It’s been another one of those years. On the upside, some level of normality has landed; however, political uncertainty and rising inflation costs have created a group of unsettled people.
From a work perspective, we continue to experience the biggest skill shortage in the last twenty years, and comprehensive data reveals over thirty percent of the U.K. workforce is working at least once a week from home, while online job adverts for remote work have increased by three hundred and seven percent since last year.
Initial feedback on the U.K. experiment for four-day working weeks has proved successful to the point where a higher-than-expected proportion of companies will continue to work a four-day week without a reduction in pay.
Work cultures are changing, and productivity, performance, and the well-being of our teams are high on every leader’s agenda.
With so much flux, how will you cultivate your leadership mindset, ready for a busy 2023?
This is an important question for all of us, so today I want to share a few ideas for you to consider over Christmas.
First, let’s get clear on defining what a leadership mindset is.
Leadership Mindset A Definition
Our mindset is vital to hone because it drives everything we do at work and at play. It shapes your opinions, decisions, and actions and impacts everyone around you in the work environment, especially how you lead others.
Your thought patterns influence your relationships, how you achieve your goals and the success of your overall performance. You will have heard me talk about growth mindsets in previous posts, and if you are new to leadership, I highly recommend reading Dr Carol Dweck’s excellent best-selling book on this subject.
An ideal first step, then?
Revisit What Makes a Great Leader
Whenever I want to improve a skill or trait, I always go back to basics and revisit the fundamentals, and as a leader that wants to improve, I recommend you do this too.
Agility, leading through change, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and the ability to be future-focused are all areas that need a revisit, never more so than now.
Ironically as we kicked off 2020, I wrote a comprehensive post on this subject; you can access it here. The post started with a key trait that is becoming increasingly important: becoming an agile leader.
In simple terms, leaders will need to be able to handle any curveball that comes their way. Leading through an ever-increasingly complex technology-driven environment means successful leaders will be agile leaders. Before we carry on, let’s be sure we all understand what we mean by this.
An agile leader is someone who:
- Is a creative thinker.
- Makes decisions and acts at speed.
- Proactively can engage a wide range of stakeholders they influence and learn from.
- Can move through and create change within teams, departments, and their organisation.
As we focus on revisiting what makes a great leader, this leads to the power of feedback and its usefulness to constantly improve what we do and how we do it.
Openly Ask For and Give Feedback
Depending on your current hybrid or remote working regime, feedback both ways- might have slipped from focus.
It is easy to assume everyone is ‘happy’ with your organisation and that your personal approach to communication is working.
For example, when setting expectations with your team regarding their performance, have you let things go?
Flexible working is one thing; however, when flexibility gets flipped too far the wrong way, this starts the slide into poor performance.
The role of a leader is constantly changing, which means all leaders need to be able to adapt to what is required of them at any given moment.
That is why it is critical to create a culture where feedback can be given and received in a safe and non-judgemental manner. You can read one of our most popular posts on getting good feedback here and a post on receiving feedback here.
Craft Your Communication Skills Constantly
Stop! Please don’t skim over this paragraph thinking yes, I know that. A question for you; how good are you as a communicator with your team?
Telling people what to do is a pattern many leaders have though ensuring you listen, exhibit empathy, and communicate clearly and concisely doesn’t always occur.
As human beings, we process words and body language at multiple levels, including our communication style. Knowing and understanding how to communicate in both a virtual and physical setting is important today. When you do this well, you will understand more about your team member’s styles, strengths and the value they bring to your organisation. If you haven’t yet put your team through the Insights Discovery programme, drop me a note here.
Clear Out Your Biases and Beliefs That Don’t Serve You
The D.E.I. agenda is raging, and rightly so. As human beings, we are biased, even though we think we aren’t.
The trouble is that bias can seep into our decision-making process; However, conscious steps can be taken to minimise its impact. Many training products and tools can help. If you have self-directed learning as part of your organisation, make sure D.E.I. is on your list of must-do programmes this year.
Useful? I hope so.
We have more coming your way in January, starting with how to set yourself up for success.
Everyone here at ZestFor wishes you and your family a wonderful and restful holiday and a super successful 2023.
Until next time,
Julia
About Zestfor
Zestfor specialises in developing leadership Training programs and resources scientifically tailored for technical markets – including Pharmaceutical, I.T., and Life Sciences.
Our blend of in-classroom, online, and virtual live-stream delivery methods will engage and assure even the most introverted team members from the first meeting. Let us arrange a brief chat; call us at 0845 548 0833.
