Many companies in Europe face a similar task: they must undertake a huge transformation in a time marked by permanent crises such as pandemics, supply chain problems, the energy crises, the war in Europe, aggressive autocrats, recession, and inflation. In addition, there is the particular challenge of the ever-present shortage of specialists, managers and workers – and often the overload of existing teams. How to shape transformation? One way to become a transformational company is through inspiring leadership.
There is no panacea for not only overcoming the current ongoing crises, but also growing in and with them – as markets and shareholders sometimes expect. Only a set of determined strategic measures, approaches and methods can achieve this, and one of the most important is inspiring and motivating leadership. What is needed are courageous and confident leaders who do not see transformation as a threat, but as an opportunity for future-oriented further development and who knows how to take employees along emotionally and efficiently on the demanding path. In this way, they create a positive mood in the company and at all workplaces that activates people.
What is needed is information for the better instead of “just” Change
But what do we mean by transformation, especially in relation to change? Transformation is about more than classic change management, it’s about change for the better, it’s about a paradigm shift. On the other hand, we speak of change when there is no paradigm shift. The fundamental world’s views, logics and inner images of a system remain unchanged, the previous procedures, processes and structures are not fundamentally questioned. You play the same game, only with improved rules. Change management means merely developing what already exists and coordinating the actions of the actors involved accordingly. It is based on a project plan and is processed according to milestones. These are set up hierarchically from above and specified in order to meet new challenges and market conditions or to encounter a crisis. The change does not happen from within but is rather cosmetic.
In the case of transformations, on the other hand, it is not enough to make gradual improvements and optimizations and merely adapt what already exists. Transformation requires all participants to rethink and reinvent the company, the processes, and procedures, as well as to shape the crisis in a future-oriented way.
Managing Transformation with Extraordinary Leadership
The paradigm shift and this “reinventing oneself” requires full commitment from all those involved. This is where the inspiring and motivating leader comes into play. According to research by leadership experts and leadership development consultants Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, the ability to lead employees to peak performance has been proven to be one of the critical skills of an outstanding leader. The scientifically sound method of Zenger and Folkman has filtered out a set of competencies based on hundreds of thousands of 360° feedback analyses, which distinguish outstanding executives (extraordinary leaders) from good ones and have a positive influence on important company parameters. Having the ability to inspire employees, so that they are motivated to perform at their best, has emerged as a critical skill for success. In this way, leaders succeed in making the company much more profitable than is possible with only good managers.
Leaders understand how to shape transformation processes and inspire employees to participate in shaping them proactively and offensively. This includes certain competencies and behaviors – more on that later. Centralize the ability to match, for example, to ensure that a field’s requirement profile and an employee’s qualification profile match. Leaders have matching skills.
Matching competence in recruiting
Employees are capable of high performance when the competencies required to perform a job excellently match their actual competencies and their degree of expression. They, therefore, have exactly the skills with which they can make a substantial contribution towards achieving the company’s goals. And if a competence check proves that there are competence gaps, these can be addressed in a targeted manner.
Leaders with matching competence support transformational companies primarily on two levels: On the one hand, a professional, successful, and effective personnel selection is possible. An employee who is looking for a new employer feels and knows that “here at this company, everything is done to ensure that I feel comfortable and can use and develop all my skills. My existing skills and the competencies required for the position are a match. Requirements and qualification profiles are almost identical.”
In addition, outstanding managers pay attention to the personality and values of an applicant for the new year and the company.
Matching competency in leadership
Employees do not leave the company; their managers do. They stay with the manager–and thus in the company–if they are convinced that it fits between them and the boss. They are then ready to identify with the company and workplace, to do more and to do their best. This means that a match between the personalities of the manager and the employee is important.
Equally important is the match, which arises from the fact that the leader adapts his behavior, his approach, and his leadership style to the personality of the employee. Most employees have an interest in the manager mastering leadership basics. This is often underestimated: From the perspective of many employees, successful leadership means that they are accompanied by a supportive leader who is approachable, takes time for them, meets them appreciatively and at eye level and expresses a genuine interest in them.
If the fit between the leader and an employee is good, a highly productive dynamic is often set in motion, which is strengthened by the fact that the leadership personality also acts as an inspiring force.
“Inspiring Leaders” inspire employees
The most important leadership quality of a leader is inspiring and motivating behavior. As soon as a manager becomes stronger in his motivating and inspiring competence, the level of employee satisfaction and commitment increases accordingly. The more the competence “inspires and motivates others” is obvious and activated in a targeted manner, the more actively the employees participate in the design of the transformation processes, which ultimately contribute to customer satisfaction. After all, transformation processes are not an end in themselves, but aim to ensure that a company fulfills its corporate purpose, which almost always includes satisfying and increasing customer benefits.
Those who inspire their employees can expect them to contribute with dedication and commitment to shaping the transformation processes. The question, therefore, arises as to how competence can be built.
