Transformational Leadership

 Transformational Leadership

By: Mahendra (Mike) S. Rathore

Transformational Leadership: The Blueprint for Real Organizational Change

Today, as businesses of all sizes struggle in a difficult economy, adopting a transformational leadership offers a blueprint for lasting financial success. Every ambitious man or woman wants to be a leader and every leader wants to be successful. Some aspirants learn the hard way through years of trial and error. Now, with the advent of transformational leadership paradigm blueprint for lasting business success, the leaders can harness leadership traits and skills. And, by following the proven "secret sauce" they can transform any organization and achieve winning triple bottom-line results: top-line revenues, improved productivity and enhanced shareholders equity. 

Successful leaders depend on breakthroughs to stay competitive. Inventing the future is as much about emotions as ideas, about maintaining high levels of energy as well as unleashing breakthrough strategies. How we present ourselves as leaders, the attitude and outlook we exude, sets a tone for our colleagues about what’s required to make deep-seated change in turbulent times. Your leadership success increasingly depends on your ability to adapt to changing times, your ability to evolve and embrace new dynamics, as well as your own ongoing personal transformation as a leader. 

Leveraging Branding for Long-Term Growth: 

The branding bible for today's globalized world is synonymous with Apple, Google and Wright brothers. The secret is Why, How and What. Today, brands have become even more important than the products they stand for; their stories travel with lightning speed through social media and the Internet and across countries and diverse cultures. A brand must be elastic enough to allow for reasonable category and product-line extensions, flexible enough to change with dynamic market conditions, consistent enough so that consumers who travel physically or virtually won't be confused, and focused enough to provide clear differentiation from the competition. Strong brands are more than globally recognizable; they are critical assets that can make a significant contribution to your company's bottom line. In Global Brand Power, Barbara Kahn brings Brand management into the 21st century, addressing how branding contributes to the purchase process and how to position a strong global brand, from identifying the proper competitive set, offering a sustainable differential advantage, and targeting the right strategic segment. She further provides elucidation as to how customer ownership of your brand affects marketing strategy, methods for assessing brand value, how to manage a brand for long-term profitability, effective brand communications and repositioning strategies, and how to manage a brand in a world of total transparency-where one slip-up can go around the world via social media instantaneously. Supporting the author’s notions are stories about how Coca-Cola, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Marriott, Apple, Starbucks, Toyota, Southwest Airlines, and celebrities like Lady Gaga are leveraging their brands to be the leaders in their respective fields.

Strengths Based Leadership: 

Strengths Based Leadership: The Gallup-designed survey that identifies a person's unique leadership strengths. Many leaders try to improve their skills by emulating other leaders but, the most capable leaders are the ones who use their existing talents to provide what teams need. The best way to discover the ideal traits of good leaders is to ask followers what traits have characterized their most positive leaders. When asked, most mentioned the same factors as necessary for them to want to follow a leader. The key factors are: trust, compassion, stability, and hope. Different types of leaders have different ways of filling those needs. The 34 themes that the StrengthsFinder online test identifies range alphabetically from Achiever to Woo and can be grouped into four categories. Executing themes include Focus and Responsibility and revolve around a leader's ability…

Tough-Minded Optimists:

Inventing the future is as much about emotions as ideas, about maintaining high levels of energy as well as unleashing breakthrough strategies. How we present ourselves as leaders, the attitude and outlook we exude, sets a tone for our colleagues about what’s required to make deep-seated change in turbulent times. Leadership is emotional as well as intellectual. As John Gardner notes, “The future is not shaped by people who don’t really believe in the future. It is created by highly motivated people, by enthusiasts, by men and women who want something very much or believe very much.” That’s why the future belongs to Tough-Minded Optimists. Leaders can’t create an exciting future for their organizations unless they are excited about what the future holds. 

