A Perspective on Transformational Leadership

In your journey as a leader, I am certain that you have faced numerous challenges. You have been concerned about how to lead the team to reflect on the future, how they need to shift their mindset to be more adaptable to the VUCA world we live in.

While all leaders are willing to adapt, stretch, and do better, most of them are not always well equipped to do so. Leaders need a tool kit to latch on. A tool kit that will be a compass in their leadership journey, be it leading self or others. A toolkit that they can open and reference depending on the situation.

Toolkits can be accessed through coaching and training. In every coaching and training session, I am always eager to find out, what new idea I will learn that day. I love the light bulb moments when an idea really lands.

I had such a moment when I attended a two-day Transformational Leadership program, delivered by a very talented facilitator and coach, Tim Seeton. He is part of a great team at ParaComm International, a global organization that is focused on building leaders of the future. He is an advisor to executives throughout the world, implementing dynamic strategies and commitments in such a way that it delivers extraordinary performance. He has a heavy Canadian accent, could not stop talking about his lovely wife and grandchildren and his love for Bob Marley, whom he met by the way. OMG! But he is, gifted, in how he connects with his audience and how he delivers his content.

ParaComm’s work seeks to create a shift in mindset. Their approach is based on creating a distinct language to shift how people observe, how they think (mindset) and how they act (their behaviour). They rely on individual commitment combined with building authentic relationship and trust to elicit collective results.

While it would be difficult to cram a two- day training into two pages, there are some great learning that I would really like to share.

The program defines certain core distinctions for Transformational Leaders and Coaches. Key is fostering a common language that can unlock authentic conversations and build relationships based on trust.

THE POWER OF SPEAKING, BACKGROUND CONVERSA- TIONS AND HAVING AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONS

Have you ever been in a meeting where the speaker says something that you know might be incorrect or you are unclear on, and they continue speaking/presenting but you are stuck at what they said. This is called having a background conversation. It happens a lot in business as well as at home. Usually, we are fearful of confronting or talking about it. After the meeting we then huddle in groups discussing the meeting and it becomes grapevine. The issue remains unresolved. A culture of fear often festers.

To unleash the power of conversation, a safe language to use is to say, I am having a background conversation. And I would like to clarify one of the points raised. The focus of the conversation is the fact, not the person who said it, so that it becomes objective. Using a common language lends us the opportunity to start the journey towards having authentic conversations. Would you be willing to try this in your workspace?

All leaders have an Accountability for their area of focus e.g., a project, division, or department. However, if one wants to elevate themselves in their leadership quest, they need to create a much wider curiosity and become aware of the challenges and opportunities that may ex- ist across the organization. One must aim to be useful in supporting cross board resolution.

TRANSFORMING COMPLAINTS INTO REQUESTS

We have all complained about work or our work environment. But have we realized that often we complain to people who cannot help with the said issue? We complain about lack of budgets, inadequate communication, inadequate notice, etc. but unfortunately to the wrong people. Imagine if we transformed our complaints to requests and made Requests of someone who can do really something about it?

Tim affirms that complaints are often made to everyone other than the person who can address it. However, a request which is very specific would be made to the person who can do something about it. For instance, a request on resources would be made to people in HR, a request for budgets would be made to people in finance. In this way it would be received and considered. Imagine if we transformed all our complaints into requests? Would this not be very powerful? Would it not result in higher productivity?

WHAT IS MISSING VS WHAT IS WRONG?

In the workspace, we are employed to unlock barriers and to create opportunities for business. We collaborate with each other to be able to do this. When things are not going well, we tend to look for what is wrong and as a result often get into confrontations. Tim recommends that we focus on what is “missing” and not what is wrong. This will open a conversation with the intention to fix what is missing. Proposals are presented, a way forward is determined, and the barrier is lifted. So next time you are in an argument, focus on what is missing not what is wrong.

GENEROUS LISTENING

Tim delivered this distinction very well. Often in conversations we listen to respond because we join the conversation with an already established mindset – I know what they are going to say. So, we prepare a response. This applies both at work and at home. With our children, our spouses, and our workmates. However, Tim offered an alternative. How about if we decided from today, we would focus on the person who is talking to us, remove all distractions, and really listen openly without our preconceived ideas. What if we choose to listen generously, listen for possibilities? We would start to build a bridge of trust and build relationships. Listening generously is a gift to our teams and our family members. I invite you to try this at home tonight.

DECLARING BREAKDOWNS

At work sometimes things go wrong. Usually, we are embarrassed by the mishap. Tim delivered a great solution. He stated that the best way to declare a breakdown is to declare the breakdown openly. E.g., I would like to declare a breakdown on the lost sale. We had committed to deliver the lead by end of June, but we failed to deliver the proposition in time hence the lost sale. What was missing was that we did not get back to the customer when we were running late, and the customer had a project to deliver hence they went with another vendor. When you declare a Breakdown, it is because you see something is “missing” and then you can put it in. An opportunity here is to enhance our communication with our customers along the sales journey to ensure that we keep our customer well informed. Would this be something you are willing to try at work?

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE THAN THEY ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR

All leaders have accountability for their area of focus e.g., a project, division, or department. However, if one wants to elevate themselves in their leadership quest, they need to create a much wider curiosity and become aware of the challenges and opportunities that may exist across the organization. One must aim to be useful in supporting cross board resolution. Always aim to be responsible for more than what you are accountable.

STRAIGHT TALK AND GIVING FEEDBACK THAT IS FUTURE DRIVEN

A leader with direct reports has a role to coach, to mentor, to support for success. As a leader it is important to support the team for future success. As managers we must provide feedback to our teams. When team members are committed and are adding value, it is very easy to give feedback as it is largely positive.

However, where we have team member who are lagging on their performance and their commitment level is low, we struggle. We look for ways to skirt around the issue. Here is where the straight talk needs to happen. Lack of it will eventually result in the overall organization performance being impacted negatively. In the conversation, focus on facts and consequences with timelines.

SHIFT FROM UNCOMMITTED CONVERSATIONS TO COMMIT- TED CONVERSATIONS

Finally transformational leaders engage in committed conversations. They commit to requests made to them. They promise to create action and to fulfill promises. Be a leader who makes and meets commitments.

In closing, my parting shot paraphrasing Tim is that leadership is about responsibility and accountability. It is a CHOICE we make. As leaders, let us lead with compassion, with humility, with optimism, with integrity, with curiosity and at the highest level of ethics. Seek support in this journey through coaching, registering for relevant training (come good ones are online) or reading books on the subject. Be courageous and embark on the journey towards being a truly transformational leader.

While all leaders are willing to adapt, stretch, and do better, most of them are not always well equipped to do so. Leaders need a tool kit to latch on. A tool kit that will be a compass in their lead- ership journey, be it leading self or others. A toolkit that they can open and reference depending on the situation.

Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi is the Chief Consumer Business Officer, Safaricom PLC. You can com- mune with her on this or related matters on email at: [email protected].