LEADERSHIP & CAREER CORE VALUES

As a Linked-in Career Advisor, I was asked this week to offer advice to a young man completing his graduate work to become more marketable and present his skills effectively as he thinks about his future and a career change. The question got me thinking about the modern organization and their leaders dedication and focus in creating an environment of improvement for the individuals within their teams, through direct and consistent coaching and mentorship, rather than thinking in terms of being ‘the boss.’ The modern organization does this because they understand that optimal success requires every individual’s contribution to ensure the collective performance of the team.

Moreover, progressive leaders in the modern professional arena are committed to consistent performance enhancement and professional development - even in the face of risks in financial performance and team performance obstacles. They also prioritize efficient development in skills and put the time in to prioritize and celebrate team accomplishments as equal to profit and loss results. But most importantly, they create a culture in which team members embrace a desire to do something they felt initially beyond their capacity. Within top performance organizations, this is achieved through creating a culture of influential development, ownership, empowerment, accountability and constant coaching and mentorship that invites candidates like the young man I’m speaking with to share their skills and career goals openly. So how does the new professional proactively plan for their professional success rather than allowing others to create their plan for them?

PERSONAL COURAGE & CONVICTION

Neither those in the professional arena or their leaders are fearless, however those who achieve success are laser focused on transforming their fear into motivation and achievement. Top performs and leaders in today’s business environment move toward their fear to continually challenge themselves by stepping out of their comfort zone into the unknown to challenge themselves to achieve their full potential. Meaningful personal growth requires courage and commitment; and without either, teams will not be challenged to believe that the risk in being courageous and committed is a worthwhile investment. As a member of LinkedIn’s career advisory community, I've received similar requests and comments as the gentlemen’s comments above and it seems that personal growth is a common topic of concern today. The young man shared that his boss offered him the option to focus either on his employment or on his continuing education – not much of a choice for the organization that wants to build a culture of trust, and talent that elevates a brand. I challenged him to choose a third option of empowerment through the courage to prioritize both areas of his professional future, as both are equally important.

I suggested that he champion creating a focus on specific future goals and define his potential through creating a clear professional-life plan, to clarify what he wants first. As professionals in today’s changing world, we must find the courage to determine our needs and then find progressive organizations and new career roles that stretch us and challenge us to grow to reach our potential. Whether that requires a move across the country, a change in our career direction, our field or in creating our own business as an entrepreneur, this is the foundation in creating the very best version of ourselves. If what you’re doing professionally doesn’t challenge and scare you a little every day, you’re not growing enough to achieve your full potential. And when you’re not developing personally and professionally, you risk stagnation and a future of unfulfilled goals and desires.

ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET OF ‘THINKING BIG’

To achieve career-sized success, professionals and leaders must choose to make a significant impact on our lives and the organizations we work within. When we’re challenged to take on a new role, lead a new team or division - and even architect a growth strategy for an organization, we must set our standards higher than anyone else in the organization would set for us. We must also ask empowering questions to drive a new level of success and personal growth. Within the opportunities that I’ve been blessed with over the years, the first question I ask is “what will it take to make my impact in this role and initiative epic in results achieved.” This sets the tone and my expectations to achieve exceptional results.

Great leaders and achievers take the time before they begin, to map their future plan through creating specific benchmarks, timelines and committing to countless hours of trial, testing ideas. They model others success (and the why)and learn from mistakes while refining the plan - and they develop the habits, behaviors and beliefs of their future success in advance! What then begins as a journey of ideas, possibilities, plans and choice, is refined and calibrated into a clearly defined architecture of well designed ideas and systems that become tested business models and practices that change organizations - and they change us as professionals. Thinking of your role and organization as one of creative license, entrepreneurial thinking and innovative ideas being the most valuable asset of an organization and career, transforms people and organizations into brands that stand the test of time!

RISKS AS ORGANIZATIONAL REWARDS

‘Nothing recedes like success’ as they say - and success is built upon calculated and innovative risks that move professionals and organizations to reinvent themselves as the powerhouse leaders and brands in their space. All you need to do is think about the most innovative companies of our time (Google, Netflix, Tesla, Apple…) to understand the powerful and potentially positive impact of taking risks. Do all risks convert into innovation and profitability? Absolutely not, but much like the modern angel investor who is typically right less than half of the time they invest in new start-ups, all it takes for established organizations to win is to achieve one or two big ideas/investments to transform their brand and industry!

Today’s industries are moving at lightning speed and change is constant and disruptive. Technology, AI, Robotics, IoT, as well as the Millennial generation and our ever changing planets needs requires that organizations make big and responsible (but never reckless) bets on future innovation and performance to maintain a competitive advantage and industry positioning. The same holds true in career paths and choices we make now as we can easily find our profession and skill set outsourced or replaced by technology if we’re not paying attention to our industry trends or the global business environment. 

