Years ago, following lunch with my friend and chairwoman, I conceived of LeadershipVITAE. Not only would it become my leadership mantra, but a framework for how I think about and approach leadership.
Since that time, the framework has held. Recently, I was reflecting on its simplicity and power. And why it’s exactly what the world needs right now.
LeadershipVITAE encourages being a 360 leader. One that leads self, leads teams, and leads change. To be most effective, all elements are required, but often leaders will focus on one or two of the three.
They are each distinct disciplines, requiring attention and development. They build on one another, but each requires supplementary investment and focus.
Leading change
Change leaders are those that can organize people and resources to do achieve desired goals. Often, new and challenging problems to solve are what drive change leaders forward.
In the current climate, we need this skill more than ever. Globally, change leaders are chasing down treatments and vaccines for COVID. Nationally, they are pursuing racial equity and reforms to address systemic racism. Many companies have change leaders pursuing efforts to keep them solvent.
For every big, scary, or overwhelming thing we need addressed, change leaders are the ones we look to for solving them.
Leading others
People or team leaders help us get through each day. They are often the reason we still come to work in poor cultures, and what make an amazing one.
Our leaders are the ones (or should be) helping us overcome the move to a virtual workforce, or balancing work and homeschooling.
Every person and team needs someone helping them navigate the impact and volume of change we are experiencing.
Leading self
We all know the leaders who lead themselves. They tend to be introspective and self-aware. The leaders who know they have blind spots. They may not like certain feedback but own it and commit to improvement.
This is the one that many leaders forget. Living leadership is not just about knowing our values and putting them into practice every day. It is also remembering that current events are happening to leaders too.
Leading self means taking care of our health while being mindful of overwhelm and change fatigue. Empathy for self breeds empathy for others, so refilling our own cup ensures we have more available for our teams.
The world needs 360 leaders
We can do hard things. I love this quote from Glennon Doyle.
Leaders get paid to do hard things. It’s easy to lead when things are good. I’d argue that isn’t leading. It’s showing up. The real work beings when things get hard. And they’ve never been more difficult than right now.
If leaders focus on bringing their companies back from the financial brink, but forget to take care of their people, that will be remembered. As soon as times are better, those same people will leave.
Alternatively, if the focus is on people, but the company still must shut its doors, that isn’t sustainable. In the middle of it all, a leader with an empty cup means they have no energy to support the team or achieve company goals.
Very hard things indeed.
Inside out or outside in?
I started outside in with leading change, which is where many companies and individuals focus. It’s because this is where risk and opportunity are easiest to see.
The reality, however, is that effective leaders know true leadership starts inside out. When a leader focuses on leading themselves effectively, authentically, and aligned to their values, they can transform anything they are a part of.
By starting with self, leaders have the energy and empathy to best support and empower their teams. Channeling and focusing the collective team’s power through effective team leadership has an amplifying effect. Put simply, empowered teams can affect spectacular change.
While there are many examples in the country right now of failed leadership, we can find positive examples all around us. In our homes, communities, teams and companies.
Even if we are struggling to find those examples, each of us has an opportunity to be a 360 leader that can empower our families, neighbors, and peers. Whether we have formal or informal responsibilities, we can all affect positive change for those around us.
To lead is to do hard things. Let’s lead ourselves authentically and aligned to our values, lead teams the way we want to be led, and then we can affect positive change and achieve those hard things.
