Leaders, our words matter little, behaviour and attitude are what counts.
To be a leader of the future, we must move past transactional leadership (language like ‘chain of command’ or using reward and punishment to motivate people), to showing up every day as a transformational leader, facilitating organisational collaboration to drive vision forward– even in a crisis. This style of leadership is not new, in fact the term was coined in the 1970s by James MacGregor Burns through his study of political leadership, but in today’s fast paced, diverse, and highly technological workforce it has never been more suited.
In this blog we will explore what this leadership style looks like with some insights from some very special guests about their expectation of leadership.
So, what does Transformational Leadership look like?
Burns described transformational leadership as a process where “leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation.” Below are some examples of the behaviours of transformational leadership:
- Unify through vision: A transformational leader can rally everyone around a vision, align motivations through common purpose and create belonging.
- Modelling behaviours and adapting: Transformational leaders are strong influencers, decision makers, and model value driven behaviours. This means taking the time to understand what motivates people by truly listening and adapting styles to provide support.
- Conscious creation and diversity: By creating a safe environment and developing a feedback culture, transformational leaders inspire diverse and creative conversations. These are essential in transformation and innovation where we are often navigating uncertainty by testing assumptions, and not fearing failure.
Therefore, as we know from these common behaviours, as transformational leaders, what we say matters little.
What we say are just words that can lose their relevance, what people follow is our behaviour. This means being authentic, owning failures and take actions that demonstrate leading through values. I also believe we must do this with a healthy sense of humour (and mum jokes), and (as said so well in “Humor Seriously, by Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas”), with intellectual perspective, empathy, and humanity necessary for creating culturally strong and resilient teams that can respond to the future.
Why is this style of leadership imperative to digital growth?
Digital business transformation is about creating the future uninhibited by the past. Transformational leaders are typically proactive and boldly look for ways to execute the vision for the future. They are very capable leaders of process and operational excellence whilst also being analytical, seeing patterns and trends, challenging assumptions. They are not driven by ego, but by the collective success of everyone achieving the desired outcome.
Not everyone is this type of leader, however I believe an organisation embarking on transformation, growth or scale up should have a leadership team, and a board, that are more heavily weighted with transformational leaders and growth mindsets.
What about other strategic initiatives?
We should also consider how powerful this leadership style is for our other business priorities – not just digital growth. These growth mindsets and behaviours should be showing up in any organisation with long term strategic goals requiring a fundamental business shift (for example, sustainability/climate change agendas or seeking to learn and embed te ao Māori). When looking to the horizon of the future of business, and the workforce of the future, organisations with transformational leadership will see success across many strategic pillars.
The people have spoken, are you listening?
Rather than me just sharing my experiences and learnings, I asked some of my former team to answer a few questions about leadership expectations. Thanks Gary, Ratneesh, Corrinne, Josh, and others for your openness.
When I read these responses, it amplifies the following about leadership:
- Leadership is a privilege, it is profoundly human and demands integrity.
- Leadership means providing clarity and context on what to do – but not how.
- Leadership must show up and lead from the front, it does not look for blame, but ensures everyone is supported.
Check out below and form your own takeaways:
What values you want to see demonstrated from a leader?
‘Clarity and context: Clarity about what success looks like for my role (“what”, not “how”), and context about how those role success factors’, Gary Elmes
‘Vision, passion, commitment, empathy, trust, openness, resilience’, anon
‘Someone who has integrity. Who does what they say and can be trusted. Honesty and being trustworthy are valuable and important aspects of integrity so this, to me is the most important value to have’, Corrinne Pillay
‘Integrity’, Dr Ratneesh Suri
‘Authenticity‘, anon
‘A great leader encompasses a number of important values, all of which have varying importance to a particular individual or purpose. Personally, I relate to leaders which clearly demonstrate Vision and Integrity‘, Josh McHenry
What motivates you to bring your whole self every day?
‘The feeling that I can help my team to be successful – whatever that might mean for them and the organisation’, Gary Elmes
‘To know that I’m helping a good cause and/or people, and that I’m building something of value’,anon
‘When I am appreciated, valued and trusted. Both by my leader and my team. I want to be valued and I want my value to be noted. This allows me to bring all that I am everyday and motivates me to do my best’, Corrinne Pillay
‘Authentic people, visionary leadership, outcome-led execution, new ways of working’,Dr Ratneesh Suri
‘The opportunity to work towards a common goal and improving the performance of the organisation‘, anon
‘I am best motivated when I work in a collaborative culture with a team of individuals who I respect, celebrate along the journey while commonly working towards a shared vision/goal’, Josh McHenry
Can you share an example of the type of actions from a leader that have inspired you?