Does any executive personify the spirit of experimentation better than Jeff Bezos? The Amazon CEO is the richest person in the world based on his willingness to embrace ideas that don’t work out. “If you’re going to take bold bets, they’re going to be experiments,” Bezos explained. “And if they’re experiments, you don’t know ahead of time if they’re going to work.” Leaders who are fit for the future understand that there is no success without setbacks, no progress without pitfalls.

For most of us, fully embracing any of these traits would help us tremendously with the hard work of transformation or dealing with big change. There is no guarantee that one attitude will help you invent a more prosperous future for your organization or yourself. But if each of us can figure out which of these habits of mind best suits who we are, we may become more fit for the future.

In any field, leaders who move their organizations forward are the ones who can reimagine what they’ve always done, refresh and reinterpret the products and services they offer, and unleash bold experiments about what comes next.

DiSC Don't Be a One-Dimensional Leader! 

To be an effective leader you need to know your strengths-but that's only part of the story. You also need a broad perspective of all behaviors needed to be an effective leader. You must identify your primary leadership dimension. Whether you are a Pioneering, Energizing, Affirming, Inclusive, Humble, Deliberate, Resolute, or Commanding leader, one must understand their psychological drivers, motivations, and "blind spots" characteristic of their styles. But no single style will take you all the way. A Humble leader may have a hard time making tough decisions. A Commanding leader may run roughshod over potential allies. You can learn from each style, to craft a multidimensional approach to becoming the leader you aspire to be.

Many organizations believe that high-functioning teams hold the key to breakthrough thinking, superior customer service, and high-quality products. But, all too often, leaders and managers do not support teams so that they can deliver on their promises. For instance, many leaders ask for teamwork, but only reward and evaluate individual performance; focus on the group at the expense of individual members; or leave team members to sort out their differences, leading to the formation of unhealthy cliques. To create a full portrait of team behavior, you must adopt a multidimensional that considers all three factors. how to properly diagnose the state of their teams, hone in on the element that needs attention, and seamlessly shift focus among the three components of teamwork as time goes on. Team Leadership is a thoughtful and straightforward approach for the complex challenge of teaming today.

How to Go to the Next Level—The Key is Collaboration:

Why do some leaders accomplish what they want as a matter of routine, while others seem to regularly experience setbacks? Why do some leaders achieve their goals and reach new heights, while others barely "hang in there" and survive? Based on recent groundbreaking psychological studies on the ways that successful individuals think and behave. It  was discovered that leaders have positive mindsets, they think and behave differently than common people and that is why they are are able to articulate mission, vision and values and win support of cross-functional teams to achieve organizational mission. In this regard,  the ways that successful individuals think and behave, a simple yet profound roadmap that leaders - and those who want to become leaders-to achieve their personal growth and corporate influence than they previously thought were impossible. The good news for all of us is that leadership success is not limited to vague notions of "charisma" nor traditional advantages like graduate degrees and connections, but much more to a pattern of thinking and moving forward that learns from mistakes and stays focused on goals despite all impediments and resistance to change.

Problem Solving Expertise: Practical skills to handle challenges in today's world of work, 

Managing other people is a challenge for every manager… you're not alone! Are you a practical person but need step-by-step tools to manage others? Want to handle other people's expectations more effectively? Succeed with tricky conversations Facing resistance to new solutions, new processes or even simple ideas? Want to improve the performance of others? If you are an experienced manager, there are new processes to learn and fresh strategies to explore. Either way, the techniques will help you be more agile and deal more effectively with others, be they your employees, your boss, your clients, JV partners or colleagues.

Developing Circle of Influence: 

The timeless leadership principles turning them in to skills that can be learned, applied and taught to others also for leadership and personal development. Lead and manage in a way that will inspire your employees to be eager to follow you, willingly donate their discretionary effort, and support your vision and strategies. These Leadership skills will not only help poor performing managers become top performers; they will also help any executive or manager become a better leader. With the prudent guidance you obtain in your leadership circle and mentors, you will be able to help others become better leaders than they would become otherwise. These skills and concepts will be time rested and help you achieve surprising results.

