A few years ago, we designed a global leadership development programme for Unilever’s senior managers making the transition to a leadership position. In running the programme, I realised that there are a few fundamental shifts involved in getting out of an Operator/Manager Mode and into Leader Mode.

We developed the thinking further when we started our leadership programme in Boots and presented it in the FED framework. I was asked by the London Business School to write an article about our approach, read the London Business School Leadership Article.

In it I write about Harry. When I met Harry, he’d lost his way. He was a very capable player but had been knocked deep into a lifeless Operator/Manager Mode. During the programme, he came alive again and refound his engaging Leader Mode.

What a waste of human potential when we spend lots of time in our Operator/Manager Mode, particularly when we don’t want to be there but are not aware we are there!

How clear are you about how different you are in your Leader Mode?
What are the shifts in the article you could make more often?
Which shifts could you take on practising this week?

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