Leadership Development
What
Kind
of
Leader
Do
You
Want
to
Be?
by Rebecca Newton
January 26, 2015
Leer en español
It’s the question missing from so much of leadership
development: “What kind of leader do you want to be?”
We facilitate and encourage self-awareness among up-andcoming leaders (what kind of leader you are), get them to map
their journeys so far (what has made you the leader you are), share
knowledge and ideas (what kind of leader you should be), and
help them acquire new skills and adopt new behaviors (this is how
you can become that kind of leader).
But we don’t focus strongly enough on arguably the most central
components to successful leadership – leadership intent (the kind
of leader you want to be) and impact (the legacy you want to
leave). As a shorthand, I refer to these two components,
combined, as your “leadership footprint.”
In my experience, many have thought about their leadership
footprint at some point, but few have defined it clearly enough to
guide their behavior and evaluate their “success.” Of those who
have, fewer give it regular consideration – letting it guide their
daily decisions – or share it with others, to get feedback and be
held accountable.
Here’s an example of how this looks in action. Gail Kelly, CEO of
the Westpac Group, one of Australia’s biggest banks and winner of
the “Most Sustainable Company” award at the World Economic
Forum in Davos this year, has spoken openly and honestly about
her personal leadership legacy goals. She’s described these goals
as “generosity of spirit.” There are two key elements to generosity
of spirit, according to Kelly. The first is believing in the power of
people to make a difference (leadership intent). The second is
creating an environment that empowers them to flourish to be the
best they can be and thereby make that difference (leadership
impact).
Kelly does also think about leadership tactics, but these act in
service to the greater leadership footprint she’s defined. She
defines leaders who have this generosity of spirit as having
humility, listening to others, and demonstrating empathy. They
are not selfish, intolerant, judgmental, quick to shoot the
messenger or find scapegoats, and they don’t sit on the fence to
see which way something works out before they decide if they’re
going to support it. They deliver feedback honestly and in a
timely manner – you don’t wait six or twelve months for your
annual performance review. Poor performance is dealt with
quickly. And perhaps most importantly, managers choose their
assumptions. As Kelly puts it, “I choose to assume that you (my
colleague) want the best for me personally and for others. I am
generous in my assumptions of your underlying motivations and
your intent towards me. Hard as it may be at times, I will assume
good intent.”
This approach seems to be working for Westpac – in their internal
engagement surveys, 97% of Westpac Group employees report
that they can see how their work is linked to the purpose of the
company.
I’m certainly not arguing that the one-stop shop for everyone’s
leadership success is this idea of generosity of spirit. It works for
Gail Kelly because it’s a footprint she has personally chosen and
defined. She builds it into her leadership team and ties it directly
to results she wants to see in the business.
We shouldn’t all have the same leadership success criteria. We
have to define it ourselves. Leaders must give themselves space,
time, and permission, and ask for help where they need it, in
order to clearly define the culture of leadership they want to build
around them. They must assess – both from their own
observations and others’ feedback – how they are living up to it,
and make the changes necessary to keep building it on a day-today basis.
Central to creating a leadership footprint is:
Defining the kind of leader you want to be.
Knowing clearly how that aligns with, and helps achieve, your
organizational vision and purpose.
Fostering self-awareness, reflecting on your own behavior and
encouraging others to give you feedback.
Recognizing differences that may arise between your intent and
your impact.
Self-regulating. As Emma Soane of the LSE says, “The strength
and the challenge of self-regulation is ensuring that you have
coherence between your personality, your behavior, and your
leadership goals.”
Choosing the assumptions about yourself and others that you
need to rely on for your leadership footprint to be realistic and
sustainable.
My challenge now to every client, whether established or new to
their leadership journey, will be the same as the question I need to
regularly ask myself: Do you know — and are you mindful on a
daily basis of — what leadership footprint you want to make?
RN
Rebecca Newton, Ph.D., is an organizational and
social psychologist and Senior Visiting Fellow at
the London School of Economics and Political
Science and faculty member on the Accelerated
Leadership Program at Harvard Law School.
Newton is the CEO of CoachAdviser, with 20
years’ experience coaching and advising leaders
and teams globally. She is the author of Authentic
Gravitas: Who Stands Out and Why.