According to educator and author Bruna Martinuzzi, a study conducted by an organization called the Economist Intelligence Unit identified three top leadership qualities that will be important in the years ahead: “the ability to motivate staff (35 percent); the ability to work well across cultures (34 percent); and the ability to facilitate change (32 percent).” He quotes an old Chinese proverb that says the wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water molds itself to the pitcher. At no other time in recent history has adaptability been more important for leaders to recognize as a critical competence they need to lead organizations.
In Stage 4, one of the top five competencies is Adaptability: the ability to change (or to be changed) to fit new circumstances. There are 18 competencies that the 7 Stages of Growth model identifies that are critical for leaders to embrace in order to expand their emotional intelligence quotient. All of these competencies come from Daniel Goleman’s book Primal Leadership. The 7 Stages of Growth model helps you identify which competencies CEOs and leaders must bring to their organizations and when.
These competencies are accumulative. For example, in Stage 1 a leader needs to be adept at these competencies:
Emotional Self-Awareness
Self-Confidence
Empathy
Inspirational Leadership
Developing Others
If a leader, in Stage 1 doesn’t recognize the importance of emotional self-awareness – reading one’s emotions and recognizing their impact on others – this may be one of the obstacles hindering their company’s ability to grow. And by not addressing this competency in Stage 1, that leader will struggle throughout the other stages of growth. ALL of the competencies have the ability to improve leadership skills.
In the GCS Membership Site I have created reports that address the Leadership Competencies for each stage of growth. You’ll find this resource:
Under the Resources & Tools Tab
Under the Articles Tab
Under Leadership Competencies
You also have access to the Leadership Competencies Assessment and the Leadership Styles Assessments. These can be found:
Under the Resources & Tools Tab
Under the Stages of Growth X-Ray Tab
Under Styles and Competencies
http://www.gcspecialists.com/member-dashboard
By helping your CEOs recognize the importance of these Leadership Competencies, and embracing all 18, you’ll help them become much more effective and capable leaders. My ‘go to’ person on everything leadership is John Maxwell. In his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Law #1 is called the Law of the Lid. It explains that a company will only rise to the competency level of the leader.
Your success. My passion.
Laurie Taylor, FlashPoint!
