As the summer draws to an end and the kids go back to school, this is a time of year to pause and 
reflect on what’s happened so far and what’s ahead. Eight months are in the books which means the year is two thirds over. In my role as a leader of leadership development solutions, I started thinking about some of the things I’ve learned and observed so far in 2018 related to leadership development so I could consolidate into a nice blog. Here are 5 things that I think I’ve learned:
All leaders will fail in today’s world without a strong Business IQ
Leading by getting by on intuition and street smarts doesn’t work without a strong Business IQ. By Business IQ, I am referring to above average knowledge of business strategy, how to execute strategy through operational decisions, and how to measure the business results through financial reports and key financial metrics. I continue to be surprised by a lack of Business IQ and know that organizations struggle with defining a path for skill development in the area. The other day, I was speaking with a Chief Learning Officer about this and she shared something interesting; “I am just tired of business leaders asking for ‘business acumen’ training and they have no idea what they are asking for.” I explained my vision that at the end of the day, Business Acumen training is a process by which leaders understand how a company makes money, how their company makes money, how their customers make money, and how competitors make money. She really enjoyed my opinion and we are going to put together a pilot program to test the hypothesis.
Being effective leaders of change is no longer optional
It used to be that “change leadership” was a module you stuck on at the end of a leadership development program to fill out the week and make everyone feel good that they recognized that somehow, someway, leading change was important. Today, every leader is a change leader by default and creating environments for people to feel comfortable with change and disruptions have to be as common as breathing. People throw around words like agility and resiliency when talking about change, but without some sort of experiential learning process to simulate change situations and learn-by-doing, leaders can’t practice the subtle skills needed to be great change leaders.
Being an authentic leader is critical to success
When customers, competitors, and future employees know as much about you as they know about themselves, there is no more faking it or being the BS artist leader. Using buzzwords and feigning knowledge creates bad optics and they will sniff you out immediately. Once that happens, your leadership credibility is gone forever. Being authentic means listening very well, sharing only the truth, and being truly concerned about the people who are working hard trying to execute your strategy and driving the results of your teams and business.
You must establish a culture where everyone is self-accountable to the team
That may sound like an oxymoron, but in today’s virtual global world where some leaders may never actually physically meet their direct reports, the only way to succeed is by establishing a culture where people are empowered and believe in self-accountability to themselves and team at the same time. Understanding every employee is different, leaders must have the ability to utilize foundational skills such as situational leadership to delegate appropriately and be more or less directive based on the people, the strategy, the goals, and the key objectives.
A culture of Innovation to support the strategy
There is a misconception that only companies like Apple and Tesla are innovative. That is not true, and leaders need to understand that it is their job to develop a culture of innovation that pushes employees to challenge the status quo and think of ways to better execute their own strategy. Leading a culture of innovation is a distinct discipline that requires planning and encouragement every day by giving people the time and the resources to find their innovation zones.
In summary, being a leader is different now then it was even 8 months ago. I’m seeing a real thirst for more business leadership skills and organizations that are doing well must reinvest some of their profits back into the people and skills needed to maintain success for the long run.
