Today’s performance or tomorrow’s transformation? In an increasingly interconnected and competitive global environment, organisations now need to do both at the same time. That takes a different kind of leadership, enterprise leadership.
This article https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/leadership/how-to-develop-an-enterprise-leader-mindset describes an enterprise leader as a leader with a mindset of making decisions that serve not only the entire organisation but the entire ecosystem. The difference between Enterprise and executive leaders is that the latter have reached their position by excelling in a system based on silos, rewarded for their dedication to a specific unit, function or geography. Sound familiar?
The article recognises that fostering an Enterprise Leadership mindset can be difficult, only 14% of executives exude the qualities and skills of an Enterprise Leader. But if we do it, our impact will be multiplied enabling the full enterprise to thrive.
The article outlines the mindsets needed for Enterprise leadership:
– Purpose: Truly understanding why your organisation exists and what it stands for, but it starts with understanding and aligning your own personal purpose to the organisation.
– Courage: Strength to address problems even when they are difficult or unpopular.
– Self-awareness: At a basic level, the knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses, but it goes much deeper. It Is also about understanding your motivations, beliefs, and attitudes and how they shape your decisions and actions.
– Inclusive: When you bring in different voices to contribute to an idea, the greater that idea can grow to be.
– Integrative: Seeing the full context, getting comfortable with shades of grey and generating creative solutions without the limits of boundaries, divisions, or silos.
With that in mind, take time to think:
– What do you place more importance on today’s performance or tomorrow’s transformation?
– Which business areas do you not feel connected to? Which do you need to know more about?
– Where do you place your focus and what impact is that having? Are you so focussed on getting a supplier relationship reset that you have shifted your attention away from updating other stakeholders? Have you focused so much on delivery that you have neglected your people? Are you unintentionally overlooking perspectives from your team who are of different ages, races, genders, or sexualities?
– Are you clear on what your personal purpose is?
– What one thing could you do differently consistently from next week that would be a step towards being a more enterprise as opposed to just an executive leader?
As leaders, we can show our people that we are role modelling the changes that all of us want to see. Let’s be better and be the change – contact [email protected] if you would like help to do so.
For more articles, encouraging you to think and be the change – visit here.