Practicing and mastering important behaviors
In a further analysis, Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman were able to validly determine which behaviors help a leader have an inspiring and motivating effect on employees by surveying almost 183,000 people who assessed the behavior of 14,466 managers–the overview shows the ten decisive behaviors.
| Overview: Important behaviors of an “Inspiring Leader” Behavior 1: Build emotional relationshipsBehavior 2: Defines ambitious goalsBehavior 3: Has a clear visionBehavior 4: Communicates a lot and effectivelyBehavior 5: Helps others developBehavior 6: Practice and promote teamworkBehavior 7: Has innovative ideasBehavior 8: Shows initiativeBehavior 9: Supports change processesBehavior 10: Is a role model for others |
The combination of these behaviors and the already mentioned set of competencies help a leader not only inspire employees, but also teams.
The behavior can be rationalized but should be practiced in an extraordinary way. The following applies: A leader does not have to master all behaviors perfectly in order to inspire other people. They cannot afford incurable deficiencies in any behavior, but if they improve in just two or three of these behaviors, they can find a more inspiring leader. There are six ways to do this.
Six Ways to Inspire Others: The Drivers
Most leaders tend to follow one or two paths. First of all, there is the driver: drivers are leaders who work purposefully towards the end result. They understand what the organization needs and expects from them. Deadlines and commitments are set for them, and they do everything they can to achieve them. They know that it is necessary to stay within a planned time and cost framework, which is why they are committed to achieving all agreed objectives. This is the most common way to inspire employees. Most often, the behaviors “define ambitious goals” and “show initiative” are associated with him.
Path 2: Loyalty to principles
The highest priority of these leaders is to emphasize integrity. In judging what they consider to be right and ethical, they do not enter into a conspicuous premise. They put their money where their mouth is and keep their promises. They focus on following the rules and want to do the right things right. Companies need such people to move forward. It is the second most common way to inspire. An important behavior is “being a role model for others”.
Path 3: The visionary
Visionary leaders have the ability to create a compelling and clear picture of the future. The overall picture comes alive through the sense of direction and future orientation. Tactical priorities are not obstacles to achieving their achievable but ambitious goals. It is the third most common way to inspire. The vision prioritizes the behaviors “has a clear vision” and “support change processes”.
Way 4: The amplifier
Amplifiers ensure that employees feel good. They listen and treat their team and colleagues with respect and dignity. Their approach is to always go along and not exert pressure. They build positive relationships and are honest. Common behaviors include “communicating often and effectively,” “helping others grow,” and “practicing and encouraging teamwork.”
Path 5: The Enthusiast
Enthusiasts show passion, vitality, and dynamism. Passive behavior is alien to them; dynamic decisions are in their nature. You have an extroverted personality, generating energy and enthusiasm and bringing life to a company. The behavior that is frequently associated with this pathway is “building up emotional relations.”
Way 6: The expert
Experts enjoy a great reputation, because with their expertise they often succeed in solving delicate problems. They are willing to use their personal expertise to develop and implement better solutions for the company. However, this is by far the least used path; leaders rarely rely on their expertise. Having innovative ideas is a commonly used behavior.
A leader is more likely to be seen as inspiring if he or she uses more than one path. According to our observations and experience, if three paths are followed, this leads to the leader being one of the top management personalities of a company. The conclusion to be drawn from this is to take as many of the three paths as possible and to acquire the corresponding behavior.
The importance of daily action
We often face the platitude that leaders try to inspire employees, especially on big occasions, such as the annual address, when they stand in front of the entire workforce and give encouraging speeches. But creativity and inspiration are more than that. Rather, it is the daily actions of a leader that inspire employees. If the leaders share their confidence, enthusiasm and passion with colleagues and collaborators, they will make a decisive investment. They also talk to employees for a few minutes every day, asking how they are, thanking them for their efforts, and encouraging and supporting them to do more.
Desire for transformation
Anyone who wants to shape informational processes should be able to move people and actively involve them. And inspiring and motivating leaders possess this ability. They are the guardians of transformation. With inspiring leadership, they succeed in making people and organizations want to transform and take away their fear of change. They make it clear to employees that transformation is a process of discovery and experimentation that does not run linearly, but rather as a searching, repetitive and cyclical creation process with an open outcome that challenges all parties involved, but also offers the opportunity to make the company fit for the future and preserve jobs. And it is precisely this that motivates those who want to preserve what already exists and who find it difficult to break new ground. In this way, they can still be convinced of the necessity and meaningfulness of the transformation and actively support it!
References
- Folkman, Joseph; Zenger, Extraordinary Leadership
- Folkman, Joseph; Zenger, Jack: Inspiring Leader. The secrets of success of particularly motivating executives; Whitepaper, published in German by Bildungsverlag by SCHEELEN, ® o.J.
- Razavi, Reza: The Magic of Transformation. How we shape the future in business and society together. Haufe Verlag 2022
- Scheelen, Frank M.: Strengths, Strengths
- Scheelen, Frank M.: „Leadership in Europe: What is needed in the Future? “; Visions for Europe Magazine Q3/2021, S. 38-40
- Scheelen, Frank M.: Unternehmen Exzellenz., Bildungsverlag, 2023
