SUSTAINABILITY IN LEADERSHIP
Recently, I had the chance to join the BPW Leadership Training for Women and I would like to share some of the points that opened my eyes because it assisted me in determining where I am on my own leadership journey and how I want to proceed.
We all know the advantages of having a supportive and experienced leader who motivates us to challenge ourselves to perform better. Although there are variety of ways for leaders to reflect on their experiences, we can all agree that communication is fundamental. On the other hand, not all of us have experiences with supportive leaders but I believe that having the chance to experience or observe a bad leadership role may actually teach us a lot. The ability to determine the attributes that a leader must possess may likewise rely on the task’s deadline and the situation. Nevertheless, there are some major behaviors that will never be acceptable, and we can learn a lot from them about the type of leader we don’t want to be.
Leaders should be collaborative and cooperative; but there may be situations or short-term goals that force the leader to act in an authoritative manner, which will only damage the team’s coordination and relationships. To put it another way, the team may reach its intended destination, but the journey will not be beneficial to anyone and the solution will not be sustainable.
Different organizations may require different leadership styles, and a person should never act in a single leadership style since, in a world that is constantly changing and evolving, we must keep up with the changes and stay current.
Because the atmosphere and the well-being of the team have an impact on the productivity, a sustainable leadership style is critical. There would be a little focus on the task in a toxic environment where team members are competing with each other and uncomfortable in their roles. Moreover, team members will be eager to perform better than one another and will not be interested in collaborating.
I genuinely feel that if we want to work on a project, we’ll need a friendly environment where people are comfortable talking to one another and learn from each other’s perspectives. Although it should be acceptable to disagree with each other’s ideas, I believe that those who disagree should be able to propose a new project concept or another way to improve the existing project so that our hands will never be empty.
Last but not the least, it is also essential to stay loyal to our core values and have self-awareness. These core values have an influence on the work we perform and the road we want to follow. These core values might be family, loyalty, financial benefit, excitement, adventure, energy, reputation and the list may go on. Considering that we all may have different core values, it is important for leaders to be able to manage and communicate with diverse and well-rounded teams.
What are your core values that you follow when you are leading a team?
