How can we get the best from our leaders, so that they can inspire the best in us?

Often, we try to align ourselves with what our employers want, without asking whether changes can be made to help us to work more effectively together. Feeling that you are an essential and valued part of an organisation can bring a whole new level of extraordinary performance to individuals at every level of the business structure.

From Employees to Willing Partners

We are often willing to confront issues in our interactions that affect our personal relationship and friendships, but these principles are rarely applied to our working lives. There is a perception that to do this would exhibit a vulnerability that we tend to find unacceptable within this arena. If we are prepared to challenge this idea, stepping out of our role as transactional employees and moving into a willing partner relationship, we can transform the way our businesses operate.

A Transformational Journey

This approach, exploring genuine dialogue, has allowed me to challenge assumptions and create positive space for insights in the thirty-seven years that I have spent working with leaders and their teams, as well as in my own working and personal relationships. Failures are our primary learning experiences, and my own pursuit of meaningful change came from the most challenging experiences in my working and personal life. I see myself as a problem solver and I am committed to resolutions that have a positive impact on my employability and the organisation. I recognise the value in exploring these aspects of myself within a safe environment of support in order to understand what ‘best’ looks like for myself and for my employer. For me, it is clear that this approach enables us to reduce the resistance to the changes we want to see in our personal mutual quests for growth.

Challenging the Willingness to Change

A key component within business and personal transformation involves challenging our own powerful inclinations not to change. In looking for meaning we must address our own behaviours and our resistance to change, but it is important that actions and behaviours, both on a personal level and across the business structure I work within, are concrete and measurable. Challenging the meanings that give rise to our behaviours, both as leaders and as employees, is essential to release new concentrations of energy within our organisations.

Do You Need to Change?

The following can be signals that the change your team needs may be linked to your own transformation: • Feelings of being ‘stuck’ and unable to understand or describe your internal state of mind • Feeling isolated as a leader and individual, feeling alone or vulnerable and unable to vent your anxiety • Being unable to engage with your peers and teams, or to understand the limits of your own leadership and your capacity to give more • Realising that your engagements are defensive, and may attack others • Feeling pressure to provide all the answers.

Making Changes for Success

With a new approach to building mutual relationships within your environment, you can harness the energy of transformation and move towards a more positive model, which includes: • Safe vulnerability: being able to expose our vulnerabilities and vent them without judgment, which builds a high level of trust • Fostering an environment that enables individuals to understand their humanness and ability by sharing insights from their personal stories, experiences and working styles • Role modelling behaviour around admission of mistakes, weaknesses and fears • Creating a forum for dealing with conflict and confrontation as a safe practice • Not scapegoating or undermining another, but rather creating a co-learning environment. Business leaders often argue that they are too busy to make changes, but this can be symptomatic of the problem itself. By confronting your issues, you make room for a new generation of leadership characterised by effective interactions, enabling your organisation to move towards the next level.

Revolutionise your Leadership Today

I thrive on helping your business to function better on every level, and I’m inspired by the challenges of creating the best leadership within a business structure. For a fresh look at your leadership potential, contact me today to see how we can work together.