Thursday's Leadership Insight: The Three Cs of The 21st Century Leadership Framework Four Questions to Achieve Clarity on Your Leadership Core

Leadership is a challenging business. It doesn't matter if a leader is The CEO of a multinational, the local high school principal, a minister, or a parent. The challenges of division, inflation, a changing workforce, and the place and unpredictable governance worldwide are daunting. This is a time of rapid change, and uncertainty is often referred to as a V.U.C.A .environment, Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguos. A recent Gallup report: What? Traits Do People Most Value in Their Leaders? notes, "What people expect from their leaders tends to be consistent, even amid change. They list those needs as Hope: Trust, Compassion, and stability. Kouszes and Posner's research dating from 1987 to the Present in the Leadership Challenge lists an unchanging list. Honest, Competent, Inspiring, and Forward-looking. "Leadership expert John Maxwell, in a leadership podcats ?3 Questions Every Follower Is Asking About ?Their Leader, often says? followers have three questions for their leaders

1.? Can you help me?

2.? 2. Do you care about me

3.? 3. Can I trust you?

These similar reports lead to some saying we need a new type of leadership in the 21st century. In truth, leadership has always mattered in good times and bad. Today, in our leadersad world, there is a need for a 21st-century framework for leadership development that is built on intentional human growth and development, not myth, happenstance, or given position. At this time, it is essential to remember that a leader makes a purposeful choice to be a leader to intentionally develop and lead by a foundation of a strong center of the core of leadership of values, purpose, motive, and mindset that guide the learning and development of content leadership skills and practices to lead in the context of the time.

The core of leadership is the compass and guide of any leader's practice. One could conjecture that the leadership world we are experiencing today is due to a personal lack of clarity on core leadership principles or an intentional choice to ignore them.

The place where all leadership starts is a choice of intentional inside-outside development of one's leadership practice. The core of leadership is the compass and guide of any leader's practice. One could conjecture that the leadership world we are experiencing today is due to a personal lack of clarity on core leadership principles or an intentional choice to ignore them. What is needed is clarity and an option to have one's leadership practice grounded in the Core leadership elements of values, purpose, motivation, and mindset.

This Thursday's leadership insight is the first of three articles on the Three Cs of leadership. It focuses on the core of leadership and includes four questions to help you clarify your core.

Leadership in the 21st century requires a strong foundation built on core elements that shape a leader's identity and practice. These essential components - values, purpose, motivation, and mindset - form the bedrock of effective leadership, influencing decision-making, inspiring others, and driving organizational success. These four principles are the foundation of all leadership practice. Clarity and intentional choice are the core that will guide all leadership practice.

These four questions are a guide to the clarity of one's core of leadership.

1. What are your values?

.Values serve as a leader's moral compass, guiding their actions and decisions. They are the fundamental beliefs that shape a leader's character and influence their behavior in both personal and professional spheres. Jennifer Herrity writes in an Indeed article of January 28, 2025, 14 Essential Leadership Values To Consider Developing writes. "Leadership values are the core beliefs and principles that guide leaders and managers in their personal and professional lives and allow them to oversee, lead, and manage others effectively. Your values are the things you believe are most important to achieving your goals and being happy." A simple activity to develop clarity on your values is the John Maxwell Values Game. Using a values-sorting activity with trusted friends can also help with clarity. Reflection on how your values show up in your life and practice is crucial. Your values are your guardrails and must be monitored frequently in one's leadership practice.

"When you know Your Why,You know your way."

Michael Hyatt

1. What is your Why?

Clarity on one's why is a driving force in one's leadership practice. Leadership expert Michael Hyatt often states, "When you know your why, you know your way . Purpose, or" why," is the fundamental reason for a leader's actions and aspirations. Simon Sinek emphasizes that great leaders start with "why,"?A clear purpose provides direction, inspiration, and meaning to leadership efforts. Leaders with a strong sense of purpose can articulate a compelling vision, set meaningful goals, and foster a shared understanding of the mission among team members.?This alignment of individual and organizational purpose creates a powerful synergy that drives success and fulfillment. Clarity on your Why sounds simple, yet a strong clarified Why statement requires hard work. Consider Simon Sinek's Find Your Why for a straightforward, arduous process. This is a challenging yet rewarding and energizing process. Knowing and acting in one's Why has a contagious impact. To see this, watch Michael Jr.s Know Your Why YouTube video.

3. What is your motive to lead?

?A leader's motive is the fuel of their leadership practice.

