EXECUTIVE COACHING www.ceotodaymagazine.com 31 to embrace and co-create with the wisdom of others. Leaders will bring the value of their strengths, but they must also learn to be present in ways that demonstrate competence and create a safe space where teams can experiment, fail, learn, and discover how to coach themselves toward achieving their shared purpose. Coaching and leading in this way requires paying attention to suspending reliance on old ways of thinking and being open to new thinking. Leaders will have to stoke their courage to be vulnerable and unattached to their own feelings and ideas so that they can stand in the shoes of others and look through their eyes. Then, most important of all, practice letting go of control. Recovering from any addiction to being “right”; will help others discover their own answers and do their own work. purpose and goals; a strong culture supported by honest communication; mutual respect and understanding of the organisation’s limited resources; and across-the-board acceptance of the direction and urgency required to achieve excellence. But some organisations can’t seem to get out of their own way. Teams work at cross-purposes, waste valuable resources and become bogged down with bureaucracy and red tape. In these organisations, form becomes more important than substance, and the blame game and mistrust is rampant. I’ve been there and it is not fun. I learned first-hand that understanding my strengths and blind spots helped me work more collegially with my team. Shifting from a top-down leadership style to a team leadership style helped me and the team develop the leadership agility in adapting to our context. Recognising my need for development and getting the coaching I needed gave me clarity and confidence in this process. As I learned to recognise the ways I was overusing some of my strengths and underusing others, was able to shiftmy behaviour to be amore effective leader. As I developed my skills, I expanded my influence and stature among my peers. Then, when I modelled and encourage this kind of personal transformation in my team, it set us up for future success. In the process, I learned I must first let myself be empty and make space What are your top tips on achieving true success? My top four tips to achieving true success are embodied in what I call the LEADERSHIP CATALYST STRATEGY. Its four elements invite us to discover our unique strengths for leadership and then lead authentically as the best version of ourselves. When you lead as your best self you can influence others to be their best selves. • LEAD YOURSELF - Get clear about your natural strengths and values so you can lead with confidence and be clear about what you don’t know and intentionally seek to learn. • ENGAGE - Engage with your team to understand and embrace their unique strengths and passions so you create an empowered workplace where people feel heard, valued, and free to contribute. • ALIGN - Align your team’s strengths and values to inspire creativity, mutual accountability, and innovation so everyone is working together to fulfil the organisation’s mission. • DEVELOP - Empower your team members to be their best. Identify the emerging leaders, changing needs and future opportunities so that your team develops the strengths and skills to co-create purpose-driven transformation. Warner can be reached here www.bookme.name/impactfulteams A good leader makes conscientious and appropriate responses to the world around them; they do not deny mistakes – or blame others. “ “
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