The changing nature of leadership
With our professional lives going through unprecedented change, new challenges and opportunities have emerged in leadership and followership alike. One thing is clear, the way we run our businesses and how we approach professional development has to change. To lead and follow effectively, we need a whole new set of skills combined with a greater appreciation for the needs of our colleagues and peers.
The most inspiring among us have at some point in our careers benefited from new knowledge and perspective. That’s true whether you’re a mentor or a mentee, have more experience or less. Broadening your understanding of concepts like empathy and accountability will ultimately encourage you to become a better relationship builder.
On Wednesday, 9th March, we were joined by Mission Mindset’s Jon Coomber, Alex Gibson and Daz Davey. Through thought-provoking presentations and engaging exercises, they helped us improve our understanding of what it means to be an effective leader.
The team at Mission Mindset use their extensive experience to accelerate leadership development. Through interactive workshops, experiential programmes and executive coaching sessions, the organisation helps leadership teams recognise their strengths and areas for development.
A workshop to remember
In our hybrid session, we explored how the character of business is evolving while basic human needs, like the sense of community and belonging, remain broadly unchanged. To paraphrase Alex Gibson, “Good leaders will harness this, while poor leaders will be undone by it”.
Here are a few key takeaways from the event:
Leadership has to change because the world is changing. However, we all still have basic requirements that need to be met so we can do our best work.
We all want similar things from our leaders such as inspiration, motivation and empathy.
The OODA Loop (observe, orient, decide, act - see below) demonstrates why leaders should be constantly trying new things to achieve their organisation’s mission!
Without exception, all of our attendees valued the attitude of their leaders above everything else, yet we focus so much on skill and knowledge.
Communication is such an underrated skill for leadership!
Teams cannot move as quickly if they are looking over their shoulder…
A blend of empowerment and coaching is often the most effective style of leadership.
We learned a lot from Mission Mindset, all of it invaluable as many continue to consider the kind of mentoring relationship that best suits their needs. After all, mentoring is about creating relationships and sharing experiences to help each other learn and develop.
As a mentor, you can support, motivate, raise aspirations and encourage those around you to achieve their goals - but in order to inspire, you have to be able to communicate effectively. As a mentee, you have to take responsibility for where you currently are and where you want to be. For that you need vision, creativity, passion and discipline - you need the right attitude.
Our next workshop
MFG events and workshops are hosted by us but run by brilliant early-stage businesses that we think are doing something really interesting. Generally, they are a mix of in-person and virtual meetups that focus on self-development and awareness, learning and networking.
For our next workshop, we’ll be joined by Dr Tamara Russell, founder of the Mindfulness Centre of Excellence, to explore how to be present with a thousand things on your mind…we can’t wait!