Leading to meaningfully engage requires feedback – it’s as simple as that. The true measure of leadership lies in the way you impact those around you. To engage others effectively, regardless of levels of leadership, you need to raise your awareness of how you switch others on or off, even inadvertently. Although we want to be thought of as “good” in terms of our own moral compass, most of us are uncomfortable with getting real, honest feedback. In the absence of feedback, we can’t measure how the values that make up our moral compass translate into how others experience us – and a moral compass is useless if you don’t look at the readings. You will not know where to improve, if you are not open to feedback.
Oscar Wilde once said: “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” With over 30 years of being involved in leadership development, we certainly have had many opportunities and experiences to learn from – both from our own as well as from the leaders we work with.
We have also learned from the experience of other experts in the field of behavioural and developmental theory such as Ken Wilber, Abraham Maslow, Richard Barrett, Dr David Rock and Stephen Covey. Based on this, TowerStone Leadership Centre developed their own Leadership Essentials© Model by distilling individual and organisational competencies that leaders care about most. It has been designed to be practical and applies to leadership in any situation or organisation.
The model combines these thoughts to provide a view of leadership across multiple perspectives:
- It reflects both hidden motives and external behaviours.
- It presents both the individual and the collective perspectives of human existence.
- It highlights the balance between the drive for results and personal fulfilment.
- It is founded on the relationship bedrock of consistent communication and trust.
Firstly, we recognise that our culture and results won’t manifest with our clients if we don’t invest in achieving alignment below the surface i.e. the invisible “me” and “we” denoted in the model. Engaging those we lead around our vison, values and strategy to instil a sense of belonging and ownership on an individual level is crucial for establishing a high-performing culture for sustainable results.
Secondly, any team is only as good as the individuals who belong to it. Establishing a culture where every individual feels like they belong, is motivated to achieve and has opportunity to grow, ultimately translates into a team that works together to honour the brand and deliver on its mandate.
Being an engaging leader is therefore a constant dance between engaging individuals to align them to the collective and addressing the invisible drivers to achieve – and hold them accountable for – the visible results. And the key to doing this effectively is constant measurement – because you can’t manage what you can’t measure.
In fact, there is no progress without measurement. A good example of this is the recently released 2020 Goalkeepers Report. Without constant measurement to track progress made on fighting poverty and disease globally, there would have been little action up to now. There would also not have been real data to support the claim that progress has been “set back about 25 years in about 25 weeks” due to Covid-19. Without this data, the plea for a global response to ensure this is a temporary setback and not a permanent reversal would have carried far less weight.
Similarly, we can’t address the global leadership deficit without first measuring what is and is not working, as well as the impact thereof. Informed by extensive experience and rooted in sound behavioural theory, Mores Assessments was founded with this specific end in mind. The assessments are designed to measure the individual experience as part of the collective, as well as the impact of individual behaviour on the collective, both of which are a direct result of leadership.
Our assessments are based on the TowerStone Leadership Essentials© Model and enable you to measure your leaders’ impact on your organisation in terms of all these essential drivers. If your leaders are engaging their teams to enhance fulfilment and achieve results, you are well on your way to sustainable success. If not, meaningful insight and the courage to find new ways might be what you need to inspire change.
Once again, it is vital to invite feedback if you want to develop as a leader. To truly improve how you engage others, you have to be just as purposeful about your development as you are about your other targets. Don’t miss an opportunity to grow because you are afraid of what others may say.