The Enabling Leader

How would you define an extraordinary leader?

Over the years, much has been said and shared about the various types of leaders - Charismatic, Collaborative, Democratic, Servant, Transformational and so on - with each type having a well defined set of attributes and behaviours.

I believe that leadership is contextual and situational. The role of a leader is to influence - self and others - positively by creating the 'right' environment within a given context.

Drawing from my 18+ years of experience in the corporate world as well as training and coaching leaders, I would define an extraordinary leader as someone who strives to create and sustain an enabling environment for people - hence the term 'Enabling Leader'.

The Enabling Leader creates, fosters and sustains an environment where people can learn, grow, perform, achieve and thrive. An Enabling Leader starts by holding the space (for himself / herself) in order to lead by example. This means being congruent with one's words and actions, all the time.

The Enabling Leader focuses energy on five sets of core actions (enabling behaviours). These actions are to: Connect, Clarify, Co-create, Care and Challenge.

1 - Connect - If you can connect with people, you can create the future. For me, an Enabling Leader connects by building rapport and creating meaningful relationships - be it with self and others. He / She is accessible and focuses on creating mutually supportive personal and professional networks as well as a credible personal brand (as a professional).

2 - Clarify - Every journey starts with a clear mind. An Enabling Leader ensures he / she generates clarity in and around him / her constantly. This means being able to create clarity of context (reading and understanding the environment with lucidity), clarity of purpose (with meaning and direction) as well as clarity of direction (goals and objectives).

3 - Co-create - To co-create is to collaborate with people for positive outcomes. An Enabling Leader seeks better ways of doing things, defines better outcomes and enables change by involving people. The focus is on creating together. As such, he /she seeks opportunities for positive change, defines milestones and measures as well as cultivates collaboration by ensuring role clarity and accountability.

4 - Care - As Theodore Roosevelt once said: People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. An Enabling Leader comes from a space of compassion, empathy and genuine care. This means to lead with respect, create trust, foster diversity, create a sense of belonging to a unique tribe as well as promote meaningful experiences for people. Essentially, this action is about leading from the heart.

5 - Challenge - We don't grow when things are easy. We grow when we face challenges. An Enabling Leader creates an environment which stimulates, stretches and challenges people (including themselves) to learn, grow and bring out their best. For me, to challenge means to show new perspectives, to give one's best and to learn from experiences.

In a nutshell, I believe these five enabling sets of behaviours are a combination of leading from the mind, the heart and the hands. If I were to teach and share how to be a better leader, I would focus on these 5 core enabling actions.

In your view, what does it mean to be an Enabling Leader?