HOW TO LEAD WITH LESS STRESS AND THRIVE IN YOUR PURPOSE

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Eric Miller, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

Having a laser specific mission and communicating it to stakeholders is what great leaders do well. Over time, however, a mission can get stale resulting in complacency and fail to deliver on the brand promise. Any organizational system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent any necessary change. Modern leaders are able to adapt their leadership style and find a comfortable level of uncertainty when change is required.

Be fluid in your process while driving the mission. Push decision making as far down the line as possible and embrace the collective wisdom. Doing so will reduce your stress levels and you will create a culture of improvement that thrives in entrepreneurship.

FOUR WAYS THAT MODERN LEADERS ADAPT TO MISSION CRITICAL CHANGE

1. PRACTICE EMPATHY WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Being an effective communicator requires having good listening skills. When you can listen with empathy you will gain information on how to best respond to the other person. Engage your team by asking them questions that will engage them in a conversation. Use active listening skills that will allow for valuable feedback.

2. CREATE A FEEDBACK LOOP

Be courageous and ask for uncensored information, so you can better evaluate the direction of the mission. Great leaders are mature and don’t take criticism personally. They have the ability to listen aggressively to any negative feedback of team members and customers and use it to their advantage.

3. LEAD LESS AND GET MORE DONE

Determining if a task should be delegated is the first step. Great leaders are effective in knowing what to delegate, and how and when to delegate it. Before classifying the level of ownership that a team member will be tasked with doing, investigate the opportunity. Determining the nature of the project, determines the type of delegation and who performs the tasks. Letting go of control is the next important step. Delegating tasks can really be a great opportunity for leadership development. I have learned that this is also a great approach in eliminating micro-managing competent team members. Assign responsibility to team members so they can lead themselves

4. BECOME A CROSS CONNECTOR

Organizational misalignment never fixes itself. Having an aligned team is critical for success in the mission purpose. You will be able to recognize misaligned energy when team members celebrate the lack of performance of other teams in the organization. Aligning energy is a fluid process that requires a modern leader’s mindset. The responsibility of a leader is to keep the team aligned with the mission’s purpose. Modern leaders intervene and connect departments or team leaders in driving the overall mission forward.