Leadership is not a title - It is action and example

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a variety of events focusing on leadership, especially in the era of New Work.

On the one hand, at a panel talk by Heidemarie Klein, I was able to represent the perspective of digital natives and talk about what millennials expect from their executives. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to accompany Andrea Vey to an event that was aimed at executives and lateral thinkers. Surrounded by 150 leaders, I was eager to learn what drives executives, where they see challenges, and their overall view of the whole issue.

And the more I listened to the lectures and discussions, the more I realized once again that in a sense we all have to be leaders. That leadership affects us all. If you only look at the supposedly most important competences:

We all have to be curious! Curiosity is one of the drivers of innovation, it promotes change of perspective and helps us think beyond our own horizon. Curiosity fuels the thirst for knowledge and the urge to network with people from whom we can learn, who burn for the same cause, or who show us new options.

Especially for companies, this skill is developing into a significant competitive advantage, because in the working world of the future, the most successful innovations are characterized by a high degree of networking.

Along with curiosity is also the willingness to take risks and to dare something. Telekom CEO Tim H?ttges encouraged executives at the leadership event mentioned above to dare, make mistakes and learn from failure. I especially liked that he admitted to everyone present that he sometimes doubts himself. That is why it is so important to give honest feedback as well as to receive it. We all need a circle of people whom we can trust and who are honest with us. Each of us - not just leaders - must be mentors, coaches, and even mentees!

Also courage and empathy are thrown into the ring again and again as so-called soft skills. By the way, these competences are reserved for humans in the digital world, as they are difficult to acquire from machines. How fatal would it be if only executives had these skills and not every one of us?

Leadership means getting on a certain path when you do not know where to go.

A true leader is someone who deserves recognition and respect, not by his title, but by setting an example. By a leader, I understand someone who acts as a guide and literally leads the way for his team. Because this is where I often experience stumbling blocks in times of flat hierarchies. Not infrequently, there is a lack of orientation and a shared vision, a clearly communicated goal, on which all work together.

In an increasingly complex world of work, it is essential to reach your team. While today's conditions are changing due to flexible and mobile work, communication is becoming an immensely important management tool.

Anyone who wants to take his team on a journey, inspire them and empower them, has to be clear about his or her own mode of action, to know exactly how he appears and how what he expresses reaches his team.

Exactly this clarity must also be found in a shared vision! This leads to a simpler identification of each individual and an independent pursuit of reaching the goal. Just take a look at the visions of big companies like Google, Facebook or IKEA. All these are formulated unmistakable and clearly:

• Facebook: "To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected!"
• Google: "Google's vision is to develop the perfect search engine!"
• Ikea: "To create a better everyday life for the many people!"
• Ben & Jerry's: "Making the best possible ice cream, in the nicest possible way!"

The easy identification with the shared vision often leads to an independent pursuit of reaching the goal. As a result, the leader can let go and trust the team.

Letting go is a huge topic for traditional leaders. Leadership expert Robert Barrett therefore calls for a new paradigm of leadership culture.

"A shift from being the best in the world to the best for the world"

It is no longer about oneself but about establishing and promoting the sense of being in an organization. Letting go and delegating as a leader does not mean you should let all the reins grind. Rather, it means giving the team a free space in which they can do their own work independently and thus achieve the desired result in their own way.

Strong leaders act as role models for the team, bravely advancing, trying things out for themselves, and above all, admitting mistakes and showing how to grow in them. After all, executives are by no means infallible and perfect.

But to come back to the events that I mentioned at the beginning. Not only at such events, but also in many articles around the topic of leadership, it is mostly about how executives have to adapt to leading in a new, increasingly digital world. But it is also the employees themselves who have to find their way in an increasingly self-determined world of work. Not everyone is equally comfortable with a greater scope for action and a relaxed leadership style.

It is at this point that it is important to find a coach and mentor in your leader. Someone who places trust in you and shows you what you can do through honest and constructive feedback. Someone who assigns you tasks that may even be a bit more demanding than you might expect. One of my bosses once said, "This kind of leadership shows employees that they believe in them, maybe sometimes more than they believe in themselves. That motivates and makes you proud. Strengthening employees' strengths - that's true empowerment!

Conversely, this also strengthens confidence in the leader. One is willing to admit weaknesses or to tell about problems. In a sense, you put down your protective armor and open up with the knowledge and confidence to be guided back to the right path by constructive feedback.

In recent years, a leadership skill has emerged as one of the core competencies that I value most about good bosses - empathy!

A good leader knows that success can only be achieved in a team. It is most important to record moods in the team and to recognize discrepancies at an early stage. Where does the bad mood come from?

It is about exploring the causes of conflicts and eliminating them at an early stage.

It's often difficult to resolve team conflicts in flat hierarchies, as they tend to be far more profound than mere disagreements on certain topics. Often it is related to the leader himself. It is about lack of recognition, internal power struggles and uncertainties that are triggered by a certain misconduct of the bosses.

Bestselling author Simon Sinek explains this in great detail in his book "Leaders Eat Last". He demands executives to form a so-called safety circle. Good bosses must have an interest in the people entrusted to them. Simon Sinek puts the human need for security and belonging at the beginning of his reflections. Empathic leaders who manage to provide security to their team are rewarded with loyalty and dedication.

And it needs empathy for each individual. Not every person can be led in the same way. The one needs strong and clear announcements, the other prefers the proverbial long leash and wants to act more individually. While it is for some to create motivation and to get the best out of them through praise, the others strive for continuous constructive criticism because they want to constantly improve and can only do so in this way.

But just as leadership skills such as curiosity, courage and empathy are all important to us, every employee is responsible for being a role model and empowering others. We all need to be aware of our own values in order to act accordingly.

In the last years of my life, I've found more than ever that it all starts with ourselves. We must make the effort to think about where we want to go and what values are most important to us on this journey.

We do not need someone to show us the way if we have not yet thought about our own goals.

We can all be the leaders we have always wished for - by being rolemodels for others and living according to what we care about most.

We all can empower others with praise and feedback in their strengths - just as we wish and expect from our bosses.

We can all make a start.