Traditional leadership models focus on action, performance, and results. Leaders scrutinize and streamline critical external resources and activities to get results in ways that are better, faster, and smarter. While these essential objectives will always be relevant to business, a new leadership paradigm is emerging for the 21st century and beyond. While leadership models of the past did not fully address the human side of leaders, we now know it to be the most critical element in creating the ultimate, sustainable success for an organization. In business, the threat is no longer just the competitive “jungle out there” but also the lack of clarity within the leader. With longevity and legacy on their minds, CEOs are now adopting holistic models where thriving replaces surviving, where values of inclusion and collaboration replace the old school of exclusion and competition. In the wise words of Steve Green, a CEO from Savannah, Georgia, “Leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room but getting the smartest people in the room.”
Personal Leadership
The Brilliant Leader Model™ is based on one foundational premise: “Before you can be a true leader at work, you must first be a leader in your own life.” Personal leadership begins with self-awareness, clarity of purpose, caring for others, and a desire to make a difference in the world. When these qualities are alive and real, you ‘show up’ differently at work and in the world. Fully realized spiritual values are the foundation on which brilliant, inspirational leadership is built. Inspirational leadership, as opposed to purely profit-driven leadership, engenders loyalty, creates high-performing work places, and elicits positive transformations, while increasing the bottom line and building an enduring legacy.
Leadership Today
Today’s leader is evolving at a rapid rate and needs a new leadership model. CEOs are constantly saying they must adapt their communication based on new social, cultural and technological dynamics. Not only are they “on-call 24/7” via electronic devices but they also feel strained in bridging their team’s gap between cross-generational talents and conflicting worldviews. Emerging younger leaders, Generation X, Y and “Millennials,” are simply “exponentially different” from older staff members, based on their generation’s first-ever total immersion in the internet and electronics age.
The Brilliant Leader Model™ validates the gut-feeling, intuitive side of leadership, which helps to bridge generational mindsets. The model asserts personal quiet time, advises periodically unplugging from the grid, and recommends a discipline of self-mastery exercises. At long last there’s a new way to model leadership that addresses the many causes of a surprising yet frequent malady called “the successful CEO blues!”
Tags: assertiveness, Brilliant Leadership, executive brilliance, interpersonal skills, jennifer whitaker, leadership development training, leadership skills, leadership training, motivation, transformational leadership, transitional leadership
