Making Leadership A Movement, And Your Company’s Greatest Asset

How do you create a leadership movement?

What do you think of when you hear the word leadership? 
 
For most of us, it would be the smart, well-dressed people that sit at the top of an organization, working on strategy, financial statements, governance and the like. 
 
Leadership is something we can aspire to, enabling us to be part of the upper echelons of corporate society, and hang out in fancy boardrooms and executive suites.
 

This is of course where leadership resides, and rightly so. 
 
Without senior leaders to captain them, our corporate ships are rudderless and vulnerable to the merciless storms that economic and political uncertainty bring.  And there are plenty on the horizon.
 
Entire companies and industries are fighting for survival, and for the best talent, and never has strong leadership at the top been so critical. But what if leadership had another, additional home – a place where it could really take root, and keep the company, and its employees, grounded and fulfilled, even in turbulent times?
 
Savvy companies around the world have already realized that leadership is not just for the senior leaders at the top of their organization, where it has traditionally been nurtured, but also has a place throughout their organization, especially when they need their employees to champion change. 
 
They know that leadership, in its purest sense, is an unstoppable force for change, creating a ripple effect that charges down and out through the company like a giant mass of water, transforming everything in its path for the better.
 
Leadership for all, for those without an official title, is as powerful as a waterfall, especially when channeled around a cause that employees believe in, and behind a vision that sets everyone’s hearts on fire. 
 
When you get employees fired up about something, just one thing, then they get fired up about everything, sending your engagement and productivity levels through the roof. 

So how do you do it?
 
How do you create a leadership movement?
 
First, you have to decide on your cause. What’s the one strategic issue your company needs to get after right now – the one thing that will make a big difference to both the company and employees? Much has been written about “keystone habits”, and how a focus on one thing only will trigger wider changes throughout the whole system. 

Whether it’s your company or your life, it’s the small changes, the daily habits that can be profound.
 
For some companies, the cause is Health and Safety, for others it might be Wellbeing or Diversity and Inclusion – that one thing that gives your company its unique personality, unites your employees and allows you to lead your industry. 
 
Choose your cause wisely, and for the right reasons, because when you do the right thing, the other business benefits, and the finances, take care of themselves.
 
Then you set your vision and make it a statement of who or what you want your company to be, at some unknown point in the future.  It needs to be aspirational enough to keep your employees motivated for many years to come, ensuring your investment is sustainable.
 
Remember that employees aren’t motivated by the easy stuff, but by the seemingly impossible challenges, the big things that no-one else has managed to do – especially when it means everyone pulling together and having a clear role. 
 
And importantly, motivated employees become leaders.
 
All that remains now is to make your vision into reality, and having motivated your entire workforce to become leaders, be clear on what that leadership looks like. The key tenets of transformational leadership are a good place to start – acting as a role model, inspiring employees and challenging their thinking – using them as a guide to develop some clear leadership behaviors of your own, and for everyone.
 
For this you will need to invest in your people – giving them not just the skills, but also the confidence, to adopt the new behaviors. 
 
Leadership without an official title, and no formal authority can be challenging, but with some key communications and coaching skills, everyone can do it, especially when we create the environment for it to happen.
 
The more people align behind the cause, the sooner it becomes part of the culture.  We can also give the culture a helping hand by making our individual responses to the new leadership behaviors a part of the new behavior set we are specifying.
 
Leadership for all is an investment in our employees and brings benefits far beyond the immediate impact on the strategic issue you have chosen to focus on.
 
Whether you choose Health and Safety, Well-being, Sustainability or Diversity and Inclusion, or any another critical corporate issue, the benefits are too numerous to ignore.
 
The new leadership behaviors adopted by all will reach a critical mass and spill over into other areas, benefiting engagement, productivity, sales and reputation. 
 
They will also establish a culture of change leaders who are fired up and ready to tackle any challenge your company needs to prioritize.
 
Leadership with a small “l” i.e. leadership for all, is a no brainer and could be your company’s biggest asset.
 
Will you inspire your employees to go after it?
 

Karen J. Hewitt is a multilingual Engagement and Culture Change specialist with proven credentials in creating cross-border leadership movements within organizations. She is the author of “Employee Confidence – the new rules of Engagement,” finalist in the Leadership category of the Business Book Awards 2019. Follow @karenjayhewitt Connect Karen J.Hewitt