Breakthrough Leadership:

Embrace and act upon their distinctive qualities in both breakthroughs and leadership, as well as their own unique point of view and experiences. Great leaders know they need to transform themselves first before they can lead others. To successfully manage other, one must marshal one’s own internal resources and manage his own self.
Breakthroughs can only happen when you are trying hard to achieve them, and when you aren't trying at all.
Breakthroughs are journeys, every accomplishment no matter how small or tiny, and they can prove  to be monumental ones that are hard won and sometimes life changing.

Heart-Centered Leadership: Unleash your Authentic-Self.

Heart-Centered Leadership is a transformational leadership quality, one that is keenly aligned to the growing awareness of the need for more mindful leaders who realize that self-care and authenticity have a deeply significant impact on the satisfaction and well-being of their workforce and, by extension, add to the triple bottom line results.

Looking at the modern day ethical bankruptcy of contemporary business, Heart-centered leadership champions the message that sound ethical practices must begin from within. In order to change the institution or a community, a change must begin with oneself. As Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to freedom using non-violence as a weapon, once said that “To change the world one must become a change agent.”  By the careful application of age old principles and virtues, one can lay a clear path that sets a course for successful leadership that rises above the confusions and contradictions of other potent strategies and self- actualize one’s true potential by imbibing those principles and values. The Heart-Centered Leadership goes beyond theory, empowering you to integrate this knowledge into your life. By adopting the principles of heart-centered leadership, you'll boost overall profitability by:
• Creating emotionally engaged, tuned-in employees who are highly motivated to do their very best work for you.
• Creating a workplace that attracts and keeps the best and the brightest.
• Keeping customers and clients satisfied and using your products and services consistently.

How to Be an Inspirational Leader? Small Actions, Big Impact

Positive leaders can dramatically expand their followers’ and their own potential for excellence. hey accomplish this without enormous expenditures or huge heroic gestures. We can learn from the leading corporations’ leaders and what they have done at companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Southwest Airlines, Boeing and Marriott. And surprisingly, how these leaders continue to relentlessly pursue excellence are life examples. Just like the butterfly in Brazil whose flapping wings create a typhoon in Texas,great leaders can create profound positive change in your organization through simple actions and demonstrated positive attitude shifts.

Nobody comes into the world a natural leader. But what is it that transforms some people into the kind of magnetic individuals who inspire others to follow? These Leaders Inspire trust, confidence, and loyalty. They Instill a sense of meaning and purpose in your organization. These leaders have an uncanny ability to tap into the motivation and enthusiasm that compels others to commit to your vision. They think strategically-keeping the big picture in mind. Their minds and energies are continually focused on the future. They view problems from different lenses and turn adversity into opportunity. They have the agility to thrive under pressure and demonstrate business acumen while taking prudent risks.
Above all, they demonstrate a willing attitude and articulate their vision, communicate goals, strategies and gain buy-in from different stakeholders. Inspirational leaders have enviable persuasive power to build winning teams and sustain the culture of creating future leaders. Lastly, they command respect and elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people. In the process, they never forget the power of people and continuously pursue the path of cultivating nurturing and cementing relationships and thereby leverage The Law of Reciprocity.
Great leadership isn't a mystery. It is a skill that can be learned. Merely following the few laws of nature blended with practical, tried and tested leadership methods will help you unlock your leadership potential. Making them a part of your personality and mindset will enable you to “Deliver on Your Promise” and, “Live Your Values” in constantly changing business environment.

Everyone has a reputation. Whether good or bad, your reputation precedes you, and can inhibit or enhance your professional goals. However, how do you actively nurture, develop, and manage how others see you? By crafting a brand can give you control of how you're perceived at work. Leadership Brand: Deliver on Your Promise can further help you figure out the leader you want to be, and how to build the brand that can get you there.

Relentless Pursuit of Greater Good: A Benevolent Leader.

