How developing and maintaining a leadership framework is critical for your leaders to succeed
As global workforce demographics shift, expectations placed on leaders are changing. And now is the time for organisations to invest in identifying and developing the right leaders – individuals possessing the natural qualities needed to lead effectively, as well as the willingness to practice and refine key behaviours and capabilities that directly contribute towards sustained success.
But what does success look like in this new hybrid, technologically-driven world of work? And how can the right leaders help to realise it?
Leaders are no longer responsible for simply delivering results – how they achieve these results is becoming equally as important, with workforces calling for more authentic, ethical and inclusive leadership.
These changed expectations are adding to pre-existing, complex and competing priorities, often leaving leaders feeling confused about what is expected of them.
It’s no longer enough to KPI leaders on financial targets alone. Research from Talent Solutions Right Management has identified five key areas of impact for truly effective leadership:
75% of workers want to feel passionate about their work, and knowing that it contributes towards the betterment of society remains a key driver for 64% of them. Good leaders are able to effectively communicate how the work performed by each individual is linked to business success, and how the organisational vision aligns with the values of its workforce – thus creating a greater sense of purpose among all employees.
Great leaders embrace difference and actively encourage and value the involvement of all voices and views. By ensuring each individual has equal access to their support as well as ongoing learning opportunities, effective leaders can create a diverse and inclusive workplace culture where teams operate without bias and each employee feels recognised – highlighting the company as an attractive employer.
67% of workers who’ve had training or skills coaching say it has improved their overall job performance, and yet the same percentage say there is no written plan in place with their employer to map their professional development. Impactful leaders will break the trend that has seen one in five employees never have a career conversation with their manager, and instead create an environment that encourages ongoing growth and develops talent internally.
89% of workers who received training and skills development say it has improved their sense of job satisfaction and contentedness at work. And it’s proven that proficient leaders act as the catalyst in enabling the upskilling and development of a workforce. Being able to assess a situation and identify whether they need to step in and offer their expertise or step out and encourage autonomy is key. Each action generates learning opportunities in its own right, and can be crucial to ensuring employees remain engaged with their work as they continue to feel both supported and challenged on a daily basis.
Too many businesses are focused on quarterly business results over long-term financial stability. Many years ago, McKinsey sounded the alarm about the danger posed to organisations by short-term approaches to managing and investing in their businesses. The main source of the problem is identified as the continuing pressure on public companies from financial markets to maximise short-term results, particularly in light of quarterly earnings expectations.
But if leaders only see decisions through a short-term lens, how can they hope to succeed in a world that increasingly needs leaders to plan and invest for an uncertain future?
Organisations are placing a stronger focus on how the results are delivered, and how they evaluate the performance of their leaders. So setting the direction on core leadership ingredients is critical to establish an explicit “leadership contract” between organisations and their community of leaders. With the Leading With Impact framework, we want to support organisations to express in simple (but not simplistic) terms the value they expect from their leaders, and to support leaders’ focus on leadership that matters.
When implemented properly and reviewed on an ongoing basis, a leadership framework can ensure that recruitment, assessment and development of leaders remains timely, relevant and reflective of the current climate, providing clarity on prioritised outcomes, and how they should approach achieving them.
But not everybody is a born, natural leader. Our research has found that personality traits play a key role in an individual’s readiness to lead. These are the inherent personal strengths that certain people possess, which create the best conditions for leader effectiveness – the ‘Being’. Such individuals will be able to remain resilient, positive and adaptable in the face of change and uncertainty. And when encountering new challenges, they will naturally demonstrate curiosity, reflectiveness and a willingness to continuously learn – making them more inclined to identify solutions to problems.
While these are innate characteristics that aren’t easily developed or learned, individuals who may not possess all of them can compensate through demonstrating key behaviours associated with effective leadership. The Leading with Impact framework identifies 15 ‘Doing’ ingredients that impactful leaders demonstrate, encompassing three key areas: vision, talent and performance.
From creating an environment that fosters feedback and learning, to building trust with others and developing high-performing teams with a common purpose – all of these behaviours are achievable for anyone that’s willing to practice and refine them on an ongoing basis.
Leading with Impact is a leadership framework fit for today’s world, adaptable to businesses of all types and ready to help leaders deliver impact.
Organisations that want to develop and maintain competitive advantage must find the talent they need today – talented leaders who won’t just lead, but will Lead with Impact.
To find out more about our Leading with Impact framework and how it can help you identify the right leaders within your organisation, download Right Management’s Leading with Impact report and get in touch with us today.