In The Motive, Patrick Lencioni asks leaders to reflect on these simple yet complex, foundational, and challenging leadership questions, "Are you leading for the right reasons? What is your motive?"The responses to these questions are critical for leaders and their organizations and for navigating these difficult times. Lencioni postulates leaders have two broad categories of leadership motives. He reported two reasons for being a leader in a recent Global Leadership Summit presentation. He stated,

"There are two reasons people become a leader:

1.? Responsibility to do whatever you need to do to serve the people you need to.

2.? . Rewards: Attention, status, power, etc."

A leader who chooses a rewards-based motive believes they are entitled to and deserve a reward because they are a leader. They think they've arrived and are entitled; they have won the leadership lottery or paid their "dues." The reason could be their number of degrees, salary, title, past success, hard work, or even a feeling of entitlement from hanging around the longest.

Responsibility-based leadership is a commitment to continual sacrifice, service, development, and growth to help others grow and develop. It is a journey of striving to serve and lead better to build people up and get things done. The responsibility-based leader accepts that leadership is never-ending hard work. As leadership expert John Maxwell says, this leader understands that "everything worthwhile is an uphill journey" that never ends. Maxwell also often says, "There are rarely two good days? in a row in the life of ?a leader." The responsibility-based leader's motive is to do their best to serve and work their hardest to lead the organization to adapt and thrive in uncertain, challenging, and even good times. Leaders with the right motives are more likely to prioritize team development, make tough decisions, and persevere through challenges.

To clarify your motive to be a leader, take time to ask two questions. Who is served by your leadership decisions? Does your daily agenda serve you or those you serve?

4. What is Your Mindset?

The leader's mindset is how they choose to see themselves, others, and the world and act in their leadership practice. A leader's mindset is literally the lens through which they ?"see" their world. A leader's mindset significantly influences their approach to challenges, learning, and personal development. A leader's mindset, as described in a Live2Lead presentation by John C Maxwell, described the work of Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success and Stephan Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as Abundance? I see and act on learning and opportunity or scarcity. I see? little possibilities and act to protect what I have," Career, life coach, and LinkedIn writer Aida Dinu wrote in a February 2023? LinkedIn article, " Leadership Mindset What role does it play ?" A leader's mindset determines whether this leadership is successful or unsuccessful in any organization or team. The Leadership Mindset guides their thoughts, behaviors, and actions, and they can profoundly influence the people they lead, the organizations they serve, and the results they achieve."

In a 2013 Blog by Triple Crown Leadership entitled? What is your leadership mindset? What are your self-conceptions and beliefs that drive your behavior as a leader? The author writes, "In many cases, these are unknown because they operate beneath our conscious awareness. Yet they are crucially important because they affect how we approach people, situations, opportunities, and risks." A leadership mindset is a collection of leaders' views that drive all facets of their leadership. I" in a January 2020 Harvard Business Review article To Be a Great Leader, You Need the Right Mindset, Ryan Gottfredson and Chris Reina described mindset a" leaders' mental lenses that dictate what information they take in and use to make sense of and navigate the situations they encounter., mindsets drive what leaders do and why." Mindset is the fourth element of the core of leadership. A leader's mindset is the interplay of a leader's choice of core values and beliefs, purpose, and motive come together in how they see and act in their world; all they do is their leadership mindset. A leader with the right mindset is better equipped to adapt to change, inspire innovation, and foster a culture of continuous improvement within the organization. A choice in leadership practice for growth is to seek outside mentors or coaches who will help leaders align their core values, purpose, and motivation in their mindset. Leadership practice of personal growth and learning

The core elements of leadership are a synergy of - values, purpose, motivation, and mindset. They are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Together, they form the foundation of a leader's identity and practice. Leaders who cultivate these core elements are better positioned to:

1.? Make ethical and consistent decisions

2.? Inspire and motivate their teams

3.? Navigate complex challenges with resilience

4.? Foster a positive organizational culture

5.? Drive sustainable success and positive change

By focusing on developing and aligning these core elements, leaders can enhance their effectiveness, authenticity, and impact in the dynamic landscape of 21st-century leadership. The key to all alignment is a leader's number one superpower: choice. Leadership choice is evident in all these elements and requires intentionality and courage. A significant concern for this writer is that in the 2023 iteration of their Desired characteristics, courage fell from 22% to 13%. A leader's choice of an intentional framework of leadership development and the courage to move forward is crucial to leadership in our leadersad world.

The leadership questions her then is

1. Will you choose to be courageous in your leadership practice, following a core of leadership that builds people up and gets things done?

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