Leaders are always trying to get better, which is why there is an enormous and growing interest in leadership paradigm or processes. But sometimes the best way to move forward is to look in the rear mirror. We learn from the life of the great leader Julius Caesar, one of the most admired leaders of the past. Learning from the leadership principles of a man whose approach was surprisingly modern and extraordinarily effective. History is replete with leaders hopelessly out of touch with their people and ruthlessly pursuing their own ambitions or hedonistic whims. But Julius Caesar, who rose from impoverished beginnings, proved by his words and deeds that he never saw himself as being above the average Roman citizen. And he had an amazing ability to generate loyalty, to turn enemies into allies and allies into devoted followers. Caesar's career-being held hostage by pirates, charging headlong alone into enemy lines, pardoning people he knew wanted him dead-to illustrate what Caesar can teach leaders today. Central to his leadership paradigm is the distinction between mute force and power. Caesar avoided using brutal force on his followers, understanding that fear never generates genuine loyalty. He exercised a power deeply rooted in his demonstrated personal integrity and his intuitive understanding of people's deepest needs, aspirations and motivations. His supporters followed him because they wanted to from their hearts, not because they were compelled to. Over 2,000 years after Caesar's death, this is still the kind of loyalty every leader wants to inspire.

The Servant Leadership: Moving Beyond Title, Position, and Authority

The success of any organization can be traced directly to its leaders. And leadership can be learned, practiced and made part of one’s life. Unfortunately, modern-day world leadership development programs and books focus exclusively on a set of skills. However, performance and ultimate authenticity are based on a combination of character and competence. Character is the core and competence the crust. We have seen from the lives of great leaders that greatness appears from a powerful combination of the two, although in the end, character is more important. A leader with character but no competence will be ineffective, while a leader with competence but no character is dangerous. Leadership as influence-leaders influence people "to climb, stretch, and become." You need character to influence positively and competence to influence effectively. "Leadership is the most engaging, inspiring, and deeply satisfying activity known to humankind. Through leadership we can progress, overcome adversity, change communities, change people’s lives, and usher the way for the mankind, thereby, bless the progress & prosperity of progeny on this planet.

Being the Leader Others Want to Emulate:

The leadership exodus of the Baby Boomers is creating dramatically-accelerated promotions in organizations and leaving behind a significant leadership skills gap. Do you aspire to build a truly high-performance team? Is your career not moving forward quickly enough? Are you in a little over your head as a leader? All aspirations, intentions, actions, and results should be viewed through the “The Lens of Leadership" to bring focus to the leader's ultimate accountability for holistic results. Doing so will magnify your personal performance, improve your organization's results, and accelerate your career progression. Failing to accept total responsibility sets low performance expectations, perpetuates a culture of mediocrity, and cripples the career opportunities of those you lead. Whether you are an experienced maverick leader or an aspiring future leader who wants to enhance the leadership skills and  influence, envisioning your role through The Lens of Leadership will enable you to achieve triple bottom-line  results, ascend the corporate ladder faster, and inspire, motivate & uplift those around you. The Self-less leadership helps to set yourself apart from your peers by developing an accountability mindset that consistently examines results through The Lens of Leadership. One earns a reputation for strong leadership at every level through your "followership.” Embracing and using these age-old mantras will help you to increase your impact, develop more bench strength, and build a high-performance team who are dedicated to serving, building, and inspiring others.

Spiritual Servant Leadership:

How can the successful flourish when they're caught in a never-ending battle of seemingly conflicting interests: ambitions to pursue demanding careers, dedication to home and family, desire for intellectual self-improvement, and yearning for fulfillment of emotional and spiritual needs? Your mental energies will  weaken because of a fragmented approach to life. In this context, we must learn to be like a turtle by adopting holistic and integrated approach to bring our disparate aspects of their lives into a harmonious whole. The spiritual approaches to leadership provides several essential tools and key character traits to cultivate for personal success and holistic wellbeing. Leaders can benefit from engaging both immediate and long-term fixes to deal with day-to-day stresses and imbalances in lifestyles. In this approach practising Yoga and Meditation techniques can help you to develop focus, acquire positive habits, and peace of mind to become a well-rounded person who is loving, peaceful, purposeful and with indomitable will power. Meditation and Yoga helps you to develop sharp mind, and strong will and equanimity to deal with daily stresses of life. Different Yoga postures are excellent exercises for developing mental, physical, spiritual and material life overall wellbeing. Yoga and spirituality can help you discover your true hidden talents, passions and empowers your with innovative mindset and boundless energy for self transformation. It enables you with a still mind to creating unique roadmap to equilibrium and well-balanced personality development. And Yogic practices will help you to achieve internal fulfillment and pave your way to material life success.

