How to be the transformative leader the world needs.

In this edition of Seeds for Growth, I am sharing the amazing work done by Janice Smith , Sara Fielden and the whole team at the EY Centre for Transformative Leadership. Transformative Leadership is not simply a set of behaviors. It’s about the way we each one of us can realize their purpose, connecting head and heart, fostering deep connectivity through empathy and confidence with each other, our stakeholders, our clients and the world around us. It’s how we provide the leadership the world needs.

Transformative Leadership is not only about heroic individuals or the most senior leaders making big gestures or decisions. Rather, opportunities for leadership and growth happen in the moments of each day — that’s why we say Modern Leadership is Transformative Leadership, i.e., “everyone, everywhere, everyday” leadership - because we can all seize even the smallest of moments to lead ourselves to show up at our best. It’s about making that choice to show up at our best and to see others for all the uniqueness they bring. It’s based on the fundamental premise that, as human beings, we lead, and we can create ‘moments that matter’ each day. It’s about knowing that the small things we do to be present for others has the potential for the “ripple effect.”

Grounded in Purpose

Transformative Leadership is inside- out Leadership: it all starts with ourselves and our Purpose: the story we tell the world about ourself, our actions and impact in service of something bigger than ourselves; our Purpose is who we are when step into the best part of our being, aligning our strengths and values to our behaviours, so that our presence truly serves the energy of the soul in an authentic way, meaning that there is no gap between what we say we stand form and what we actually do.

At this stage, you may be thinking, “Well then let’s start with me — give me the playbook for becoming the most transformative leader I can be.”?Well, the bad news is there’s no playbook. And the good news is there’s no playbook — you get to bring YOUR best self to work, so that you can lead through whatever comes your way when it comes up. I don’t think we need to look much further than the past couple of years to know that we can’t rely on a procedural manual or detailed map to tell us how to navigate things. Even before COVID, we were facing constant change and there’s no quick, exact answer for anything; there’s not one way to help our clients... how to parent… or how to lead others. But we can connect to our deepest self, and from there connect with others. What we need to know is that we have the capability within ourselves to find a way forward. And that we can get the support from others to navigate change and complexity, because we are better together. We need to know that we are not alone in this — and, in fact, we are wired for human connection and to be of value to others.

As Sara Fielden shared with us ahead of a global New Manager milestone program, there is a fabulous greeting in South Africa — “Sawubona”, which is the Zulu word for “Hello.” There’s a powerful intention behind “Sawubona,” as when translated it literally means “I see you... and by seeing you I bring you into being.” And the response when someone says “Sawubona” is “Shiboka,” which means “I exist for you.” So, in this greeting we are saying I am not here unless you see me. Not only is this a beautiful sentiment; it’s a basic human need to be seen... to be heard and to be valued. This is at the core of Transformative Leadership and why purpose is at the heart — purpose is our story of who we can be at our best so we can make a positive difference for others. Transformative Leadership starts with seeing and knowing who we are at our best and paying attention to this so we can care for ourselves. If we think of what the flight attendants tell us on the plane in the safety briefing: you must put on your own oxygen mask first before helping others. Once we are clear on who we are at our best and what we need to be at our best, only then can we see, support and lead others to be at their best. And when we are at our collective best, we can truly solve today’s problems for a better tomorrow, making a difference for one another, our clients, and the working world. So, as modern leaders, you need to ask yourself: “What kind of a world are you creating in each moment? What choices can you make with your actions and interactions, so you author your transition, and YOU write the very next chapter of your leadership story?”

Mindset shift for modern leadership

As leaders we are all constantly faced with new challenges, everywhere, every day. What’s important is how we choose to approach these challenges and lead ourselves, and others, through them. This requires consciously leading from the right mindset. We all find ourselves in moments when we are not at our best, when we don’t choose the best response. What often happens when we face new or difficult challenges is we get triggered by certain thoughts and beliefs that aren’t particularly helpful. This is because we are storytelling creatures and when things become unpredictable, the brain struggles to predict everything with certainty. When this happens, we very quickly create stories to fill the information gap so we can feel safe and protected. Our brains are wired to keep us safe and valuable, so they create these fear-based stories, so we take action to try to minimize risk and stay safe. But the threats we face aren’t nearly as bad or real as our brain is telling us. Nevertheless, we often listen to these stories and overreact. We call this “leading with fear,” and when we are in this position our energy is focused on staying safe and reducing the perceived threat.?When leaders lead with fear, they with lead with a “play to not-to-lose mindset” — they take a reactive stance. They make choices that they think will keep themselves safe and comfortable. This stems from a fixed mindset where the leader believes they need to always prove themselves, always need to be right, always need to be better than everyone else. With this mindset the leader is in a threat-based position, triggered by the fear-based beliefs and stories they are telling themselves. Already you may be thinking of a leader who regularly leads in this way. There are actually three types of response you may have experienced from someone leading with fear:?It can show up as controlling behavior. This is when we are protecting our security and our worth by holding on tightly to power and control. We might start to micromanage and do tasks ourselves instead of delegating, which can lead to overworking. We might demand more by pushing ourselves and others to achieve things in lesser time. We miss opportunities to get new ideas and bring in others’ perspectives. And this prevents others growing and taking on more responsibility. Leading with fear can also show up as complying behavior. This is when we protect ourselves by complying with the expectations of others, staying quiet rather than expressing or acting on what we really want or believe is important. This results in avoiding important conversations that we should be having, and we don’t raise issues that are important to us. We miss the opportunity to impact and influence.?

