Imagine transforming yourself as a leader — with a team that delivers a level of loyalty, creativity, performance and engagement that words cannot describe.
This is a very realistic goal for you when you start or join a SpreadChange gathering on leadership.
Now, imagine ... If every leader in your organization is this excellent, it would transform your whole world! Everyone in your organization would be
invigorated because they felt valued, purposeful and necessary to your organization’s success.
Now, you may be wondering, “How can we possible ignite this level of leadership throughout our organization?”
Consider for a moment two different leaders —
● THE FIRST LEADER: The first leader has received considerable training on leadership, motivation,
strategy and innovation — perhaps even has an MBA. He/she has learned the importance of discipline,
measurements and giving regular employee feedback. He/she conducts
well-structured meetings, making sure everything scheduled on the agenda is
covered. He/she spends considerable time reflecting on the future and how the
organization should adjust to it. He/she has pulled the team together to create
comprehensive mission and vision statements for the organization. And everyone
in the organization knows he/she practices an “open door” policy.
● THE SECOND LEADER: The first thing you notice about the second leader is that he/she doesn’t seem to follow any of the traditional rules for leadership. In fact, you’d have a tough time telling him/her apart from the rest of the team. But the
astute observer would notice that there’s a deep connection between the leader and the team, a connection that has been
cultivated with intensity and caring. His/her team may or may not have a
written mission statement, but there’s a deep sense of shared purpose, a purpose where everyone believes that they
will collectively change the world. On the surface, things appear messy — meetings are more likely than not to be conducted on the fly, for example — but there is a palpable buzz and excitement and fun. Things get done with remarkable speed and regularity. Great new ideas pop up — and get implemented — routinely, the types of breakthrough ideas that wouldn’t even occur to most people. The leader does conduct annual performance reviews, but these tend to be mostly
“formalities.” That’s because he/she gives feedback, both positive and negative, moment by moment.
Interestingly, when he/she does give negative feedback, team members never walk
away with their tails between their legs. The team members may not always agree with the boss, but ask any of them and they’ll tell you he/she is the best boss they’ve ever had.
Which of these leaders do you think is more dynamic, more productive, more
innovative?
There is no contest, is there? The second leader, without a doubt.
What's interesting is that when you start reading about the first leader, he/she sounds
world-class, very 21st Century. Any leader who so diligently follows the
conventionally-accepted formulas for leadership success is worth his/her weight
in gold. You are not even aware that something crucial is missing until you start reading about the second leader.
It's only in contrast that you can see that the first leader has mostly an intellectual understanding
of what leadership really means. He/she has a great grasp of all the techniques
and processes—what to say, what to ask, what to do. But he/she operates mostly from the head.
He/she doesn’t even realize how far he/she is off the mark. He/she isn’t even aware that he/she is holding the whole team back.
If you want to change from a leader of the first type to the second type, you won’t find the answers in traditional books or courses. That’s because they focus on teaching you what to do and what to think and what to say — all of which lead you to becoming a leader of the first type, the very thing
you want to graduate away from.
What your need to learn is to change your worldview — and one of the best ways, I’ve found, is through leadership gatherings, where everyone in the gathering
collectively learns to focus, not on what you do or say, but on who you are and how you see your team members.
Start a Leadership Group Now!
SCHEDULE: Use this site to Create a Leadership Group consisting of other leaders. If you want to limit visibility
of your Group to those who are part of your organization, you have the option
to do so. The ispreadchange.com site has been designed to let you network with your Leadership Group, send them
schedules and reminders, make announcements, exchange notes.
INVITE: Invite other leaders in your organization to join the Group. Encourage them to
keep track of the event on ispreadchange.com.
POST: Invite other leaders in your company to pull together leadership groups of
their own. To promote and inspire such groups, tap into our resources for a flyer that you can personalize.
MATERIALS: For your Leadership Group Gatherings, the most important thing you’ll need are discussion questions to focus the gathering and maximize the
learning. You will also need Sign In sheets. Both can be accessed through the resources page.
Congratulations on coming together to attain new levels of leadership and change!
Congratulations on the difference you make in the world.
Aman Motwane
Yes, You Can Change the World