Leadership Wisdom from Proven Leaders:

Pearls of Leadership Wisdom. Do you believe that great leaders are made, not born? Do you ever wonder how great leaders achieve greatness? Are you interested in becoming a better leader yourself? Learning from the lives of great leaders is yet another inspirational yet practical tools to help you become a better leader. Learning from the Leaders who have achieved tremendous successes in their lives. How other leaders have successfully discussed some of the most common leadership dilemmas, and "Ideas for Action,” you can imbibe the time-tested life lessons and strategies to acquire insights, ideas and a renewed vigor for leading others and improve your leadership abilities.

 Such insightful leadership lessons and examples from some of the best leaders of our era, their thought, actions and Leadership Wisdom are still relevant and serve as guidepost to leaders at all stages of development. Learning from past global leaders offer valuable tips immediately applicable to your everyday leadership.
Based on proven leaders’ wisdom you can develop yourself, and learn from your experiences. Inspire others, and create loyalty among those you lead. You can flawlessly execute your ideas, and ensure that innovation and creativity can be sustained. These lessons can lead you to get inspired, build character, exhibit authenticity, create an all-inclusive supporting organizational culture, that others appreciate and admire and thereby, unlock talent, skills and bring out the best in others. Learning from the personal experiences and practical business tools of leader and their journey through the transformational process leaders can build great culture and winning organizations. Leaders will find these visionary leaders ideas transformative personally as well as professionally and help them make positive impact on their organizations.

The Prosperous Leader: How Smart People Achieve Success?

Combined with the six c's of organizational growth and development that demonstrate a clear correlation between the style of the entrepreneur and if prosperity can be realistically achieved, you will be able to chart your own path as you learn the skills you need to improve your own leadership and management capabilities. In doing so, you will examine your own unique individual strengths and weaknesses so that you can maximize the former while mitigating the latter, giving you the power to take control of your own success.

Five Powerful Actions to Transform Your Team, Business, and Community

It's people who make organizations great, so how can leaders best help their people achieve that greatness? The most effective leaders don't just stand in front of their people, they stand behind them, too. 'You qualify to be first by putting other people first.' This concept sounds paradoxical, but it leads to extraordinary outcomes-and The Serving Leader shows precisely how and why. The basics of Serving Leadership, all the characters in it are based on real people, the organizations depicted are based on real organizations-and the results they achieved are what really happened. Embraced Serving Leadership: on one level this is the most practical guide available to implementing serving leadership personal journey of growth and development that real seekers of leadership needs. Great organizations are great because they're filled with people who freely choose to do their very best. It's an extremely simple concept yet stunningly hard to execute.

Your Leadership Legacy: The Difference You Make in People's Lives

Whatever your position, if you influence change in the lives of those around you and engage in an act of leadership, or are a leader in any sense, you are creating a legacy as you live your daily life. Your leadership legacy is the sum of the effect you have on people's lives, directly and indirectly, formally and informally. Will you consciously craft your legacy or simply leave it up to chance? What can you do to create a positive, empowering legacy that will endure and inspire? Through an insightful parable, how to create a positive, empowering legacy that will endure and inspire. But, the leader must first embark on a journey to learn the three leadership imperatives that will prepare them to shape their leadership legacy. Your Leadership Legacy shows that leaving a legacy is about more than just professing values -- you must demonstrate them by the way you live.

