Transparency and Focus

 

What is changing for leaders in the 21st century is the intensity to which the observer observes those who lead and influence.

 

Tangibility

A key ingredient to great leadership is the ability to make the intangible tangible for those we lead. As leaders we must recognize the tangibility of observation. Results are measured. Behaviors are observed.

An individual’s particular perception of you is formed by observation – she has observed your behavior. This is her intense reality because of what she has seen. If you truly want to change that perception you have only one choice; to change your observable behavior. For a behavioral change to be sincere and permanent, you have to be willing to analyze the belief that drove the original behavior. This is the Principle of Perception; and the leader of the 21st century is constantly managing impact with this principle in mind.

Measurability and observation make both results and behaviors tangible in the minds of those impacted by them.

 

Transparency

A loud call for transparency is less about communicating everything you know and do and more about every behavior aligning with who you claim to be and what you stand for as a leader. Transparency does not always mean the people being led want to know everything. Transparency does mean that followers in the 21st century demand that their leader be worthy of their trust.

 

As leaders, it is imperative that our communication behaviors are consistent and credible. We must be able to consistently create safety for dialogue and confidently confront issues. Consistency is a process and credibility is an outcome of the process. Transparency is a powerful tool in the process of being consistent.

 

Transparent behavior in your approach builds an environment of trust that is reinforced by your authenticity and assures safety for those you lead.

 

Focus

You are best equipped to serve followers when confidently taking the time to personally grow and develop in order to continually support your focus in leading.

 

This is focus; allowing the clarity of your intended impact to guide your decision making.

 

There is vast information available to us and being thrown at us – and more doesn’t at all mean the majority of it is good. A single day seems to whiz by and through us in the blink of an eye. Or it may seem to grab and hold us by the feet as insane and fearful news floods the compartment of time trapping us. The speed of it all can easily transform into one of the most indomitable enemies in the 21st Century – busyness.

 

Busyness is a distraction to the quality of our living. Busyness does not typically allow us to be with any particular activity in the present hindering our influence and the unfolding of our story of impact. As the world continues to grow, and we continue to feel smaller in it, realize it is not your size that counts; it is your impact. And your impact is a complex outcome of simple focus. Simple is a strategy.

 

Prioritization does not lead to this kind of focus. This kind of focus yields effective prioritization. A dedication to your unique focus leads you to the behaviors congruent with the story you desire to tell. When these behaviors match your intended impact you build trust and credibility.

A self-aware leader is a selfless leader. You must learn to better tell the organizational story with your figure painted into the picture. This is not selfish. You cannot give to others what you do not have. Give yourself the gift of time; time for growth and development. Give yourself the gift of effort. This time and effort for you is selfless – not selfish.

It is doing the right things to be certain you have what you desire to give others. Your unique focus becomes the advisor serving the stream of transparency that is created by your authentic intent and that is expected by those you lead and influence.

 

 

Jeff Brunson Builds Confident Leaders as a leadership coach – advocating the power of simple focus & personal brand. For information & resources, visit: http://buildingconfidentleaders.com/