What happens in leadership when vision collides with purposefully serving others from a place of love

Today, let’s try something different from the onset and begin with a whole new idea. An idea, which if you are at all like the leader I once was, might make you somewhat uncomfortable.

Instead of applying the age-old norm of playing the game of following the leader, how about we explore if we can put our people out front instead?

This is absolutely possible when we step into a place where visionary and servant leadership have the potential to collide.

Some of you at this point may say, “Well I identify as a visionary leader, but I’m no servant, that’s for sure.” Aren’t people meant to serve leaders?

If this is you, like many of us at some time in our career, you might be thinking from the old leadership rule book that may no longer be serving you well. Excuse the pun! Along with this, you may be living the belief that serving is some form of personal self-sacrifice and something you will have no part in.

The world has changed. The result is that we need to be more dynamic, in the ever-changing cycles that we’ve all been thrown into, through years of disruption, on what seems like full steam ahead.

If the last few years have taught you nothing of the extremes life can bring, you may have missed the disruptive opportunity of a lifetime.

Some of us have felt discomfort, yet some developed the ability to lean into the significant opportunities that can often come from disruption. When you learn to lean into disruption this way, you can often find yourself desiring a life that feels more purposeful, which is a beautiful opportunity that can bring benefits both personally and professionally.

Leading through disruption

If you are a leader during these disruptive times, you may find yourself already in a personal struggle of wading through disruption. You may also find yourself being necessary as a lamppost for those to whom you lead. With this in mind, your people are likely relying on you more now for your visionary leadership than ever before.

Visionary leadership is all about applying your visionary skills with a purpose, empowering those around you, and enabling them to rise to the challenge to discover the leaders we all hold within our untapped potential. However, our people have all too often been told that the manager out in front tells us all what to do. Whilst we continue to manage this way, we are uncoupling people from their innate ability to input, adapt, learn and grow through challenge.

It’s a common urban myth that not everyone can lead. We are all born with the same potential to lead, which plays out in our lives differently, from parenting to work. Someone in your life at some point in time is likely looking to you to take the lead, no matter who you are, whether you are a Manager or not. The delightful development of this innate ability is diminished in most of us, sometimes deliberately, yet more often accidentally.

What if we fostered innovation and growth instead of the outdated style of doing as you are told?

In contrast to old leadership styles, servant leadership is about leading from behind. couple this with the insights of visionary leadership, You can then find yourself shining a light on your vision ahead. It’s a role I more often see adopted in parenting than in the workplace. I have a feeling this may be because we feel more comfortable leading from the heart at home than at work.

When we combine visionary and servant leadership styles, driven by purpose, we are developing a powerhouse of skills. This combination allows us to re-engage the heart to lead in a very different way.

As leaders, we are surrounded by capable innovators and pioneers, all chomping at the bit to take our organisations forward together. With good vision and support, we can as leaders foster just that, but it comes from the heart, not the mind.

I know personally how hard it sometimes is to know when to take off our lead hat and become the nurturer in a leadership role. However, the heart plays a critical role if we are to capitalise on the potential that exists within the people across our organisations.

Think of sports like sailing and rowing, all led from the back. Then there is the alpha male wolf. The strongest wolf, who is the very last wolf in the pack in their travels. He protects the old and the weak, ensuring no one gets left behind. This is leading from the heart. It can be nothing else.

Is it possible that your organisation is full of people who feel sluggish and stale after the last few years? It would be understandable after so much disruption around the world in general.

What better way to get your people unstuck than a nice healthy dose of heartfelt investment in your people, with a redefined and purposeful vision to elevate them to reengage? Love is powerful, and whether you like it or not, people working in our businesses cannot shut that part of themselves down, and neither should they have to when they come to work.

When was the last time you did a pulse check, that asked the big and important questions from the heart as a Leader?

Has your organisation always created strategic direction from the top down, that was driven without love and purpose?

You may have missed significant untapped potential waiting to be explored in your people, whilst your leadership team strategised how to stay relevant in the ever-changing digital world, separating love from work.

It’s hard to lead from the front because you have to constantly look back. Yet when you re-imagine your leadership style, and begin to lead from the back, you can see the road ahead and your people all at once, lovingly nurturing and guiding them forward.

I have worked for many years in business transformation, yet my success has come down to my ability to lovingly lean into personal transformation, as part of the process at each place I have worked. It took a great deal of love and purpose to reinvent myself, so I could bring love and purpose back to my work where it always belonged.

