Editor’s Note

Living through the global pandemic for over a year now, our lives have transformed in so many ways. In addition to work conditions, the workforce and the workplace, leadership practices have also had to change! Although it has been a tough ride for leaders, many of them adapted to the changing workplace dynamics to survive and thrive. Leaders have had to be agile and adapt to grab opportunities and overcome challenges.

Today, leaders are focusing more on employees’ needs and trying to facilitate the best working environment for them. Are there any tips and tricks to master today’s leadership challenges? Should change and growth start with leaders first? Are you equipped to navigate the strange new waters of post-Covid leadership? Check out this edition of Leadership Excellence that includes answers to all these questions and more.

On the cover, we have Lee Ellis' article, Leadership Inertia And Entropy that talks about why change and growth must start with leaders first. To grow as a leader, it is important to work on the balance of using your strengths while being aware of your struggles and learn how to adapt your behaviors at the moment to operate more effectively. Lee puts forth 7 ways to break Newton’s law and grow.

Leadership, more than ever, is reliant on each team member. And teams, more than ever, are reliant on leadership. As a leader, the challenge to achieve success is met by building effective management teams and sustainable processes in support of successful behaviors that are able to thrive in this environment of persistent change, says Timothy Dukes and Michael Landers in their article, Present Leadership: Showing Up And Doing The Hard Work of Cultivating Presence.

Edward D. Hess,' Are You A Leader? Nothing Is More Important Than How You Talk To Employees, focuses on the importance of healthy workplace conversations. Helping employees feel like they’re an integral part of a caring, trusted team is not just a nice thing for companies to do; it’s more like a survival strategy. This happens only through the right kinds of conversations—those designed to make meaning and spark ongoing learning.

Companies create strategies so they can continue to grow. However, so many organizations stumble. Why? Read Jim Haudan's article, Strategy Execution Requires Leaders To Change Too, to learn why organizational strategies fail.

In brief, this edition includes articles that focus on leading through change. When employees feel supported by their leaders and see that they’re not alone or ignored, they become more receptive to change.

As usual, we hope you enjoy reading all the articles and look forward to receiving your valuable feedback.

Cheers!