#GrowthHacking Leadership - the new paradigm of leadership in today's business environment

Wikipedia explains that Growth Hacking is “a process of rapid experimentation across a range of marketing channels to identify the most effective ways to grow a business.”

Dictionary.com describes Leadership as "the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group"

The goal of this article is to show the importance of #GrowthHacking Leadership. By this, I mean that leaders of a company or team are using various means to increase business, productivity, etc. by integrating multiple sources of knowledge and tools to do so. One person is not strong enough to drive such growth, it is the team which is developed to do just that.

Leadership has changed drastically since I first stepped into the corporate world. Leaders were dominant, driven, all-powerful individuals, who were able to make their employees feel shameful, weak, and useless with a glance during a meeting. However, much has changed since then with large corporate giants stepping out saying eye opening statements such as Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google) describing leadership as...

"...empowering people at all levels of the organisation, and trusting them to doing the right thing. As a leader, a lot of your job is to make those people successful." - Sundar Pichai - Jan 2019

Leadership is also being discussed as driving culture...

“The best leaders create a culture where everyone feels empowered, where diversity drives fresh thinking and innovation. Leaders must ensure the company stays grounded in those values – through thick and thin. Personally, I focus on being bold, caring and authentic.” - Margaret Keane, President and CEO, Synchrony

Success is now based on empowerment and buy-in from employees. New hiring paradigms focus not so much on "sell me this pen", or what degrees people have from prestigious learning institutions, but more on how they fit the culture, what projects have they developed (showing their passion), and what have they done to better themselves in their previous positions. Employees are now being looked at as "partners", rather than just workers. To elevate this new breed of employee, the leadership has had to shift to meet that sort of relationship. If someone is passionate enough to spend months or years on their own developing their craft, or has been involved in organizations, clubs, or online groups which help develop what they bring with them to the position, then true leaders will allow them to grow.

Hiring key talent is definitely a task in itself, but allowing that newly acquired talent to flourish is also equally important. If growth is the end goal for a company, the unique talents and abilities employees are hired for must be supported. Employees can make or break a company, so learning how important they are to a business is paramount to learning how to manage and lead a team.

"10 Things Really Amazing Employees Do - Here are ten traits that any great employer should recognize and reward instantly." By Kevin Daum, Inc. 500 entrepreneur and best-selling author @KevinJDaum

By being a #GrowthHacking Leader, one of the fundamental strategies is hiring key personnel, fostering their passion and excitement for their specialization, and providing the tools and resources for them to expand their vision to the benefit of the company. "Leadership", in this instance, is being a part of that conversation, providing feedback and support, and allowing partnerships to develop in supporting the common goal. Here are some attributes of what great leaders in today's world are doing to support their teams.

"12 key traits of unforgettable leaders" - By Sebastian Legarraga, Marketgrowth.com, June 2018 @slegarraga

Since #MachineLearning, #BigData, and #AI are becoming more and more prevalent within the marketplace, we are seeing a new breed of employee, and with them they are bringing unique talents and skill sets. To be successful in today's markets, utilizing these new tools are opening doors to new segments of the market, new opportunities, and new strategies to success never before thought of. Having a strong team, with supportive leadership is the key to success in today's market. I personally, am VERY excited to be a part of this time in history as the next five to ten years, even the next YEAR, are going to bring unheard of developments for business and the world. It is up to today's leaders to decide if they will be a part of this.

Brian Teal, Western Regional Manager - Brian is passionate about sales and technology and is currently developing #MachineLearning strategies to uncover new verticals in the auto and SaaS industries. As being a leader in B2B sales, Brian's success has developed from a mixture of leadership styles which have opened new doors to development. Brian lives in a small town in Northern California with his wife and two daughters, and enjoys connecting people and helping to develop new opportunities.

Follow Brian on Twitter @BrianTeal530 or LinkedIn at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/brianteal/