What makes a great leader? Nationally recognized leader and executive coach Jackie Jenkins-Scott provides her perspective as she explores examples of responsive leadership in her new book, 7 Secrets of Responsive Leadership. While you may be a strong leader, she asserts, the ability to adapt your strengths to each new organization, or to changes within the organization—new board members, new staff members, new shareholders—is the quality that will help you remain successful. Jackie Jenkins-Scott has more than three decades of experience in executive leadership positions in public health, higher education and corporate and non-profit governance. We recently asked her more about responsive leadership. What is responsive leadership?Leadership is sometimes described as the process of developing people and the organization in order to deal and cope with both complexity and change. Responsive leadership focuses on the people—the humanity within the organization—to deal and cope with complexity and change in order to achieve organizational success. In your book, you talk about the four attributes of great leaders. What are these qualities and why are they so important?Over my decades in leadership roles, in reflecting on my own development as a leader, talking with colleagues, reading and studying leadership, I have come to believe that there are four essential attributes that drive the responsive leader. These are the attributes that sustain and make a person’s leadership strong in both triumph and crisis, as well as transportable and transferrable in different environments. I call these leadership attributes The Big 4. 1. Curiosity: The desire to continuously learn, discover, and grow intellectually. Curiosity will play a critical role in steering an organizational transformation, creating a new product, innovation or better understanding the competition. With a curious mind, the leader will seek knowledge and understanding from a variety of sources including subordinates, peers, experts, and trusted advisors. And as a result, she and her organization will be wiser and stronger. As a turnaround expert, you’ve taken several struggling institutions and transformed them into thriving leaders in their fields. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who may be looking to revive their businesses?Organizations (like people) are always in transition. We often do not look at the current challenge as a transition, but indeed, it is. Some transitions are more consequential and important than others and in the case of reviving a failing business is at the extreme of the transition continuum. When the company is in turnaround mode, consistent incorporation of the big 4 leadership attributes as the leader’s way of “doing” and “being” becomes even more important. Curiosity, understanding how and why the company arrived at this point and learning from others who turned around similar situations (or didn’t) will be key to revival. Humility, seeking out the very best expertise and help one can find—learning from their experiences, getting and using good advice—is a natural companion to curiosity. Staying connected to the mission and people engaged in the work gives the leader purpose and confidence that the company can move ahead. Finally, resilience, the ability to stay focused and keep at it, will eventually lead to the breakthrough or the decision to move on. In my book, The 7 Secrets of Responsible Leadership, I describe tools that responsive leaders employ in their leadership journey. These secret “tools” are especially useful for leaders who are leading their company through a turnaround challenge. What’s one leadership mistake you’ve made in your career—and what did you learn from it?During my tenure as CEO, our company had an opening to fill a critical and influential position in the organization. I appointed a search committee to recommend a candidate. The search committee recommended two finalists for this critical role. The committee rated both candidates equally and did not indicate a preference, stating that both candidates were equally qualified. I was very conflicted. My instincts told me to take the candidate with more practical experiences and my intellect told me to take the candidate with more academic credentials. I ended up selecting the wrong candidate and within 3 months on the job I, and many people in the company, knew the selected candidate was not a good fit. The next 18 months were a nightmare for the company in part because I took too long to transition the person out of the role. In this experience, I learned to trust my instincts and make sure I incorporated all of the Big 4 attributes in my decision making—gathering good and reliable information, receiving good advice and input, understanding how one person’s approach might impact others in the organization, and looking for signs of how the candidate deals with challenge and adversity. I learned that the Big 4 work for me and when I stray from using them, I can get in trouble! What are the top five takeaways that you hope entrepreneurs and CEOs will glean from your book?
Jackie Jenkins-Scott is commited to improving society through active community and civic engagement. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Century Bank and Trust Company, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, the Center for Community Change, and the National Board of Jumpstart. Jenkins-Scott serves as President of the Massachusetts Women’s Forum, an affiliate of the International Women’s Forum. The post 4 Secrets to Responsive Leadership appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2TlIYhD
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