SAN DIEGO — As businesses prepare, thankfully, to enter the flow of customer service one again, transformational leadership prowess is called on more than ever to avoid “going back to the way we were.” I hear forward-thinking visionary business leaders daily in coaching sessions use words like “adapt,” “grow,” “learn,” “be better,” “be nimble,” “be faster,” “more resilient,” “leaner than ever,” “way more productive.” Farseeing futurist trailblazers aren’t going back to anything. They are talented frontrunners, escorting their teams forward, upward, onward, and never in reverse.
In formulating formidable strategies to meet their bold, unflinching and fearless vision of their future businesses, regardless of the industries they represent, my clients draw on their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual capacities, what Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz called a decade ago, the “Corporate Athlete.” Steadfast, undaunted leaders, those who will make an impactful blaze on the post-pandemic landscape, all bring inspiration, an open-minded, passion, enthusiasm and energy to their keen vision.
A key quality they practice is was Thomas Hübl calls “deep listening,” a level of attunement and resonance that arises between themselves and others. They are dialed in to their own body, mind and emotions and relate most effectively by carefully reading the feedback that flows between them and another. This assures that what leading leaders bring will promote interconnectedness and a greater interdependence in the world, of business and personal relationships.
Want to join this potent optimistic group of distinct and impressive post-COVID19 visionaries? Develop these additional skills:
- Persistence and Resoluteness – assurance in the face of adversity is a hallmark of those transformational leaders I’m privileged to work with. Their certitude allows them to step passionately into risk. They do not disturb themselves over requiring certainty, understanding that this is simply a myth. Their buoyancy helps them create innovation and prosperity free of fear of failure.
- Collaborative – an often-overused term by those who simply want to have others believe they are working as a team while instead using them as stairs to their own success. Transformational leaders, the real difference makers, are genuine when they create partnerships, alliances, and enduring cooperative relationships. Antoine de Saint-Exupery noted, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to go to the forest to gather wood, saw it and nail the planks together. Instead, teach them the desire for the sea.” Groundbreakers don’t go alone. They are inclusive. They cheer others on with trust as their signpost along the way. They pay attention to others in a way that engages them and generates trust and commitment. They genuinely care about their team, what they want and focus on how they can best serve them.
- Open-minded – these intrepid, gallant, visionaries have ready access to the awesome power of the mind. They bring a curious, flexible mindset, an openness to new ideas and they learn constantly. There is a special receptiveness to novel information they maintain throughout the day in a way that allows them to connect seemingly disconnected and irrelevant dots, sometimes in an unusually playful, imaginative way.
Want to get there? Here are 10 keys to transformational leadership for our post-pandemic world:
- Expand your internal motivation and self-management
- Make those difficult decisions
- Check your ego
- Take the right risks
- Have an organizational consciousness
- Grow your adaptability
- Listen and entertain new ideas
- Inspire yourself and others
- Take proactive and pre-emptive steps
- Develop your quixotic, original and visionary thinking
*
Michael Mantell earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and is a sought-after speaker on behavior science. He also writes a weekly D’var Torah column. More of his stories may be accessed by clicking his byline at the top of this page. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com