The personal qualities of an effective leader of business agility and continuous change play a big part in the success of the organisation. And while in past years transformational leader qualities were often marked by decisiveness, command and control and authoritarian stance, today’s leader is best served by personal qualities of vulnerability, empathy and curiosity.
Vulnerability has become a topical concept thanks to the work of Dr Brene Brown. We recognise now that leaders who have an ability to demonstrate vulnerability form strong bonds of followership. People relate to those who are like them and recognise the vulnerability. That said, there are risks in “using” vulnerability as a tool in change and its also important to have boundaries in this domain.
Empathy has also risen in value thanks to the impact of design thinking approaches. We’ve also been witness to the power of empathic leaders like New Zealand Prime Minsister Jacinda Adern, and the helpful distinction between empathy, sympathy and compassion. In this unit we look at empathy in context of the workplace and leadership and how you can improve change leadership.
The final topic is curiosity and this is always one that yields some surprises for leaders enrolled in the course. Curiosity requires time and attention, and this often the first time leaders are given explicit direction to be curious about curiosity! The payoff is huge. Curiosity is a terrific way to stay open to further change and navigate conflict and uncertainty.
Our enrollees find this unit often very personally transforming and demonstrate significant vulnerability in doing the experiments. We often hear that the exercises and content covered initiates conversations with significant others and family members. Not our intent, but delighted to hear it opens up broader conversations of change.
Do you think you are up for it? Head over to our teachable site to enrol – we will be ready and waiting to provide a safe space to explore these personal qualities critical to today’s leader of change!
