Meet Ann Kabinga, Founder and Lead Consultant of ConnectX

Welcome back to Purpose Led Leaders: a series of newsletters shining a light on the leaders we believe are 'walking the talk' when it comes to purpose.

"We are human first. Then we work."

Today we meet Ann Kabinga, Founder of ConnectX.

Ann is a Kenyan-based organisation culture and change management specialist deeply committed to increasing the productivity of Africa's workforce.

How? By fostering a workplace culture that eliminates fear and encourages individuals to grow and thrive. To do that you need to be a leader who is authentic, present and operates without fear. Ann sets out her five key principles for leaders:

1. Authenticity eliminates ego-based behaviour
2. Principles not systems
3. Align and motivate people around what matters most
4. It's not just about culture, it's about timing and change
5. Don't ignore?the importance?of being a good communicator

Authenticity eliminates ego-based behaviour

Ask yourself, do you understand your own purpose and values? What is important to you? Ann believes that if you become clear about who you are, you can be that person even when environments change. This certainty of self creates authenticity and inner focus.

"It is the key part of being a leader who is open to different voices. Authenticity eliminates ego-based behaviours. You enter the space as yourself and operate in that way."

Ann shared a helpful model for getting to this place as a leader. Ask yourself:

1. Who am I? What is my purpose and what am I good for?
2. Who else can I find to help me do it and have impact in this space?
3. How can I make sure the impact we have lasts beyond me to generations to come?

Operating in this model frees leaders from that place where you worry about what other people think of you, eliminating fear and ego. You don't focus on whether the people in the room recognise your expertise or ask yourself "What will I get out of this?" It moves you into a space where you ask instead: how can I have impact, not just for me, but for others here and now and others to come?

"All leaders should be encouraged to get to this place and operate from a place of contentedness and awareness of purpose and impact. I think this is where true leadership lies."

Principles not systems

Ann first learned lessons about leadership in her early career at a marketing agency, travelling nationwide creating theatre to engage people. The Founder of the business believed you could lead organisations based on African principles of leadership. As an example,?a council of elders?was often used to resolve community conflicts. The council was composed?of people who had 'come of age' and commanded community respect. As opposed to a?regular?disciplinary process, this leader created similar groups made?up of people from different ranks. When there was a problem these people came together and used their collective wisdom to solve the problem.

"This was an outstanding lesson for me. The way I do business is rooted in this philosophy. We advocate organisations work from a place of principles and ask the question how should we act and how should we think rather than creating rules and saying we must be x or y."

Provide a guiding principle rather than a rigid rule or system and you create the space for the individual to make decisions and act based on their own understanding and context.

Align and motivate people around what matters most

"It is unfortunate that lots of people think that if you start up a business you can apply all the things from other well established businesses. It can't be the same. You need to understand the cultural context of the place and the people. Don't lead them by forcing them to follow a path that doesn't necessarily resonate in their broader context."

Ann recognises that work happens within a broader context, and that leaders should accept that and build alignment by establishing the things that truly matter to their employees.

She believes that organisations should ask themselves the question 'why do we actually exist in the first place?' and that by doing so, they will be able to build processes that allow them to be true to their purpose and an empowering place for their employees.

It's not just about culture, it's about timing and change

The things that matter to employees change. Fundamental shifts can happen, like our collective experience of Covid19. People often care about others' perceptions of them, their success, and standing among colleagues. The pandemic had a profound impact on businesses who made difficult decisions in order to survive. Then the language shifted to 'Am I adding value?'. People realised that without contributing value, they risked losing their jobs. This shift emphasises why leaders need to constantly gauge both internal and external happenings to adapt to changing environments.

Ann, working across organisations, sees the benefits of observing others' approaches. She urges leaders to continuously observe their customer base, other companies and the wider world. Leaders often worry about not having time to network. Yet it's crucial to make time for it as it could provide valuable insights into their business and its impact, as context and the world changes.

Don't ignore the importance of being a good communicator

A leader's role is to promote a vision and communicate what success looks like. A great leader rallies people to go in that direction whilst remaining open to input and allowing different voices to contribute to the picture.

But leaders also need to walk the floors, sit at a desk, ask questions and make suggestions. People feel like it is a big deal. Once a week for an hour, be visible and interact to gain a better understanding what your teams are doing. Understand how they are thinking. It is normal for people to get stuck and sometimes only someone with a helicopter view is best placed to help them get unstuck.

Final thought for leaders

Ask yourself 'How can I magnify the impact that I have in my company, my society and the broader world?'

"You are one person and the world will go on without you.

How do you give as much as you can and die empty knowing you have done as much as you possibly can?"

Connect X designs one-of-a-kind, powerful platforms for organisational change, employee development, and engagement in order to improve performance and flow. Their work provides perspectives (based on business data) on how well organisations are aligned with the execution culture that is required. In collaboration, they build aligned supporting structures to ensure culture development.

We support leaders to uncover, articulate and activate their purpose; grow their businesses; achieve high performance through highly effective teams; and have a greater and better impact on the world.?But there is no one type of great leader.?

We have been meeting with inspirational real-life leaders from our network to understand their leadership style.

We have captured their ideas in a series of newsletters, entitled Purpose led leaders.

We will shine a light on different people and their individual approach to leadership.

We hope you find the series interesting, inspiring and valuable to you wherever you may be on your leadership journey.

Subscribe to this newsletter for more features on real life inspirational and purpose led leaders.

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