4 Keys to Developing a More Collaborative Leadership Style

The world of work is a complicated place.

Technology, globalization and the great recession have accelerated the pace of change and brought about category disruption, new competition and what can feel like never-ending chaos.

In a time when we need people to step up and become the very best of who they are capable of becoming, job satisfaction is at unprecedented lows and trust and confidence in senior leadership have plummeted.

We can do better. Leaders and managers have to recognize that the legacy, command and control style of leadership we relied upon for so long isn’t working.

Change is hard. It is also the one constant we can count on.

The shift required to compete today is to a more collaborative, connected approach where everyone has a voice, the best ideas are brought forward, people are valued and culture is viewed for what it is: the only long term, sustainable advantage.

Lead to Inspire

Employees want to be inspired. Leaders need to lead from the front and live the change they want to see in others. The best way to inspire is to truly care. Through active mentoring and coaching, you have the powerful opportunity to elevate performance and help people stretch to achieve their potential.

Lead to Influence

Authority is overrated. Talent trumps tenure or title. The work is the boss. The ability to earn “followership,” by aligning people around shared objectives is essential. Influence is rooted in credibility and connectedness and today’s leaders need to forge meaningful connections inside and outside the organization. You don’t need permission to have influence.

Lead to Innovate

Leading change means facing internal resistance and taking some calculated risks. It’s too easy to say that you believe in something new, but then back down at the first sign of failure. Stopping short doesn’t serve as a catalyst for change. You’re inevitably going to make some mistakes. Failing forward is something that progressive leaders readily accept. Are you ready to go all-in for something you believe in?

Lead for Impact

Impact is a daily commitment to action and outcomes. Collaboration doesn’t mean consensus, and daily progress is a vital force for engagement. By working together we all have the opportunity to contribute and add value to the business.

How committed to collaboration and connectedness is your CEO? Your senior leadership? You?

The way we organize work, elevate productivity and improve performance is changing. Right now.

It will be incumbent upon managers and leaders to be increasingly more open, transparent, flexible, creative, and collaborative. Collaborative leadership is simply the new and improved model for navigating this ever-complex, constantly changing business landscape.

This next-generation approach to business (Generation Flux) is opening up opportunities for those willing to embrace change, challenge the status quo and connect people to each other and a common purpose.