A COMMITMENT TO DISCIPLINE

The new professional mantra is that ‘discipline equals freedom’and to achieve and maintain success, you must be disciplined, forward-thinking and agile at all times in building your personal brand. The new business environment is proving that you can’t be everything to every consumer, as this is a sure way to be labeled as a ‘hack of all trades and a master of none’, and the world’s most powerful organizations and professionals remain focused on high-demand niche business and emerging specialties within their space which have the greatest upside and impact on the world. From a leadership perspective and a career management perspective, global business models and methods have changed, and those who are unsure of their future direction will surely perish in time.

There are currently brands that have dominated industries for decades, which are implementing progressive strategies to reinvent century-old business methods and antiquated brand practices, because technology, consumer needs and values have changed. So today’s modern leaders do one thing better than their average counterparts; they verify their teams and organizations stay focused on what matters most based on what clients and consumers want now, rather than focusing on what the they have to offer today.

Poor performance organizations get distracted chasing trends, looking for ‘the new customer and markets’ and create new projects to stay busy, —but as the saying goes, “busy is the new stupid” in business - and when organizations go too far in the direction of chasing competitors and trends, the quality of their products, teams and the ability of the brand to innovate suffers; which opens the door for competition and the loss of market share and brand equity.

CHAMPIONSHIP & ALL-STARS PRACTICE UNTIL THEY GET IT RIGHT

Over and over again the top employers and modern brands boast that the best strategy for success is to hire passionate, diverse and bright young leaders who are smarter than their current roster. Then give them the autonomy to elevate the intrinsic thinking and culture of the organization through critical and innovative thinking! The best performing organizations today hire people and teams of different backgrounds, beliefs and values - while encouraging gender, race, geographic, socio-economic and ethnically diverse personnel who thrive in a collaborative environment of mutual team respect, honesty and dignity.  This creates a robust environment of positive chemistry, possibility and innovation that feeds itself, rather than relying on corporate team performance demands.

Smart organizations have realized that hiring 20 or 50 identical individuals and teams is a recipe for mediocrity, as it simply doesn’t work as there is no contrast among those who agree on every subject. Modern leaders understand that hiring champion personalities and diverse groups ahead of professional experience and resume skills is the key to unlock potential in creating teams that are greater than the sum of their parts. When this step is completed within organizations, great professionals, leaders and organizations create an environment in which these diverse teams elevate one another and thrive and reinvent collaboration and elevated creative thinking as standard practice.

In so doing, they create such exceptional team standards, work-ethic and commitment to excellence, that simply allowing them to practice-to-perfect  - and assume full ownership of their business creates an environment which only needs leaderships advisory, coaching, mentorship and future thinking participation. This combined with the new ‘open door culture” in which anyone within the company feels not only safe, but inspired and motivated to seek the advice and insight of leadership, is the last ingredient in the recipe of great organizations!

VISION AS THE PATH TO GREATNESS

Most enterprising professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders know very early in their career that they want to either create their own business or run a company as the person responsible to develop the strategies, direction and vision in collaboration with those they work with. Knowing what’s needed to prepare for this journey however requires a clear vision, a defined plan, contingencies and the ability to endure failure, setbacks, disappointment and changes in the vision and plan where it doesn’t work.

Without the required skill set, management experience, global exposure or revenue responsibility in today’s demanding business environment, the great leaders of today create their vision in collaboration with others who possess the skills that they don’t possess. What many leaders and entrepreneurs don’t understand is that creating a viable vision begins with the inspiring ‘why’ and by asking the right questions to test the hypothesis of the vision. Progressive leaders within the most successful organizations practice this process in every team and business environment, and apply what they learn as they refine and recalibrate their vision.

DELEGATE AS A SUPER POWER

Lastly and as importantly as any core success skill is the most successful organizations of our time and the leaders that drive their success understand that doing less through setting a clear direction, inspiring and training others to do, is the most effective method to build a culture of success. This is the critical skill that provides top organizations to continue to work on their business rather than in the business. To delegate well requires fluid communication, creation of key metrics of success; and to have the confidence and faith in the teams they empower to execute at a very high level! This is not simple or easy to do; however it is the most essential cultural super power within every world-class organization.

As one of the key deliverables of the new book we published this year (The Architects of Excellence) we cover the critical nature of becoming a master of delegation (Ethereal Leader) as this is the foundation of what best in class leaders and organizations do today to build preeminent organizations. Though it seems counterintuitive to most, as few managers and leaders learn this skill, because those who trained them didn’t understand or practice this most essential skill of modern leadership. However, to ignore this essential skill it is to do so at your own peril. 

YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS WITH A PLAN

So for those seeking a career change and organizations that will appreciate what you have to offer, begin with the end in mind and first decide which organizations represent the values, beliefs and cultural values that align with yours. One of the primary reasons that the new workforce are dismayed with institutions and leadership, and why so many Millennials don’t like their jobs is that they chose the company they work for based on the compensation or prestige of the organization, rather than verifying the company culture aligns with their personal needs and values first.

To be sure, we don’t always have the luxury of being choosy when the need for income outweighs the work selection process and cultural choice. However, if this isn’t on your list of pre-qualifiers when searching for an employer and organization of choice, how likely are you to choose a position that inspires you as well as a company that does the same?

"When writing the story of your life, don't allow anyone else to hold the pen." Unknown