As a leader of change, I am frequently told I have the hardest job, because too often we think we are transforming organisations, yet in reality, to be successful we need to transform the only thing we really can, ourselves! I actually have an easy job, because I have learned to lean in with love to personal transformation. No matter the struggle or perceived depth of inability to change, I know success awaits us because I choose not to try to change anyone. Instead, I light the way from behind with a vision and lovingly support people to find their own way through change. People naturally respond to love by lighting up a purposeful vision.

This idea can be a bitter pill or an enlightening concept that will change your life forever, either way, the choice is yours. You get to choose love and purpose or stay where you are. The only difference is the amplification of the struggle. If you choose a path of personal transformation, from the lens of love and purpose, you can begin to see opportunities instead of problems. Thus, over time, creating excitement as to what comes next, instead of fear trying to hold you stuck where you are.

As a business transformation strategist, my greatest success story in life is leaning into my ongoing personal transformation. I lead purposefully with love from behind the pack, authentically bringing every part of me to my work. I embrace trying every day. I still make mistakes, yet I have learned that people are more forgiving when you come from a place of love.

Every day is a new opportunity to grow through interaction, innovation and inspiration, and I agree every day to be the pioneer in my life as it unfolds.

Today, I listen more, and I am incredibly proud of the leader that I have become, reflecting on the leader I once was, galloping full steam ahead, expecting those to chase behind me. In uncovering this beautiful potential within myself, leadership has become almost effortless. If I had continued to lead from the front at full gallop, I would have missed the most beautiful vision of all, that now appears right in front of me. That is to witness the pure potential of others.

This is the incredible payoff from letting go of the reins and trusting that your people are more than capable of tapping into their potential. They needed only your vision and support, not your direction.

As a leader, there are some helpful questions you can ask yourself that might lead you down a path that’s better for everyone.

Trust

What is your position on trust? Do you expect people to trust you implicitly? Do people have to earn your trust?

Trust is a foundational baseline that without realising, we often undermine as leaders.

Personal transformation

Are you changing personally and professionally? What are you doing to upgrade your skills both personally and professionally?

Only transforming people transform organisations, not the other way around. When we begin to understand that business transformation is driven by our willingness to transform, as leaders, we give our staff permission to do the same, through a lead by example ripple effect.

Heart leadership

When we learn to lead from the heart, we lead with purpose. When I learned this valuable lesson myself, life changed for me completely. My work these days feels rewarding and full of ease and grace. Life is meant to be this way for us all. Not a grind of endless stress, frustration and disappointment.

You know you are working at your best and in the right place when you feel this sense of ease and grace.

Take some time in life to reflect on where you are. Do you feel ease and grace in your work, or do you feel stressed and frustrated?

Begin today to work in these three areas and see the changes for yourself first, then choose to lead from behind. Not only will your people go further, but so will your organisation.

This quote comes to mind. I can’t remember where I heard it, however, it says a lot.

“Want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together”

How you choose to lead

The choice as a leader is yours. You can choose to lead as you always have or grow into a servant leader who, like me, has chosen to lead from the back of the pack, leaving no one behind.

Today, begin with a focus on understanding what trust, transformation and servant leadership mean to you personally, then bring that with purpose and authenticity to your leadership role. Your life could change in ways you may never have imagined possible.

You may rediscover joy in your work, or quite possibly realise you are in the wrong place altogether. Whatever happens, you will be headed on a path that is not only more joyful for you but also for the people around you.

Then, through a beautiful ripple effect, you have stepped out of the finite rule book and looked through a cracked open door to the infinite, where anything is possible.

The next time you think that you, as a leader should be out front or that your leader is out front, remind yourself that it is only the lens of your perception that determines that idea.

Simon Sinek is often quoted as saying, ‘Sometimes you are in front, sometimes you are behind’.

Apply a new lens. Consider yourself right now as the leader, standing on a line with all your team lined up behind you. Your lens or view perceives you are in front. Now, I want you to imagine you all turning 180 degrees to face the opposite direction. Where are you standing now?

Maybe today is the time to turn around and take a look from the back of the pack.

Are you game to look from a new vantage point?

If you lean in, as I did and take the chance, you may be pleasantly surprised by what the new view does for both you and the members of the team you may be leading right now. Through the powerful, yet potent, impact of the beautiful ripple effect of empowerment, anything is possible.