Authentic People Leadership

How to skyrocket your strategic impact without sacrificing your wellbeing

Monday 9 December 2024

"There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than what you are capable of living." Nelson Mandela

As people leaders, how do we develop greater strategic impact and fulfilment, while maintaining our energy and vitality?

Success leaves clues, enabling us to learn from women leaders who maintain their passion, energy and impact over the long-term, like Michele Obama or Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble. In contrast, leaders like Jacinda Ardern have faced potential burnout, leaving themselves with "nothing left in the tank." I know previously in my own journey there have been times when I felt like I had not thing left in the tank, perhaps you may have also experienced this.

Throughout my personal life and career, working as a leadership coach and facilitator, I have learned that the first step is to begin effectively leading ourselves. One practical tool that inspires me is Centered Leadership (Joanna Barsh et al, McKinsey). This also underpins the Shaping the People Agenda Programme, designed to empower HR and People leaders with the skills and confidence to have greater strategic influence, in order to authentically lead change in complex environments.

Joanna Barsh, who developed Centered Leadership, studied remarkable women leaders, those who exuded positive energy, bounced back from failure and were driven by purpose. She posed the question, what leadership capabilities distinguished these remarkable leaders from those who do a fine but unremarkable job?
Her findings led her to develop a minimum set of 5 capabilities, meaning, framing, connecting, engaging & energising.

A diagram of a diagram of the different types of leadership

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A diagram of a diagram of the different types of leadership

Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Regularly practising 4 or all 5 of these capabilities have been proven to provide a high level of satisfaction at work and at home and a high level of readiness for future challenges resulting in greater leadership impact, resilience and personal fulfilment. In contrast, leaders who did not practice any of these, seldom felt this way.

As a coach, I recommend starting with a single step, making one incremental improvement and then building up over time to combine all 5 capabilities into your leadership practice.
We are going to focus on two of the capabilities, framing and energising.

Framing – ability to reframe setbacks as opportunities for growth.
Imagine you order some new red shoes online, but when they arrive they don’t fit you. Consider how you deal with this setback, do you make it mean that you are not meant to walk? No, you most likely send them back and look for a pair that fit you.

However, many women when faced with setbacks or negative feedback tend to make the interpretation that this is about “who I am” or “what is or isn’t possible for me.” We may have beliefs around I am not good enough to influence at a strategic level, so I continue to play small and not take risks to share my ideas or opinions in strategic meetings. As people leaders we may feel we give 110% at work but never get sufficient recognition for ourselves or the function we lead eg HR Department.

These meanings created outside of our conscious awareness, tend to come from a fixed mindset and become an inner glass ceiling on our potential.

One way to develop a growth mindset, is to reflect on the meaning you make when setbacks happen, what does your inner critic say to you. You could journal about this, talk to a trusted friend or hire a coach. Developing a growth mindset enables you to have the confidence to take risks and to welcome setbacks as redirection, enabling you to make progress aligned with your purpose.

This in turn, supports you to overcome your inner glass ceiling by breaking through limiting beliefs to increase your credibility as a people leader. Confidence is like a muscle, the more you flex it, the greater it becomes. Consider what is possible for you if you embrace the mindset of knowing that you will either succeed or learn from your actions. The real failure is not taking any actions eg keeping the shoes that don’t fit!

Energising - the foundation to lead effectively
“Show up for yourself first”
I first heard this statement at a Life Mastery event by Tony Robbins in 2021 and it completely changed my attitude to health & fitness. I had been socialised within a culture of over giving, putting everyone else’s needs first. In a similar way, many HR leaders may play the role of professional carer for all staff, and find it challenging to prioritise their own self-care.

Whereas Centered leaders give themselves permission to prioritise their physical and emotional needs in order to show up as their best selves.

I invite you to schedule time into your calendar for an activity that fuels your energy, perhaps a walk, yoga, mindfully enjoying your coffee or catching up with friends. Make self-compassion a daily practice, including activities that are healthy, connected and purposeful in order to sustain your leadership practice.
To conclude, one proven way to develop greater strategic impact and fulfilment while maintaining your energy and vitality, is to put the principles of Centered Leadership into practice. Through prioritising your energy levels, developing a growth mindset and aligning with your purpose you will be empowered to speak out, take risks and authentically lead.
The world today needs the gifts that only you have to offer.

So, what is one brilliant and imperfect action aligned with your purpose, that you will take to become a more centered leader?

Join Joanne Kelly (Explore the Edges) and Michele Larmour (MAEL Strategic Solutions) as they faciliate the Shaping the People Agenda Programme. Overcome your inner glass ceiling and break through limiting beliefs to increase your confidence and credibility as a people leader.