Leadership that Transforms

There is a fair amount of talk about transformational leadership and the positive impact this leadership style has on organizations. I agree with most of what I have read but I want to take the idea of transformational leadership and spin it on its head a bit.

Rather than discuss what it means for your organization, I want to talk about what it could mean for you personally.

You have the power to shape your experience as a leader and I’d like to show you how, using the four components of transformational leadership as a guide.

1) Intellectual stimulation

Leadership that transforms involves a willingness to challenge the status quo. If you believe things have to stay the way they are because that’s the way it has always been you will never experience leadership in a way that excites or challenges you or anyone else for that matter.

Take some risks, actively question why you do what you do and take a chance to do things differently. Your willingness to take more risks, ultimately releases others around you to do the same.

2) Individualized consideration

For this to work for you, you have to let go of the one-size fits all mentality about leadership. Sure there are certain principles that govern leadership in general but your unique personality has to be given consideration in shaping your leadership.

You can’t focus your energies on wishing you were more like “so and so” down the hall. Instead understand your strengths so you can play to them, and know your weaknesses so you can keep them from becoming liabilities. When you know who you are (and are confident in her), then you’re free to let others be who they are and bring their full self into their work, which makes their experience a more positive one as well.

3) Inspirational motivation

What motivates and inspires you? When you are passionate about something, motivation is effortlessly passed on to others. But when passion is lacking, it is much more difficult to tap into motivation let alone share it with other people. If you find yourself struggling to conjure up any kind of excitement about your work, you may have to question if this is your passion.

Passion sits in your bones like fire; not doing it is not even an option. Discover what motivates and inspires you and everything about how you experience your leadership will shift.

4) Idealized influence

This is about making the kinds of decisions that garner the respect of other people. It can be easy sometimes to let your environment dictate your values. But you will be a better and more confident leader if you start from a place of being clear about the boundaries surrounding your personal value system.

Start with knowing your non-negotiables and lead from there being unwilling to compromise on anything that goes against your values. Not everyone will agree with you but they won’t be able to argue that you don’t stand your ground for what’s important to you. When you do this, you feel more self-respect and invariably gain the respect of others too.

Understand Your Influence

Women are influential. I have heard it jokingly said that man may be the head but woman is the neck that moves the head. I suspect this is why women are perceived as a threat in some environments.

It can feel daunting to fight against that bias and you may feel compelled to play by the rules established for you because it appears to be the only way to succeed.

But if the rules for how to be as a leader don’t work for you then I challenge you to change them.

Take these principles of transformational leadership and use them to shift how you do what you do. You will always be more effective when you lead from a place of being anchored in who you are. As you do that you will influence others to act more confidently, lead more passionately, and ultimately, I believe, achieve more goals than anyone thought possible.

Take the chance today.

Here’s to you rising into your greatness!

From my heart to yours,

If you are ready to experience transformational leadership for you personally, knowing it will have a ripple effect in other areas of your life, let’s talk about how you can carve that path out for yourself. Schedule a complimentary call today.