‘The first time my boss said to me: “I’m leaving you in charge; whatever you decide, I’ll back you up’, Gary Elmes
‘When I saw a high executive (VP) to come to visit business units and operations to talk and listen to people and understand the reality of the group, and it wasn’t only once, but several times and he really took what he heard and actioned’, anon
‘The best leader I can think of is someone who never thinks of themselves as more important. When a leader breaks the hierachy, diffuses the sense of who’s more important and allows you to share your thoughts and experience freely, it inspires you to work at your best. A leader who doesn’t tell you what to do but is there to give you the right tools and avenues to help you do your job in the best possible way is inspiring. I’ve seen this with a recent leader and it inspired the entire team to give of their best daily’, Corrinne Pillay
‘Constructive discussions, recognising and celebrating success, co-designing the work portfolio’, Dr Ratneesh Suri
‘A well articulated strategy and goals, repeated often and consistently to everyone. As much open dialogue about what isn’t working well as what is‘, anon
‘Clear and honest communication, respect and integrity. – A simple philosophy of ‘Be yourself, be true to yourself and be true to others”, Josh McHenry
What sort of actions from a leader do the opposite, and do not inspire you?
‘Anything that feels like micromanaging, or any kind of “command and control” approach to leadership, is a real turn-off’, Gary Elmes
‘When they stay on their pedestals and just play politics, or when they have a negative behavior and blame when things go wrong’, anon
‘A leader who is never there to lead, a leader who wants to control the narrative, control how things are done, who takes credit for themselves, who only deals with so called “higher levels of management” and is never there in the trenches with their team, motivating them and providing the tools to do the job right is not a leader’, Corrinne Pillay
‘Feedback based on assumptions, not involving in strategic and senior leadership discussions, lack of empathy’, Dr Ratneesh Suri
‘Vague or non existent strategy and communication. Decisions are made behind closed doors and dialogue is fake platitudes‘, anon
‘Lack of vison & strategy, poor communication, siloed departments/teams (not fostering a collaborative environment), leaders who do not celebrate milestone/progress‘, Josh McHenry
If you could choose three words that encapsulate what you want from a leader, what would they be?
‘Clarity, Context, Care’, Gary Elmes
‘To heartly serve’, anon
‘Honest, Reliable, Trustworthy’, Corrinne Pillay
‘Vision, Execution, Empowerment’, Dr Ratneesh Suri
‘Authentic, open and honest‘, anon
‘Vision, Integrity, Respect’, Josh McHenry
Check your blindspots
When we read the responses above, it’s not uncommon to think this reflects us perfectly already. Do not be blinded by this, examine yourself deeply as you may be doing yourself and your team a disservice by believing your own narrative. There are many leadership coaches that can help you pinpoint yourself in your leadership journey and help you to grow and learn – it should be ongoing. (Ping me if you would like some recommendations for coaches). I consider myself a transformational leader yet that doesn’t stop me, I get regular coaching and love learning more about myself and how I can be a better human.
So where do we start?
Well, CEOs and Boards – it starts with you. You should be open minded to coaching, learn new tools and techniques, and most importantly lead a common business language of leadership.
As a Board, you set the tone for leadership through the business, and to demonstrate you are authentically ready for business growth you need to model this leadership style in and out of the board room.
As a CEO, it’s your imperative to develop your leadership team in the same way. Many will find it challenging, that’s Ok – if they are open minded and willing then they will get there. However, CEOs, where you have leaders unable, or unwilling, you should reshape the team accordingly, and quickly.
Most of all, be ready for a movement. Often what happens is when you open up about your intent and share some vulnerability with the wider business, you will inspire people and you will find leaders and leadership moments rise to the top.
So, CEOs, and Boards – do you have the right leadership style in your teams?
About UpSw!ng
The content in this series is my perspective, open to discussion and healthy challenge, and welcomes ideas and collaboration should you wish to get involved.
It is my objective to represent diverse thinking and inspirational leadership towards a fundamental shift in the way technology and innovation can grow profitable NZ organisations, whilst making positive impacts on society.
What may feel dramatic now, will be considered visionary in the future!
Ready to take action?
I would be delighted to help you with your digital growth, get in touch at to start taking action, not just promoting a vision!
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