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Hunt For Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
LEADERSHIP is the cornerstone of great achievements. Leadership is not static. Consistency in leadership is not about doing the same things all the time.
It is continuing to adapt your leadership approach but being consistent in the supply of the leadership factor.
This is the essence of “leadershift” — an essential key to building greatness.
“Leadershift” involves adapting leadership strategies to meet demands of the ever-changing environment.
Embracing “leadershift” is essential in stimulating change and growth.
You are irrelevant as a leader when you are no longer capable of changing.
“Leadershift” is a term popularised by Dr John C. Maxwell in his book “Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace”. It refers to the deliberate process of changing leadership styles and strategies to stay relevant and effective. Not all change is improvement, but without change, there can be no improvement.
Changing times, shocks and turbulent circumstances cannot be approached with a rigid mindset and tired leadership recipes.
“Leadershift” is fluid, flexible and forward-thinking. Dr Maxwell identifies several key shifts that leaders must make.
These include:
Soloist to conductor: Moving from doing everything alone to orchestrating team efforts
Goals to growth: Shifting focus from achieving specific goals to fostering continuous growth and development
Perks to price: Shifting from enjoying the privileges of leadership to understanding and embracing its responsibilities, accountabilities and costs
Maintainer to innovator: Evolving from maintaining the status quo to driving innovation and change
When a leader stands still or remains stuck in the past, much is lost and momentum stalls.
This is because everything rises and falls on leadership. The burden of leadership is that you lose the right to point fingers and apportion blame. This is because the buck always stops with you. Improvement, change and growth are key in “leadershift”.
Adaptability
Change is happening in unpredictable ways and across various nodes.
The ability to adapt is crucial.
“Leadershift” enables a leader to respond to new challenges and opportunities with agility and resilience.
Through adaptability, you can navigate through uncertainties and emerge stronger.
The test of your leadership are the challenges you navigate through.
Innovation
“Leadershift” fosters a culture of innovation. By thinking creatively and embracing change, you develop new products, solutions and processes that give you a competitive edge.
“Leadershift” is a sharpening process.
Engagement
Leadership challenges you to shift from a top-down approach to a more inclusive and collaborative style.This causes your team members to feel more valued and engaged.
This leads to higher productivity, job satisfaction and retention.
Sustainability
“Leadershift” promotes sustainable growth by focusing on long-term development, rather than short-term gains.
This is crucial for longevity and success.
How to leadershift
“Leadershift” is not something that you just speak about; it is something you do intentionally.
It takes effort and requires a few important ingredients, which appear below.
Continuous learning: The “leadershift” challenge is committing to lifelong learning. This involves staying up to date with industry trends, seeking feedback and being open to new ideas.
Continuous learning helps you to stay relevant.
It enables you to make informed decisions.
Emotional intelligence (EI): This is the ability to understand and manage your emotions, and those of others.
Leaders with high EI can build stronger relationships, handle conflicts effectively and nurture a positive work environment.
Growth mindset
A growth mindset, as defined by American psychologist Carol Susan Dweck, involves believing that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. No situation is ever terminal; you can change and grow.
Leaders with a growth mindset encourage experimentation. They view failures as learning opportunities. They inspire people to strive for continuous improvement.
“Leadershift” means you are a growth catalyst, not just a critic and perennial complainer.
Promote collaboration
“Leadershift” requires you to appreciate the power of collaboration.
Create an environment where others feel safe to share ideas and provide feedback. “Leadershift” means you synergise and help people work better together.
Lead with purpose
“Leadershift” involves alignment with the mission and values of the organisation. Lead with purpose and vision.
Inspire a bold ambition. This is how you inspire people and drive meaningful change.
Empower others
Good leaders fix problems.
“Leadershift” means to solve problems and empower people to be their best. Delegate responsibilities, provide resources and offer support — this is the “leadershift” way.
It fosters a sense of extreme ownership and accountability.
“Leadershift” is key to shaping the future. Disruption demands leaders who are adaptable, visionary and inclusive.
“Leadershift” challenges you to listen and communicate effectively. “Leadershift” positions you to win and be great.
By fostering a culture of continuous learning, emotional intelligence, growth mindset, collaboration, purpose-driven leadership and empowerment, you build greatness beyond today.
“Leadershift” is a necessary evolution in leadership thinking. It requires you to move beyond traditional approaches that just burden people with bureaucracy without results. Create environments where people think and thrive.
“Leadershift” builds greatness.
Embrace it.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and accomplished workshop facilitator. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected]
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