Tips on How to Become a Transformational Leader
Bonne Vie
Rock the boat.
Complacency breeds contempt and that’s the last thing transformational leaders want. They have the courage to take on challenges that keep them on their toes. Their dedication to the vision means calculated risks are par for the course, and they aren’t afraid to take tough calls along the way. This attitude means they aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and ask questions. By questioning accepted norms they are encouraging others to do the same and cultivating an environment when employees feel comfortable to speak out, voice their ideas, and be innovative.
Get to know people and help them grow.
The benefits of a personal approach cannot be emphasised enough. To build strong relationships with customers and employees you require mutual respect and trust. To get there you need to give individual attention, listen and understand what is important to them. Find out what their goals and priorities are within the larger professional setup. This will help you find ways to enable your employees to flourish and motivate them so as to achieve the larger goal.
Have a more custom-centric approach.
Business leaders are increasingly looking to CIOs to drive projects, create new revenue streams, and use all the tools and knowledge at their disposal to boost business. This means CIOs need to focus even more on customers and work to ensure customer satisfaction. Rather than having a project mentality, CIOs need to have a product mentality, where there’s a larger focus on user experience. After all it’s customer satisfaction that will ultimately define your brand and help increase profits.
Collaborate and be open to sharing data.
The traditional mentality of creating data silos is often detrimental to innovation and hinders initiatives that promote technological advancements. CIOs should provide access once internal information requests have passed security checks and shouldn’t hold back unless there’s a compelling reason. CIOs should also encourage their team to collaborate with other business units, while they themselves work closely with business leaders and other digital heads. The idea is to foster collaboration so that the company works together as a whole to achieve business goals and benefits.
Look beyond transactional leadership to empower, innovate, and create a positive change.
The concept of transformational leadership has been around since 1978. But it’s risen in popularity over the last few years as leaders have recognized the benefits of this type of leadership. Here’s how you can adapt your leadership style so that you’re creating meaningful growth for your organization.
Establish your professional purpose and articulate it.
Set down in detail exactly what you wish to achieve, your professional purpose. This purpose helps you create a vision for yourself. You now know exactly what you’re working towards so that you can plan concerted efforts in that direction. Once you’ve done this for yourself, you then need to work with your team members to craft their purpose within the organisation and team. This gives them a strong sense of direction. They can then draw up an execution plan to accomplish it. This clear setting down and articulation of purpose will change how people view their roles and responsibilities, increase productivity and bring about a transformation in the way the organisation functions.
LEADERSHIP BRIEF
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