High growth and innovation companies take a certain type of leadership in order to weather the changes happening, especially during and after a global pandemic.
As I’ve worked with leaders from growth companies, I have been able to better understand the keys to their success and it boils down to a few really important initiatives for them and their organizations.
- Executive Leadership Alignment: Leadership alignment is gained when there is mutual trust between the leadership team and there is consensus on the organization’s business strategy and objectives. ? Aligned teams have a higher level of clarity and agreement on their purpose, vision and goals.
- Vision & Strategy - Many leaders have a vision, however the most important aspect of that vision is being able to articulate it so your team knows their part and what impact they will have in achieving the vision. Story-telling is a part of this vision, make sure you’re telling the story to your teams in order to get their buy-in to help meet the business objectives.? Your employees need to hear it multiple times in order to truly understand what it means for them, so practice telling the story in weekly stand-ups as well monthly and quarterly team and company meetings.
- Authentic Communication & choosing courage over comfort: Employees have seen a taste of authenticity and they want and need it to continue.? When leaders try to shield the organization and their employees from both opportunities and challenges, they lose trust as a leader, which only adds to employees joining the great resignation.?
- Getting the right team - high growth and change is not for everyone, it takes grit, change, failure and perseverance to see the change and vision through.? You’ll need to assess your current team to see who is up for the challenge, however don’t downplay some of the people on your team’s ability to help drive the change.? Some of your employees may have the right attitude and aptitude, train them up on some of the skills needed for the job. Your employees who embody the right “mind set” will be the ones who are successful in helping drive the change.
- Leadership styles - they are shifting and leaders will need to find the right balance for their teams and organizations. ? There is the traditional “command & control” and the “emerging leadership” style, which is more agile and collaborative.? In a recent Harvard Business Review article, a single approach to leadership, whether traditional or emerging, is not going to meet the myriad of challenges that today’s leaders face. ? It’s stated that you’ll need to broaden your leadership sweet range, as the wider this range becomes, the more effective or versatile leader you will be.
Looking to connect with change-making leaders to help drive growth for your company, I’d be happy to connect and have a conversation!
