John Pringle

Recently I worked with a leader who made just this shift. She had been enquiring of others: ‘What is your experience of me?’ and they had described her as being: ‘fair, consistent, a good communicator and well organised’. All of which she felt very much described her behaviour as a manager but not the leader she aspired to be: ‘inspiring, memorable, quick to build big relationships’. She spent some time thinking about how she could bring more of herself to her leadership, more of what really matters to her by way of her values and beliefs, and the difference that she wants to make as a leader. I encouraged her to share this with her team, to engage them in who she is aspiring to be and the future that she is leading for and – importantly – to have them be part of her support team in leading for the whole with her.

One of the key distinctions in Future-Engage-Deliver is that of Operator, Manager and Leader. Most leaders report that they spend more time managing than they do leading. They get caught up in the doing rather than noticing who they are being as leaders and what really matters to them and how they can bring this to leading for the whole.

This week take some time to reflect on what you are leading for. What is the difference you want to make? Who do you need and want to engage in what you are building? How would you like people to describe your leadership?

Learn more about John Pringle, the author of this article – click here