Anyone who has been on one of my leadership programmes will know that I stress that leadership is first and foremost a mindset and an aligned set of behaviours. You have to be clear on what is important to you and behave in accordance with that. Yes, leadership requires knowledge and skill but knowing what you value and demonstrating a commitment to that day-in, day-out, is critical to successful leadership.
Interesting then that McKinsey's latest quarterly newsletter stresses the exact same thing. In an article about high performing leaders they stress that there are 'five critical leadership mindsets' that leaders need to adopt in order to unlock sustained performance growth.
As the article says,
"Leaders of outperforming companies unlock sustained growth by aligning their behaviors with five critical mindsets: prioritizing growth, acting boldly, maintaining a customer-centric approach, attracting and nurturing talent, and executing with rigor."
In essence, companies that exceed their peers on both revenue growth and profitability do so by purposely doing things differently. They do what others aren't willing to do.
So what does this look like in action?
1️⃣ They invest in growth, even in turbulent times
The highest achieving companies, led by high performing leaders, prioritise long-term growth over short-term initiatives, even in tough times.
2️⃣ They are audacious in their thinking about growth
The think creatively, take risks, and mobilise resources quickly across an array of growth opportunities and pathways. They make bets!
3️⃣ They really Listen to their customers
They focus on improving customer-experience and actively work to put customer experience at the centre of their business thinking
4️⃣ They rally a "dream team" of people around growth
They focus on building a team who are aligned behind a common goal and who are motivated and engaged in pursuing it vigorously
5️⃣ They lower the risk of going for growth by executing with excellence
They invest in the processes and technologies that underpin success and couple this with a keen eye on the metrics that measure the progress being made
As McKinsey say in their article, growth doesn't come from simply dreaming of a brighter future. It comes about by "translating aspirations into concrete plans and driving them forward with decisive leadership".
If you're a leader wondering if you're doing things the right way today, as yourself the following five questions:
❓ 1. What funding have I recently reallocated toward growth?
❓ 2. Am I acting boldly, or just operating in my comfort zone?
❓ 3. What have I done lately to better integrate customer needs?
❓ 4. Have I reconstituted my team to focus on growth?
❓ 5. What targeted interventions have I made recently?
Comments