Servant leadership was a crucial stepping-stone into a more humane world of work. But the next evolution is upon us… towards a more purposeful leadership style that focuses on the impact that the organization’s work has on real live human beings.
Lisa Earle McLeod & Elizabeth Lotardo
“Noble-Purpose Leadership” –
- Leaders & teammates share pursuit of a cause bigger than themselves, and goal is to positively impact constituents (versus serving them).
- Core message is: You’re in your role to make an impact. This requires more strategic thinking in terms of where to place your efforts.
- When North Star is a shared purpose, leaders have more choice in the matter; don’t feel as required to please everyone.
3 areas to shift towards “noble-purpose leadership”:
1. Employee Interactions – purposefully position self to have a positive impact on the team results while not taking sole responsibility for supporting them (i.e. “what do you need to be successful in accomplishing our goal?” “What help will you need to get?)
2. Decision Making – frame decisions around purpose (i.e. rather than asking: How do you feel about this? Does this work for you? ask: What impact will this have? How will this affect our people or our customers?)
3. Coaching – instead of asking who needs coaching the most, ask: Where will my coaching time have the biggest impact? (through this lens: Who is the most coachable? Who learns quickly? Who has the most at stake with their customers?)