TALKING LEADERSHIP – Part 3

The complexities of today’s business landscape mean leadership has never been so challenging. In a four-part series, Lynda Ennis, Founder and CEO of automotive executive search and research firm Ennis & Co, discusses leadership in a changing world with Stevie Fine, Founder of the executive coaching and talent development company, Inspire.

Own your vulnerabilities

Stevie Fine: As we have already discussed, it comes down to self-awareness. How can anyone move on and develop their skills if they are unable to acknowledge their shortcomings? To be honest, when I’m coaching senior leaders, it is quite rare to encounter an individual who is in complete denial about their behaviour. In the safe space of a coaching session, leaders will generally trust me enough to be honest and direct about themselves. However, this openness does not always translate to their behaviour outside the coaching relationship, and they can behave and converse in the boardroom in a very different way.

I would say most senior leaders I encounter have reached a level of knowledge and experience to have a pretty good idea about how they behave, even if they are unable to frame it or pull the different strands together to make sense of it. But there is a massive gap between being self-aware and recognising the behaviours that are holding you back and doing something about it.

You mentioned trust, Lynda. Trust is absolutely critical to being an effective leader in the 21st century. A leader has to be trusted by people in an organisation, and you don’t earn trust unless you are genuinely honest with them. That means admitting fallibility and showing a level of vulnerability. The idea that leaders have to be strong and wear a suit of armour is a myth. The best leaders are vulnerable. That doesn’t mean they need to be breaking down every two minutes. They still have to be resilient to be effective, but they have to show vulnerability. They must have integrity and authenticity.
Lynda: The problem is that ‘failure’ is such a dirty word in the corporate world. People have big hang-ups about failure when it comes to leadership, but I think the best leaders are those who can be super-honest with themselves and acknowledge what they are good at, and not good at. That way, they can surround themselves with people who can compensate for the areas where they have deficiencies.

The self-imposed pressure to be a strong leader who cannot fail is often a leader’s Achilles’ heel because it prevents them from confronting their weaknesses. This can breed what I call dissatisfactory leadership throughout the organisation that filters down to lower levels of management.
Stevie: As I’ve said before, effective leadership comes down to certain behaviours, but no leader will have 100% of them. Perfection does not exist. If we can identify the underpinning foundations that enable effective leadership, then leaders can measure themselves against them and reflect on the behaviours they are lacking that could block the organisation’s success. Once they recognise their gaps, they can be coached, mentored or supported against a set of underlying behaviours, working to master those behaviours as much as possible. If building trust, showing vulnerability and maintaining integrity are at your core, you are on the way to enabling success.

Leadership is key to a successful business. We find amazing leaders for amazing brands. This is how we do it.

This is part 3 of a 4-part series on Leadership. Read our previous blogs here.

Do you really need to climb the corporate ladder? Look out for the final part of our series, which will be published soon.

Comms Team
About the author

The Ennis & Co Comms Team

Related Posts

Leave a Reply