“I am Groot.”
-Groot
I imagine there was a day when Groot simply declared himself into being. Was the first time he uttered: “I am Groot” as a child, teenager or fully grown adult?
Similarly, when did you decide to become a Leader? Did your desire for leadership begin in childhood, adolescence, or did someone say to you, “You’re a leader!” only to realize for yourself you really are a leader!
Modern Leadership goes way beyond title. It’s truly about who you are being – your presence and your impact.
Most importantly the best modern leaders embrace their feminine and masculine leadership qualities AND they are 100% committed to taking responsibility for their impact (whether that impact is intentional or unintentional).
So, from a business perspective, why is modern leadership important?
It’s easy to understand how modern leadership energizes teams. And how this factors into both productivity and the innovation needed for today’s competitive business environment.
Because modern leadership values the feminine in addition to the masculine approach, what results is a balanced and integrated approach where every team member “gets it” because the culture of the team speaks their language of belonging. And does that impact engagement and profitability? For sure!
For companies with an unhealthy masculine, heavy command and control style of management, what’s the fastest way to rapidly integrate a more feminine style of leadership into their culture?
In general, research suggests that those who display feminine attributes of leadership (e.g. emotional intelligence and compassion) create stronger resource engagement which expands time – and money.
Regardless of your gender identity, we have a simple exercise for you to connect to your feminine leadership now, courtesy of Groot.
Say “I am _____ (insert your first name)” with compassion.
Now say “I am ___ (insert your first name)” with command.
And finally, say “I am ___ (insert your first name)” with enthusiasm by integrating both compassion and command.
Sounds different, doesn’t it?
Hiring and retaining more people with strong feminine leadership attributes is a fantastic rapid improvement approach for your organization.
In the long term, a modern leadership development approach must be built and advocated at your company. Today, most companies practicing effective leadership are tired of overvaluing the masculine and undervaluing the feminine. We see it when investors wonder why quarterly goals are not sustained.
The most effective leaders build modern leadership dream teams because dream teams build dream cultures that satisfy shareholders year after year.
Our interview with Patricia Furbish, Strategic Analyst, Formerly of Microsoft, highlights modern leaders’ need to demonstrate the importance of what she calls a growth mindset.
That is, you’re at a particular place, and you’re okay to grow as we reach different levels of leadership. Having that growth mindset fosters a responsive approach required to stay ahead. She suggests that because people rely so heavily on technology, more creative communication strategies are needed to keep the growth rate of healthy and safe relationships.
Once more, our research confirms that effective leadership in the 21st century requires resiliency, empathy, and emotional intelligence skills. These leadership attributes, long associated with being feminine in nature, balance the masculine focus on mission, strategy, and results.
