox and client by Raj Bandyopadhyay

Edition 13: Leadership Is (Still) What Matters Most

Welcome back to the Leader Curations newsletter. I am an organizational psychologist, executive coach, speaker, and author. I publish this newsletter about once each month to help you optimize your leadership impact and career satisfaction. Thanks for stopping by. You can learn more about me and my work by clicking?here .

Imagination plus leadership

This weekend, my daughter and I visited the @Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. And, oh my, what an inspirational experience! The exhibit, “Floating World” by Karen LaMonte, was breathtaking. She uses glass, bronze, ceramic, and iron to convey spirituality, human intention, humanity, and transience, in the form of #Japanese #kimonos . This exhibit sparked many ideas and emotions. But my biggest takeaway was the power of the artist’s vision, intention, and action, which brought something into the world that had never existed. I thought, “This is what leaders do! Artists are leaders.”

The only way anything (innovation, inclusion, inspiration) gets done is if one person has a vision and then works relentlessly and consistently with others to achieve it. Whether the desired outcome is a cool glass kimono or a high-functioning enterprise, leadership makes the difference.

So, this edition of my newsletter is all about #leadership .

It’s the thing we most need to get what the world needs.

Read on.

Research Snack

We have all felt disrupted at work for the last three years—a pandemic, social justice crimes, and new conversations about #inclusion and #ESG in the workplace. As a result, more of us started to work remotely, and today many of us are still working remotely or in the highly-desirable #hybrid structure. We dealt (and are still dealing) with the Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, Quiet Hiring, and various other workforce responses powered by the pandemic’s disruption. And now, all we talk about is how #AI will change the nature of skills and work.

But, with all this changed, here is what we know. Last week The Conference Board published its “Job Satisfaction 2023” report, which revealed that quality of leadership (or the lack thereof) and its impact on organizational culture and employee experience continues to be the most potent predictor of employee satisfaction.

Leadership matters most!

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"Quality of Leadership" is the number one predictor of employee satisfaction


Good News Nibble

So if leadership matters most, what characteristics do corporations (and the country) need to get the vision, intention, inspiration, inclusion, and action I discussed earlier? Well, long gone are the days when companies look for executives who can “get things done.” Execution is the entry ticket, but in this disrupted environment, we also need leaders with strong social skills who can master three key the ABCs: Architect (build the culture and capabilities), Bridger (curate and enable networks of talent), and Catalyst (lead beyond their organizational boundaries). (Source: Harvard Business Review, “What Makes a Great Leader?” September 2022). Today’s leaders must be like the artist Karen Lamonte! At least that’s what #executivesearch firms say their #corporateboards want.

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Leadership matters most. And that leadership MUST be human-centered. So, are you, your leaders, or the leaders you might hire ready to deliver the future?




Action Nugget

So how can you develop the leaders the future requires? Coaching is one of the most effective ways to develop leaders. The Institute of Coaching reports many benefits to coaching above enhanced individual performance. However, in the context of disruption and constant innovation, coaching allows leaders the privacy, confidentiality, and honest partnership that no other leadership development modality provides. And coaching is also the most effective way to help #managers develop #inclusive behaviors. One-off training sessions do not do the trick.

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I wish you continued success as a leader – in all the ways you define success.

Please click here if you’d like an initial consultation to learn more about my services.

If you want my FREE “Bold Discussions” Guide and Script, click here to download it.

Thank you for supporting my book, Leading Inclusion . If you’ve read and liked the book, please leave a review .

#leadinginclusion ?#leadership ?#inclusion ?#diversity #respect #genacox

Abhilasha Krishnan

Executive & Team Coach - PCC | HR Leader | Psychological Safety Advocate | Inclusive Leadership Coach | Culture Change and Talent Consultant | Leading across Asia expert | Speaker and Facilitator |

1 年

Gena Cox, PhD Great to see human-centered leadership growing in importance, and glad to see the mention of coaching as an effective tool to develop leaders, having seen first-hand how systemic & sustained coaching interventions transform leaders as well as the executive teams they lead.

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Rajani Katta MD

Author, over 100k copies sold | Dermatologist | Speaker | Clinical Professor | Helping physicians and aspiring physicians build strong, energized careers

1 年

I love your insight that artists are leaders Gena, and that leaders are artists. Indeed! "vision, intention, and action brought something into the world that had never existed."

Stephanie Maassen-Deason, MBA

eComm marketer who crafts customer-centric growth strategies to build brands with heart ??

1 年

Thanks for sharing Gena. Being a catalyst, where you lead beyond your organizational capabilities, is so important and where most leaders fail.

Janice Mandel

PR Strategy. 25+ yrs building visibility, credibility & authority for giants like P&G, Microsoft, Amex. Now I help small business & personal brands grow ?? ??

1 年

I remember when "leadership by walking around" was a thing. Even then, it was hard to find an inspiring leader because most execs preferred to stay in the safety of their office guarded by an admin. Coaching was NOT a thing back then, like it is now. I agree with you, a good coach is incredibly useful and necessary. I can't imagine how daunting and difficult it is for today's leaders to inspire remote teams to greatness without one.

Prina Shah

? Creating Cultures That Thrive and Teams That Shine ?? Keynote Speaker | ?? Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, and Trainer ?? Author of Make Work Meaningful | ?? Host of Ways to Change the Workplace | ?? DM to collaborate!

1 年

Gena Cox, PhD this line struck a chord with me "The only way anything (innovation, inclusion, inspiration) gets done is if one person has a vision and then works relentlessly and consistently with others to achieve it." Here's to the visionary leaders, we need more of you!

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