The Learning Zealot

One of the great satisfactions of being a leader is that you get to be a teacher, sharing the wisdom you’ve acquired over the course of your career with young colleagues hungry for time-tested advice. But when it comes to inventing the future, the most effective leaders are the most insatiable learners. Creative leaders are always asking themselves: “Am I learning as fast as the world is changing?”

The Personal Disruptor:

The longer you’ve worked in an industry or in a career, the more success you’ve achieved, the harder it can be to see new patterns and possibilities, new paths to what’s next. All too often, senior leaders allow what they know to limit what they can imagine. That’s a big problem. You can’t invent the future if you cling to out-of-date ideas, even if they’ve worked in the past.

Rosanne Haggerty, one of the country’s great social activists, has made a huge impact in the fight against homelessness. But her biggest and most revolutionary achievement, was the 100,000 Homes Campaign, which required her to challenge everything she knew about her cause. “I concluded, to my horror, that we had developed a way of attacking the problem that was inherently limited,” she says. “We had to blow ourselves up.” That act of personal reinvention was brutally difficult; however, it was necessary.

Are you that kind of leader?

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” But what does it take to invent the future in a turbulent and uncertain world? Here is where we should pay special attention to leaders who seem energized (rather than paralyzed) by the prospect of change and transformation. As I reflect on these leaders, on the attitudes and mindset that drive them, I’ve identified four traits that make them fit for the future.

“One of my greatest responsibilities is keeping up with the technologies, cultural shifts, and demographic trends that are reshaping the world. If I’m not learning, I’m not doing my job. I feel most energized when I’m intellectually uncomfortable—meeting people who are different from me, experimenting with emerging technologies, wrestling with unfamiliar ideas.” 

“When it comes to innovation, I believe it’s just as important to look for breakthrough ideas in fields unrelated to mine as to build on ideas from my field. I am always searching for new ideas about where to finds new ideas.”

“One of my greatest responsibilities is keeping up with the technologies, cultural shifts, and demographic trends that are reshaping the world. If I’m not learning, I’m not doing my job. 

I feel most energized when I’m intellectually uncomfortable—meeting people who are different from me, experimenting with emerging technologies, wrestling with unfamiliar ideas. When it comes to innovation, I believe it’s just as important to look for breakthrough ideas in fields unrelated to mine as to build on ideas from my field. I am always searching for new ideas about where to finds new ideas.” -(name of whoever made the quote here)

When was the last time you tried something new (a new route to work, a new type of music, a new app or piece of software)? “I value the skills and experience I bring to my role as a leader, but I worry that my personal achievements might limit my creativity going forward.” “I work hard to surround myself with colleagues, mentors, and business partners with different backgrounds than mine who are willing to challenge my ideas and strategic point of view.”

“These days, people who are new to an industry or seeing a problem for the first time are just as likely to come up with a great idea as people with lots of history and experience.” An idea or strategy for too long, even if it’s working, then about devising my next idea or strategy, even if it’s at odds with what’s worked in the past.”

John Maxwell on Leaders Said, “I place my bets more often on high motivation than on any other quality. There is no perfection of techniques that will substitute for the lift of spirit and heightened performance that comes from strong motivation.” The CEO of Coca-Cola recently instructed his colleagues, “If we’re not mistaking mistakes, we’re not trying hard enough.” As a philosophy of innovation and change, do you. “I’d rather be part of an organization or team that aims high and misses the mark than an organization that plays it safe and achieves its goals.”

A leader of tomorrow is someone who is spiritually intelligent, maintains balanced focus on heartfulness and mindfulness driving meaning of life, values and purpose. In changing times, the leaders should seek unconventional and innovative strategies. A Leader should be adaptable, agile, collaborative and influential with holistic, all-embracing and holistic perspective about the common good and embrace a spirit of trusteeship giving, sharing and caring for others. A great leader should continuously embrace change and to save the world from perils that are mounting in modern world. A great leader is beacon of hope to his followers who constantly nurture and blossom the heart, mind and souls of his team and followers.