Winning the Hearts and Minds

Welcome back to the Art of Leadership Mastery?. I'm excited to share some of the latest on leadership, clarity, purpose, and personal growth sharing my life's experiences and insights from over 40+ years in business and leadership. If you enjoy reading today's edition, I invite you to like, share, and subscribe for complete access to all editions and share it with your network. Now for this week...

February is American Heart Health Month.?February 2023 marks the 57th year of bringing heart health to the forefront.

While it's a very important topic, I won't talk about heart health today.

Today I want to talk about winning; winning the hearts and minds of your colleagues, employees, board members, and customers.

First, let me say that most of your employees were attracted to your company and continue to work there because of some unstated intrinsic value or values. In short, they believe what you as the leader and your collective leadership believe.

This is your set of intrinsic values or what we know as culture.

"Culture isn't just one aspect of the game - it is the game". Lou Gerstner, former Chairman of IBM

Your firm's culture is already embedded in your business. Just sit back and take some time to observe how your colleagues and employees interact with each other, how they communicate internally and externally, including with your customers.

You may or may not have a good handle on how to describe your culture. Behaviors day-in and day-out are how you know what the culture is.

And you can get there if you first allow for some thinking time for yourself, and brainstorming time with your senior leadership team next, then with others in your organization.

Clarity about your company's culture is a must. A top priority.

Changing culture is hard. Maintaining it is equally difficult.

In "CHANGE the Culture, CHANGE the game" by Conners and Smith, experiences create beliefs, and beliefs can support or derail the culture or the change that you want to see.

So to change the culture, you've got to create shared experiences that lead to the beliefs necessary to support the new or improved culture.

Your culture doesn't necessarily need to change. Maybe all that is required are tweaks or adjustments to what you already have in practice. Small incremental changes can have big and lasting positive effects.

You and your senior leadership team can know what's needed and how deep you need to go in improving the existing culture or scrapping the old one altogether.

The question is: do you and they have the courage to begin to make these changes into reality?

At the outset though, the leader needs to lead the change that is necessary.

As Tom Peters suggests, the leader is the "chief culture officer". It all starts at the top.

Why? Because you as the leader have a distinct vantage point of the wider, bigger picture more so than others do, and you see clearly the future benefits of such changes.

Whatever the culture, I believe you need to incorporate a culture of caring and compassion. If you believe, as I do, that all business is over time the sum total of the relationships you forge at all levels within, and with all customers and vendors, then you will take this to heart.

Tom Peters wrote in "Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism", "what you do right now! will be the signature of your entire career." Wow!

Six Leadership Actions For a Better Culture

There are actions you can take right now that will go a long way in winning the hearts and minds of everyone in your firm, every client or customer, every vendor you do business with, and even the ones you don't.

These leadership actions speak to the heart of building a business predicated on excellence and are part of the bedrock of having a business that thrives in the 21st Century.

The act of doing each of these I learned years ago has a powerfully positive effect and is now more prescient than ever. They are:

• Appreciation - The most powerful tool you have that reinforces the behaviors and culture you expect.
• Compassion - This is the act of suspending judgment and walking in the other person's shoes. It's a starting point for real conversation and problem-solving.
• Forgiveness - This act is powerful because it enables others to fail without fear. It's also an act of letting go of the past and blaming, allowing you to focus on 'what's next', the place where growth and real change happen.
• Humility - Authentic humility is the sign of an aware leader. As the leader, give credit where credit is due and celebrate the wins. Take 100% responsibility for the failures.
• Understanding - This one goes hand in hand with compassion. Meet them where they are and let silence do the heavy lifting. Practice Stephen Covey's 5th habit, "Seek first to understand. Then to be understood.".
• Courage - Dare to be open and honest. Practice allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open the door to deeper and more meaningful conversations.

Until next time.

#Excellence #leadershipqualities #culturetransformation #compassionateleadership #growth

Leading in uncertain and complex times is challenging. What separates good leaders from great ones is the 'inner game' or mindset of leadership. CEO Sensei, former BDO managing partner, and martial arts blackbelt, John Fenton is one of the few who address this critical aspect of leading well. A passionate, experienced, and articulate 'leader of leaders', John's unique methodology brings clarity, pragmatism and encouragement to today's managing partners, board executives and CEOs. He is an award-winning speaker, a heart attack survivor and the author of the bestselling book,?"5 Minute Mastery?, The Surprising Secrets for Transforming Your Stress to Success and Mastering What’s Important."