PIHRA Scope - January/February 2008 - (Page 15) Second, a leader must shape a climate that supports successfully achieving the desired results. The climate must also encourage people to engage and be as competent as they can be. That is the third condition for which the leader is responsible, the competence of the team. Leaders need to develop the skill set and access the tool set that enables them to articulate the desired results and adapt the structure, systems and processes of the organization to facilitate achieving those results. To ‘do’ the work of leadership and create the conditions for success and to be able to lead change in others and in an organization, a leader must always start with the only person with whom there is even a chance to change — the leader. This is the paradox of change. We cannot change others, but as Gandhi taught, when we change ourselves, we change our world. To do this, leaders need to take the second path. The second and more important path is the path of personal evolution. Who must a leader be? Leaders need to be continually examining who they are and how they want to and need to ‘show up’ as leaders. I met Andrew Elder a few years ago during a training event our organization was facilitating outside London. Here’s what Andrew said at that time, “I’ve gotten quite far by developing the ‘doing’ side of my leadership knowledge and skill; and I know that’s not enough to take it to the next level. I know that if I don’t expand my focus to grow the ‘being’ side of my leadership, I won’t be able to contribute at the level the organization expects, my team expects, and I expect moving forward.” This foundation of self-awareness allows leaders to engage themselves and others more completely and more effectively. This foundation supports their efforts to lead ongoing, positive organizational transformation. THE FOUNDATION OF LEADERSHIP Leadership from the foundation of self-awareness opens the door to real and powerful transformation. Under Andrew Elder’s leadership, the enterprise and advanced technologies segments lead Cisco’s emerging markets theatre in year over year growth, percentage of total theatre revenue, and forecasting accuracy. Those results begin with a foundation of self-awareness. From there, leaders can see how structures, processes, and systems are organizational constructs that may be changed when it is necessary in order to achieve the desired results. From there, leaders can learn not just from their experiences but also the future possibilities that exist and are waiting for the leader to find them. When that meeting of experience and possibility occurs, innovation is a certainty. Evolution — real and powerful transformation — happens when the possibility, unlocked in the moment of innovation, becomes the new experience. It is clear that the role of the leader has changed. It is the role of the leader to create the conditions for success, to enable positive, ongoing transformation. It is the role of the leader to engage others and encourage deeper thinking and more effective communicating in order to cultivate an environment of strong and shared leadership. It is the role of the leader to search for, discover, and lead from the foundation. When that happens, leaders, teams, and organizations begin to tap the energy and creativity that enable success in this new, flatter, and faster world we are experiencing. ■ Copyright © 2007. Gregory Giuliano. All rights reserved. greg.giuliano@leading initiatives.com. 323077_HR_Contract.indd 1 January/February 2008 PIHRAScope2:03:34 PM 15 3/13/07
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