Do you want to create true change and innovation? When we have a question, often the first place people go is to the New York Times Best Seller list. Or we search through social media to find the top blogs. We have an overwhelming amount of information at our fingertips. But searching this information only takes us to what is already known. If you want change and innovation, the greatest resource can lie within yourself and a team of people with shared values.
In my last two articles, I discussed how to personally be an at-rest transformational leader and how to be this leader with others. If we were to put this into a diagram, it would look like this:
How we address a problem in order to find a solution will depend upon how deep we are engaging in the transformation process. The deeper we engage in the process the more innovative our solutions will be.
Transformational Leadership with the Mind & Supplies
If we are at shallow levels of transformation, we will be in a state of using only our mind and interacting with others only on a supply level. The mind tends to be our first state of awareness. Often we go with what we already know. We also tend to look for quick fix solutions that address immediate needs.
For example, you want your employees to be more productive so you institute a rewards program. Productivity goes up but only for a short term. Your child has been hurt by a friend at school, so you buy them ice cream to cheer them up. But does this really address their hurt? A person is in poverty so you give them some money, but does this really help them to grow in their potential?
Transformational Leadership with the Heart and Strengths
At the heart level we listen more deeply to ourselves and also become more curious about others. So if your employees are struggling with productivity, you realize that there are unique things that motivate you. So, you become curious about what motivates them. Using your strengths of leadership, you develop a program to define the motivators of employees.
Transformational Leadership with the Will and Presence
Our will often connects to the deepest level of who we are. When our mind and heart are in alignment, we are often most receptive to creative solutions. It is also here where we can be fully present with others. At this level deeper relationships are formed. Trust becomes a holding environment where the team freely shares ideas and innovation happens.
As a leader, you come into your work day with a mindset being led by your will and bringing your presence into relationships. You have a meeting with a group of employees to address a problem situation. You are not anxious by the problem. You believe there is an opportunity in this situation. You also don’t see the group as employees but as a team with great potential. The problem is only part of the process of becoming better.
Instead of coming into the meeting with your own agenda, you listen deeply to the teams input. You ask questions instead of dictating. You all begin to see new perspectives on the issue. As a group you allow time for reflection. What ideas come to the surface? A decision is made to try a new solution. You empower the team. They feel support and not fear.
Transformational Leadership as a Lifestyle
I recently experienced a deep time of transformation with my daughter. I wanted to spend quality time with her, and I was curious to see how she would want to spend that time. I had set my will to look for opportunities. One evening my daughter asked me to draw with her, and I knew that this was an opportunity to engage. I could supply paper and pencils and also engage both of our strengths with art. What did she want to create? She asked that we sit and draw each other’s faces. So, we sat across from each other, looking at each other and drawing. No words were exchanged, but we both connected at a deeper relational level, which paves the way for transformation.
I give this example because living the transformation grid above is more of a lifestyle than a formula to follow. It is being in the right mind-set and presence so that your perspective changes how you see your day and new opportunities arise along with results you may not have expected (innovation). With using the transformation grid, where are you at with developing yourself? What examples can you give? Where would others say you are on the grid?