Does Your Leadership Measure Up?
September, 2013
The top five leaders most admired by the world’s business executives are Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Jack Welch – in that order, according to the 2013 Global CEO Survey conducted by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
The qualities the surveyed CEOs most admired? Strong vision, motivational, caring, innovative, persistent and ethical.
“These results tell us a lot about what it takes to be a strong business leader in today’s rapidly changing global marketplace,” said Barbara Trautlein, author of “Change Intelligence: Use the Power of CQ to Lead Change that Sticks.”
Trautlein, who has a PhD in organizational psychology and more than 25 years’ experience helping businesses lead change, said contemporary leaders must have “a high CQ – Change Intelligence.”
“Today’s marketplace is in a state of constant change, and successful companies are those that can also respond and quickly adapt to the changes around them,” Trautlein said. “That requires leaders who are able to lead with the head – focusing on the big-picture goal and business objectives; the heart – knowing how to engage, coach and motivate people; and with your hands – providing the tactical tools and skills necessary like a project manager.
“People tend to be stronger in one or two of those areas and weaker in the others. We need to identify our weak areas and work on strengthening them.”
To do that, she said, you must ask yourself: “Are you a head, heart or hands leader?” Trautlein identifies three of her seven change leader styles, their strengths and weaknesses, and has a coaching suggestion for each:
The Coach (heart-dominant): Make connections with people, but also connect them with the mission. Don’t allow engagement to take precedence over performance.
The Visionary (head-dominant): It’s vital that the vision be shared by all those working to make it happen. Remember to share your vision with others (heart) and lay out a path to that vision that incorporates visible milestones along the way (hands).
The Executor (hands-dominant): Engage people by making a compelling case for the change so you’ll have their support, and take time-outs periodically to evaluate your goals and strategy.
The point, Trautlein said, is not to change who we are fundamentally, but rather “to embrace our strengths, shore up our blindspots, and adapt our styles to be more effective when leading across a variety of people and situations. By building their CQ,” she said, “leaders simultaneously become more powerful to help their teams and organizations, as well as less stressed and frustrated themselves. And they more consistently role-model the pivotal leadership qualities that CEOs most admire.”
[Source: Change Catalysts]
The qualities the surveyed CEOs most admired? Strong vision, motivational, caring, innovative, persistent and ethical.
“These results tell us a lot about what it takes to be a strong business leader in today’s rapidly changing global marketplace,” said Barbara Trautlein, author of “Change Intelligence: Use the Power of CQ to Lead Change that Sticks.”
Trautlein, who has a PhD in organizational psychology and more than 25 years’ experience helping businesses lead change, said contemporary leaders must have “a high CQ – Change Intelligence.”
“Today’s marketplace is in a state of constant change, and successful companies are those that can also respond and quickly adapt to the changes around them,” Trautlein said. “That requires leaders who are able to lead with the head – focusing on the big-picture goal and business objectives; the heart – knowing how to engage, coach and motivate people; and with your hands – providing the tactical tools and skills necessary like a project manager.
“People tend to be stronger in one or two of those areas and weaker in the others. We need to identify our weak areas and work on strengthening them.”
To do that, she said, you must ask yourself: “Are you a head, heart or hands leader?” Trautlein identifies three of her seven change leader styles, their strengths and weaknesses, and has a coaching suggestion for each:
The Coach (heart-dominant): Make connections with people, but also connect them with the mission. Don’t allow engagement to take precedence over performance.
The Visionary (head-dominant): It’s vital that the vision be shared by all those working to make it happen. Remember to share your vision with others (heart) and lay out a path to that vision that incorporates visible milestones along the way (hands).
The Executor (hands-dominant): Engage people by making a compelling case for the change so you’ll have their support, and take time-outs periodically to evaluate your goals and strategy.
The point, Trautlein said, is not to change who we are fundamentally, but rather “to embrace our strengths, shore up our blindspots, and adapt our styles to be more effective when leading across a variety of people and situations. By building their CQ,” she said, “leaders simultaneously become more powerful to help their teams and organizations, as well as less stressed and frustrated themselves. And they more consistently role-model the pivotal leadership qualities that CEOs most admire.”
[Source: Change Catalysts]
