HOW TO LEAD REINVENTION, 12 IDEAS TO GET CEOs MOVING
A few weeks ago, I reflected on the need for CEOs to seriously ramp up their focus on reinvention, with 45% of CEOs globally believing they need to reinvent their business and organisation within the next decade in order to survive.
Yesterday, a colleague shared this reflection with me: “If an organisation is to reinvent within 10 years, that’s 10% a year. Which means the leaders within the business also need a 10% growth transformation every year to make it.”
A simple approach to a big issue. Yet, real food for thought.
What is reinvention? It is invention again. To create, design, devise, originate, innovate …. again.
“The future of life as we know it is being determined by everything we’re doing — and not doing. Now.”
-Oprah Winfrey, American host and television producer
Where to start?
I am sharing an approach I created a few years ago to support leaders as they faced the unprecedented period that was the global pandemic. I believe this model has real value now, as you look to the strategic imperatives of your leadership and where you might focus to make the most impact. As you consider how you will create the future, by leading reinvention now.
This approach builds on my three foundations of leadership and leading in possibility. First, lead yourself, lead your tribe, then lead your world, so that you can inspire, influence, and have impact.
We need leaders to be doing these things today, leading reinvention, to create a future of possibility. Start with self, where it all begins, where the leadership foundation is built for every leader.
1. SPECIFIC FOCUS
In the context of understanding the big picture, leaders need to focus specifically, and only on the important. You are a finite resource, and you need to invest yourself wisely. Focus on the activity where you can make a difference, where only you have the skills and the knowledge and the breadth of sight and vision, to complete these very important areas.
And stick to this. Do not get distracted by shiny objects.
2. ZONE OF GENIUS
The second thing about leading yourself is to stay as often as possible in your own zone of genius. Stay in that area where you are operating at your best, your peak performance zone, where you can get more done more easily. This means focusing on what you know, what you love, and how you can contribute.
Again, think about the big picture and where you add the most value.
3. CONNECTION TO PURPOSE
For leaders to be operating at their best, they really need to feel like their contribution has meaning and purpose. So, if you have lost your way recently, or you are surrounded by turmoil and lots of information, take a moment to reconnect to the purpose of your leadership, to the purpose of your organisation. This is what carries you through. It creates an anchoring, a solid basis upon which you can build your leadership.
4. SURGE CAPACITY
This is a topic I have been talking about for several years now. It is very important to recognise that while we all have the capacity to surge, to draw on all our resources and respond to a demand that is placed on us, your surge capacity has limits.
This means you need to replenish yourself deliberately and proactively. You cannot keep going forever, surging in response to changing needs and demands, reacting and doing all the things that you need to do as a leader, if you don’t look after yourself. So, you need to create permission and opportunity to replenish your surge capacity.
Now we are moving into the space of leading your tribe.
5. HUMAN CONNECTION
We have seen connection between people challenged in recent years, as we have all had to work through situations where we are in remote working and home working, and now the pressure to return to work. There has been a loss of connection between leaders and their teams, and between team members.
So, as the leader, deliberately focus on opportunities to create connection. Connection helps to build trust and loyalty. Which we all need if we are going to work together, collaborate, rely on each other, and know that we can make a contribution that is valued.
6. VISIBLE LEADERSHIP
I have spoken to many leaders about the importance of them becoming more proactive about creating visibility in their leadership. And by this, what I mean is that your people, your organisation, and your industry know that you are leading them. They have a sense of this. Your leadership is visible to them.
This might be about the way you communicate. It can be about how you reach out to them. It may be about sharing information, and bringing teams together.
Much of this comes down to being proficient in all the different environments in which you operate. So online, hybrid, face-to-face, so that you do not become invisible in certain situations.
People need to know you are leading them. They need to be able to rely on this. And they can only do that if your leadership is visible.
7. HUMAN LEADER
The next thing is to be a human leader. This is about all of things where the conversation has been amplified in recent years. Leadership ideas around humanity, the need for kindness, empathy, vulnerability, safety, and so on. It is about having more emotion in your leadership than perhaps 30, 40, 50 years ago would have been the norm.
This is about whole people working with whole people, not just working from the head up and using our head brain. You need to use your heart. Your heart is where compassion lives. This is where you tap into the connection with your community and bring humanity into your leadership. People respond to this. So bring humanity to your tribe.
8. DEVELOP LEADERS
This is fundamental. The world is crying out for leaders and more leadership. We need leadership to create sustainable, relevant ways of working and living in our changing world.
This means as existing leaders, we have a primary responsibility to develop more leaders. To develop leaders who have the capability and capacity to lead, who can practise leadership and who, in having that capability, then grow the confidence to be able to lead the different situations they face.
They say the best time to plant an oak tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. And it is the same for leadership. We need to be building our capability today, not just for today, but for tomorrow as well.
9. BUILD CAPABILITY
Which brings me to the next point. Generally, in terms of leading your world, the ecosystem in which you operate, you need to build capability across all your people and your whole organisation. So, this is about people, process, systems, and infrastructure.
People need to know they have the equipment and resources around them, and in them, to cope with what is happening now so that they can feel confident they can contribute in a way that is meaningful, useful, valuable, and that they feel equipped to be able to do this now and into the future.
10. LEAD THE MARATHON
Let’s talk about leadership over the long-term. The need to reinvent over the next decade, and beyond. This is not a sprint of leadership. This is long-term change, long-term sustainability, long-term transformation, creating long-term relevance. It is about creating a future.
Leading the marathon is not something you can do overnight. It does require a long-term view, a long-term perspective, and it also takes the ability to pace your leadership and to help your people to pace their way through this significant period.
11. PREPARE AND PREVENT
Leaders need to be looking at what you can do in the space of prevention and preparation going forwards.
- What are your plans?
- What are your contingencies?
- What might happen?
- How will you cope?
- What is the resourcing you need?
- What are your options?
- What are your possibilities?
This requires a continuous focus, always updating based on learning and experience. This is a never-ending cycle that you need to focus on because after all, you are the leader.
12. BIG PICTURE
And this brings me to the big picture. When you are looking at leading your world, you need to have a big picture perspective. It is not about a single event or a single person or a single idea. You need to consider a bigger picture.
While you might have immediate areas of focus, you also need to make sure that you are keeping an eye on the horizon. To create a future, you need to be thinking about this and contributing to the creation of the future. One that will likely look very different to today.
“You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.”
-Mel Robbins, podcast host, motivational speaker and bestselling author
I believe, these are 12 of the most significant focus areas for senior leaders, specifically and particularly, for CEOs and managing directors. These are the bases you need to be covering. Yes, there is a lot there. Tackle one or two at a time or do a gap analysis for yourself.
Which area does not have your focus right now?
If there is a gap, then there is an opportunity.
What is the opportunity you want to pursue to ensure that you are leading yourself, your tribe, and your world through a flourishing next decade.
I’d love to know your thoughts.
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