The Golden
Age of Leadership – Has It Arrived, Are you Ready?
By Pat
Heydlauff
There are many ways to describe Leadership and an
organization's operational model through the centuries since its
evolution out of the Dark Ages in the 1700s. Its progression through
the Iron Age, Bronze Age and Silver Age is very evident whether
described by those exact names or something else like the industrial
age and the information age.
Everyone should agree that there has been vast advancement and
achievement in countless realms during those times, but where they
all for the better? Were those achievements upgrades in thoughts,
actions and deeds so there was a holistic flow of knowledge and
connection between leader and follower throughout the organization?
Did it result in improved productivity, profitability and employee
satisfaction?
As a leader and a decision maker, did you realize that the
arrival of the 21st Century also ushered in a new
business model for leadership and organizational operations – the
Golden Age of Leadership?
Look around, nothing is working the same as it did in the past
century or as recently as the 90s. Companies that should be flying
high no longer exist, others have received government bailouts and
approximately one out of every ten worker is jobless.
The Golden Age of Leadership is all about "you." "You" can be
the leader or "you" can be the employee/follower. Forget the 80/20
rule for a moment and focus on a 60/40 "you" ratio. Leaders today
are breaking new ground and need to place at least 40% of their
efforts into nurturing and connecting with employees, not just
management teams and administration demands. Leaders in the 21st
Century need to think multi-dimensionally; vertically, horizontally
and laterally. A leader that can create a deeper connection between
employees and their important role in accomplishing the goals and
objectives of the company's vision will set all time record highs in
productivity and profitability.
The Golden Age of Leadership is all about living and leading
with the motto, "everything you think, say and do matters because
that is how you create the future; future sales, future
employee/employer relationships, future client relationships and
future profitability." Nothing good, bad or indifferent happens
unless it is first a thought.
According to Michael Eisner, "There is no good idea that can't
be improved upon." That is exactly what the Golden Age of Leadership
is – improving and upgrading to an entirely new thought process,
organizational operating system and interpersonal connecting
approach. It is time to take a serious look at the confinement of
organizational boxes and the restrictions of stress-filled workplace
environments that began rooted in the dogma of 17th
Century thinking, which no longer applies nor works in the 21st
Century.
Today, in the Golden Age, leaders and followers should be
engaged in energetic accomplishment in a workplace where energy
draining chaos is removed leading to a calm less stressful and more
productive environment. You accomplish this by eliminating
organizational boxes, not just stepping out of them, and creating a
workplace environment that engages, encourages and involves
employees.
Society and businesses see the results of technological
advances, the exponential explosion of information right along with
the loss of interpersonal connections. People now live and work in
cement cities filled with noise pollution and are constantly in
contact but never connected. In this new age, the job of the leader
is to get and stay connected because the result is focused
effectiveness, improved productivity and increased profitability.
The Golden Age of Leadership has at its fingertips many new
tools and techniques for creating sustainable leadership. Tools that
result in a workplace environment that engages, encourages and
involves employees while reducing stress, job absenteeism and
increasing job satisfaction.
Read other articles and learn more
about
Pat Heydlauff.
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