Effective leadership is a multifaceted endeavor that requires a deep understanding of human behavior, strategic thinking and the ability to inspire and motivate others. Many approaches and styles have been adopted, but let’s explore some leadership lessons and activities that can be used by direct leaders (like a manager) and indirect leaders (someone who isn’t asked to lead but leads by example).
Purpose-Driven Leadership
Purpose-driven leadership goes beyond managing tasks and achieving goals — it’s about guiding people toward meaningful goals and objectives aligning with their values and the company’s goals. A purpose-driven leader not only focuses on financial outcomes, but also considers the impact of decisions on employees, customers, communities and the environment. Purpose-driven leadership is a value-based approach focused on all stakeholders. Purpose-driven leadership decisions are based on experience, data, information and knowledge, which support leadership directional decision-making.
Aligning Leadership with Strategy
A purpose-driven organization aligns its business strategy with its purpose. Every strategic decision in their asset value chain, from product development to market expansion, is evaluated based on how it serves the organization’s purpose. This includes how organization and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, value streams and processes, governance, risks, and communication are integrated for coordination and collaboration efforts to support the business. As a result, this alignment ensures that strategic support investment areas are financially sound, and they are aligned with the company’s mission and values. This alignment ensures that the organization remains focused proactively on short-term (running the business) in an agile manner with continuous learning to avoid the pitfalls of reactive, siloed and myopic thinking.
Aligning Leadership with Individual Goals
Aligning leadership with individual goals is not just a strategy — it’s a philosophy that empowers leaders to create an environment for creating a cohesive, motivated, directed and high-performing team. When employees are passionate about what they do, they do not complain, but instead strive to excel. By aligning organizational goals, leadership fosters a sense of purpose, enhances job satisfaction and drives overall organizational success.
Organizational Cultural Influence on Leadership Style
Culture influences leadership style. This organizational behavior research measurement is based on factors of employee satisfaction, employee engagement, workplace culture, leadership ability style effectiveness and overall organizational health. Good leadership is crucial to the enablement of an effective and happy place to work. Bad leadership distracts employee performance, creates anger, bad behaviors and negatively affects organizational culture leading to suboptimal performance.
Typical Leadership Activities and Principals to Consider
- Servant Leadership
- Building Rapport and Trust
- Lead by Example
- Inspire and Motivate
- Applying Organizational Change Management
- The Importance of Humanization in Leadership
- Embrace Continuous Learning
- Decision-Making Skills
- Vision and Strategic Thinking
- Communicate Effectively
- Empowering The Team
- Fostering a Positive Work Environment
- Adaptability and Resilience
- Ethical Leadership
Measure and Improve Leadership Style
To ensure an organization stays aligned with its purpose, leaders must regularly measure and reflect on the impact of their actions. This involves setting goals that resonate with the mission, tracking progress and being open to adjusting strategies as needed. Seeking feedback from employees, customers, and stakeholders is crucial to understanding how they perceive the organization’s value and identifying areas for improvement. Leaders should have a continuous learning mindset.
It’s important to distinguish between managers and leaders — leadership goes beyond managing tasks. Leaders must understand what motivates their teams. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs offers a framework, highlighting that individuals are driven by different needs, from basic physiological ones to self-actualization then to self-transcendence.
By recognizing each person’s unique position on this hierarchy, leaders can tailor their approach to meet specific needs. Addressing these needs helps employees focus on their work and contribute more meaningfully to the organization, fostering a motivated and engaged workforce.