Building and sustaining your leadership compass
Three. Simple. Words.
Three short, but significant words, with resonant meaning and standing power.
Just three words that addressed a moment of vacation reflection - “what do I stand for as a leader?” - to change my trajectory and transform my leadership. This epiphanic episode happened without design or plan, yet it brought new legs and life to my role as a leader.
Leadership is neither glamorous nor easy, yet so many of us willingly sign up for it. And in today’s context, I would contend that it’s never been more difficult. Think, if only for a moment, of today’s VUCA environment (where VUCA means volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) and the role of a leader within this space. The expectations of leaders are, as I once had a boss describe, “big and lots”:
✔ recruiting and retaining talent
✔ building trust
✔ addressing conflict
✔ managing performance and generational perspectives on work
✔ developing and nurturing teams
✔ communicating meaningfully
✔ fostering employee engagement and motivation
✔ meeting community and/or partner expectations
✔ managing through fiscal restraint
✔ balancing demands for workplace flexibility
✔ and so, so much more.
And through all of this, leaders of today must also try to skillfully navigate increasingly fast-paced technology, workplace, and socioeconomic shifts, something this short video highlights well (admittedly, it’s a bit dated now, but the point remains), while remaining level-headed, authentic, and, to borrow an old advertising adage, “never letting them see you sweat.”
In the middle of all this - this messy, swirling mixture of chaos, franticness, and (admittedly) moments of pure joy - identifying what you stand for as a leader is ever more critical for you, your team, and your overall wellbeing. Clarifying your touchstones or guiding principles - your three words, if you will - sets the foundation for the way you lead, with profound implications on the people you serve and how you do business.
So, where to begin? For me, as I noted in my previous blog, it began with a moment of reflection, a deliberate pause to ask myself a few fundamental questions:
What do you stand for?
What kind of leader do you want to be?
What kind of leader would you want to work for - and how do you become that leader?
How you define and articulate your core leadership principles may take a different path, as it should, but this journey should begin with these questions or something similar to them. These principles created should be unique to you, your goals, and reflect what YOU stand for. Once you have them outlined, however, there are a number of critical next steps:
Make them short:
Each principle should be brief and easy to remember
Keep the total number of principles small (less than five)
Make them usable decision-making criteria:
They should be phrased to inform decision making by you and your team
They should provide clarity, not confusion
Make them freedoms, not constraints:
They should induce freedom of action rather than fear of punishment
Make them lived
Above all, make sure you mean them
Stand by them, even in the toughest moments
Model them always - YOU must live by them
Source: Modified from this article.
Done right, done with intention, your leadership principles should become your and your team’s compass. And the best news? There really is no secret sauce, other than practicing them daily. Modeling these principles like a good habit will provide clear direction, foster trust, and inspire your teams.
By way of example, once I had defined my three leadership principles, I began to share them with the teams I led (and continue to do so to this day). They became a mantra, and all team members knew they would be held accountable to them. They have informed my decision making, helped address performance concerns, and shaped critical conversations with supervisors. They are introduced to every team member on their first day, and individuals (and teams) are celebrated when these principles are modelled well. Nearly a decade after their design, these three simple words still resonate and continue to inform my practice today.
They have become, quite beautifully, a dynamic framework for leadership success ….
"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."
-Theodore M. Hesburgh
PS. Interested in learning more? Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
