Why organizational design and behaviour should matter to leaders

How can you unearth your leadership potential? Check out the Leadership Check List....How can you lead innovation and get people to say yes to your ideas; build high performing teams; understand your innate leadership style and build a plan so you can lead with your whole brain; lead and plan the implementation of change and how to build a culture free from fear so ideas can flourish. This season finale is about providing you with a snap shot of the ideas we have chatted about over the past few months and frame them in a way that they become your Leadership Checklist. Leadership is complex and this is a list but not an exhaustive list. There is always lots to learn. And as leaders we know that leadership comes with a great deal of authority and it also comes with a great deal of responsibility. So strive to lead with the whole brain and ensure you are leading from an eco-system instead of an ego-system of leadership. What we do matters.

Leaders can spend a lot of time on developing a vision for their organization, a 5-year strategic plan, but have they spent the time thinking about how the organization can deliver on the vision or the plan? How different structures and lack of clarify around accountabilities and lateral relationships can get in the way of success. Organizational design and behaviour matters to leaders because it unlocks the potential of the organization and the leader to deliver their vision. Without this step even the best strategy will fail.

Leaders: are they born or developed? What is your inherent leadership style? Is your leadership style pre-determined? How can you reach your full potential as a leader? In this episode we are going to chat about uncovering a leader’s inherent leadership style through assessment tools like: Myers Briggs, True Colours, Striving Styles, etc. And then take it one step further and discuss how a leader can leverage these insights to reach their full potential. Effective leadership not only requires us to leverage our innate strengths but also learn to use the less developed aspects of our personalities to be completely effective. Otherwise a leader can create dysfunction in an organization.

In this two part series I am going to chat about Innovation: In Part 1: How do you deliver innovation in an organization and Part 2: How do you keep it alive. So in Part 1, I will ask: Can innovation truly flourish in an organization? Or does the: culture, structure, or definition of the current business model get in the way? I will chat about my own experience in delivering innovation in a risk adverse culture, in exploring different structures and what worked and what didn’t and why and how defining a business model too narrowly can get in the way of new thinking…..This is what they couldn’t teach you in business school….because you have to live it to get it.

Today we are going to take leadership to the next level and chat about Theory U. How to impact not only the bottom line but also the triple bottom line. We are going to illuminate the leadership blind spot and provide tools to unlock the potential of your organization. br Regardless of your business goals, Theory U goes one step beyond the traditional methods of strategic planning and management tools and begins to uncover a leader’s blind spot…the things you cannot see…and the untapped potential for growth….

We have chatted about getting people to say yes to your ideas and keeping your ideas alive… but how? How do you ensure that the change you are leading will be effective? You have spent all this time on strategy, testing and evaluating your ideas, getting people to say yes, but have you thought about how to actually do it, implement it, lead a team and a company through change so that the final outcome is what you intended. That is what we are going to chat about in this episode. How do you lead a team, an organization, your business through the implementation phase of change? Because having the idea is only one part of it – being able to execute successfully and flawlessly is the other.

This episode is about how to unlock the power of culture in organizations. How it can be an incredible enabler to innovation, business growth and employee engagement and retention. It can also be a barrier and mean the difference between success and failure. It is not easy to define and even more difficult to document. It is more of a feeling than a strategy. But do not underestimate its power. An organization’s ability to unlock the power of its own culture is critical to its long term success.

How do you build high performing teams? How do you build trust? How can you become corporate athletes? This episode is about teams and what it takes to build them and lead them in today’s business world. This isn’t about authority, it is about influence. This is about the Law of Solid Ground. And understanding that trust is something you have to earn as a leader. And knowing when to train, perform, celebrate and rest to be a corporate athlete. And that it is a marathon not a sprint. I will chat about all of these concepts in this weeks’ episode and share some of my experiences. What I have learned about building high performing teams. The successes and the failures. This is what they couldn’t teach you in business school….because you have to live it to get it.

Are you a jungle lion or a zoo lion? Do you anticipate change and carve your own path or are you hoping that things won’t change and waiting for people to show you the way? Last week we chatted about leadership through change and this week is about how you can prepare for change. Today’s business world is ever changing, growing and evolving. It is far from predictable, reliable or safe. And how you anticipate and adapt to change is critical to success. We will chat about these concepts and strategies for success on this weeks’ episode. This is what they couldn’t teach you in business school…..because you have to live it to get it.

This episode is about “Leading through Change” – are you ever really prepared? How do you lead through significant change? How do you lead through an IPO? How can it impact your business model, your succession planning and your culture? My guest and I are going to chat about these challenges and more through a shared experience. We both worked at an organization that went through significant change and would like to reflect on the impact this transition had on the organization, its business model, culture and staff. The good, the bad and the ugly as they say….This is what they couldn’t teach you in business school….because you have to live it to get it.