Finally, leading with fear can drive protecting behavior when we guard our safety and our value by withdrawing, remaining distant or cynical and superior. This results in being overly critical; we look for flaws in others’ thinking and actions. Here we miss the opportunity to build collaborative partnerships that are often more productive and innovative. So, when we are leading with fear all our energy is spent on self-preservation, which is stressful and not sustainable longer-term. This type of leadership comes at a huge cost to the leader and the people around them because their energy is always focused on problems and threats. Results are very short-term because when we are in a problem-reaction loop, we’re always trying to return to safety, and we don’t learn or grow. So, eventually the same problems arise over and over again. Now the truth is we all listen to our fear-based stories from time to time. The important question is do you notice when this happens? If we notice it, we can make a more purposeful choice to respond in a way that is you at your best.?

Whilst there’s no safe way to be great, we can be the author of our stories and shift our mindset in the moments when we notice we’re weighed down or triggered by fear-based thoughts and stories. The shift we need to make is to lead with purpose. When I think about the leaders I have worked with—the most transformative leaders—they share three things in common…

First and foremost, they appreciate deeply that as humans, we are all on a continuous growth journey. We are all a work in progress. What I think is really insightful of transformative leaders is that they focus on progress over perfection — they don’t get caught up in the need to compare themselves to others. They really focus on: “Who am I at my best?” and: “How close am I to becoming the leader that I want to be?” One of the most poignant quotes I have seen recently is: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” When we get caught up in trying to prove ourselves and compare ourselves to others, we lose sight of our guiding star.?The most transformative leaders are able to turn down that noise to really appreciate. Again, they're on a continuous growth journey. It's about staying centered around the difference that they want to make and staying centered on the unique strengths that they bring. I would say that is the first thing that transformative leaders have in common.?

Secondly, is that they're very focused on the ‘we.’ Creating a ‘we agenda’ versus a ‘me agenda.’ One of the leaders that I'm working with right now is incredible at being able to quickly assess whether somebody is leading with a we agenda or a me agenda. And this leader has zero tolerance for those that are driving their own agenda and losing sight of the collective purpose—why we're in it together, what the team can accomplish together. If she were here with us today, she would say that that's her secret sauce of being able to set that as a norm and reward that behavior.?

The third thing that Janice shared with us that that these leaders have in common is that they really appreciate that this idea of progress over perfection doesn't just apply to themselves as a leader, but it applies to everyone around them. To be able to get to that place, we need a space that is very psychologically safe. And by that, I mean a space where we can show up as our true selves. We can be vulnerable and willing to take risks, and willing to fail and learn from those failures. Not just creating a space for that, but really rewarding that. And so, the most transformative leaders focus on creating that psychologically safe environment, because they appreciate that when they do that, they're inviting everyone around them to show up at their best.

These leaders bring out the best in everyone. It goes back to the Zulu greeting of Sawubona Sara mentioned earlier. The most transformative leaders really lead with that greeting intuitively.?They see you. They hear you.?They listen to you. They care deeply about you. And when you are a recipient of that, when you feel seen and heard and valued, you can't help but to bring out your best. You can't help but to thrive.?I think the impact is that you really show up in a way that you then appreciate you are also a work in progress, and you have a support system and a community around you, and you bring out your best.?And so, the most transformative leaders, there is plenty of data and research to show that engagement is higher, that people feel more valued and that the work that they're doing is not only feeling meaningful to them, but it creates a positive impact on wherever the focus is. It's an incredible impact. And it happens very authentically with this positive ripple effect.

Navigating the transition to modern leadership

The first thing to do is acknowledge that you are in a transition, and therefore you need to give yourself permission to slow down, to reflect, to pause, and to really think about what are those things that will set you up for success. And again, with this appreciation that we're on a continuous growth journey, part of that is understanding three things:

• What do I want to hold on to and take forward?
• What do I want to let go of and release?
• What do I want to take on as I'm growing into this new space and the leader that I want to become??

When you go through this reflection process: hold on, let go, take on. What you need to hold on to is your purpose, your values, what gives you meaning and the clarity around the difference and impact, the contributions you want to make. Reflect on what gives you meaning. What are your core values? What are your strengths? What are the differences, the impact that you want to make? Hold on to that and bring that forward as you move forward in terms of your contributions. And let go of those things that no longer serve you. That's a little harder. That takes more reflection. I would invite you to actually not feel like you have to figure that out all by yourself. I think if you ask team members, if you ask colleagues, if you have asked just your circle of community around you: what are those things that I could benefit from letting go of? And what are those things I could benefit from to taking on, new practices, new habits, new ways of showing up, new things to try? The leaders in transition do this work and they don't do it all by themselves.?So again, I encourage you to do the same.

• What do you want to hold on to?
• What do you want to let go of and what do you want to take on as you're on your own growth journey?

Ultimately, the journey to become a better leader is a continuous journey towards becoming a more transformative leader, fit for these transformative times. I am so proud of the work we are doing in Talent Development at EY, fostering continuous growth and learning to support our people in becoming their best possible self, then leading others, and ultimately making ripples together towards building a better working world. If interested to know more on the topic, you can tune into the Transformation Leadership Webcast series, where key questions businesses must consider to meet the needs of their people and organization are discussed.

Transformation leadership webcast series: driving human-centric change | EY - Global