What Makes an Agile 21st Century Leader?
by Michael J Griffin
The 21st century has ushered in a world of accelerated change leading you to chaos or opportunity. How you as a leader thrive and succeed through this 21st century change is based on the principles and insights I outline below. Practicing them has supported my positive leadership to succeed in both my entrepreneurial business and as a volunteer.
Foundational Ethics of Success
Leadership Behaviors for Respect and Trust
Servant Leadership Qualities
Antifragile Principles to Thrive in Chaos
The Synergy of the Leader-Manager
Foundational Ethics of Success. I believe these three ethics are the anchors for all leaders: Integrity, Respect, and Humility. John Maxwell’s definition of integrity is “When my words and deeds match up, I am who I am no matter where I am or who I am with.” Integrity is the foundation of character and trusting relationships. Respectful leaders make every effort to consistently look for and acknowledge qualities, characteristics, skills and perspectives of others and they encourage others to do the same. Humility is a life journey wise leaders take. A humble leader is someone who recognizes his/her limitations, is open to feedback and other viewpoints, and puts the team's needs above their own. Humility leads to wisdom.
Leadership Behaviors for Respect and Trust. Learn and practice these seven behaviors to demonstrate you are a leader who can lead and inspire across teams, organizations and cultures:
Be proactive to improve relationships, process, and results.
Focus on the circumstances, problems or behaviors, not on the person.
Protect the dignity and self-confident of others.
Sustain trusting, win-win relationships.
Walk the talk and lead by example.
Be a visionary, think of consequences and outcomes
Be inclusive, be respectful and open to people different from yourself
Servant Leadership Qualities. Remember servant leaders are secure leaders. Dr. Greenleaf is the author of servant leadership and he has seven key principles of being a servant leader. The seven key principles of servant leadership are authenticity, strong communication, integrity, compassion, empowerment, continuous improvement, and putting others first. Go to the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership website for more insight on each of these qualities.
Antifragile Principles to Thrive in Chaos. Antifragile is a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Antifragile leaders thrive and grow through change, uncertainty and chaos. Think about yourself and COVID: did you collapse as a fragile leader, just survive through COVID, or did you thrive, grow and positively change? Dr. Taleb, in his book Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, lists the seven principles of leader who are successful and thrive through chaos and uncertainty:
Embrace Discomfort & Uncertainty – It’s not going away!
Build Resilience and Strong Networks – You can’t thrive alone!
Learn from Failures & Mistakes – Always fail forward!
Foster a Growth Mindset – Continuous learning is a must!
Practice Deliberate Practice in Your Strength Zone – Know, hone & improve your strengths.
Maintain Healthy Work Life Balance – Prevent burnout by having a wholesome life.
Foster a Proactive Adaptable Mindset with Deliberate Discomfort – Be curious, be proactive and stretch yourself!
The Synergy of the Leader-Manager. I believe the best, most successful managers know when and how to lead, and, when and how to manage. Having the wisdom and agility of when to lead or when to manage is a practice many ignore. Warren Bennis states, “The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager maintains, the leader develops. The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.” Peter Drucker says, “The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.” We need to learn both! I researched for a good summary of leading versus managing and found a really good summary titled Leadership vs. Management: What’s the Difference? by Timothy R. Clark, CEO and founder of LeaderFactor, Inc. a training and consulting firm in Utah. The summary lists out the 23 differences of leadership versus management. You can download the summary here.
Now ask yourself across these 5 areas “Where are my gaps and how can I close them?”
Foundational Ethics of Success
Leadership Behaviors for Respect and Trust
Servant Leadership Qualities
Antifragile Principles to Thrive in Chaos
The Synergy of the Leader-Manager
Identify 3 gap areas where you need to grow to be a more agile, successful leader in this rapidly changing 21st century. Create an action plan with observable outcomes that demonstrates your growth to close your gaps. As we say at ELAvate “Learn, Grow, Perform for Your Success!”
I have developed 2-4 hour seminars on each of these 5 topics to be a successful 21st century leader. Contact me if you wish to explore how I may conduct them in your organization.
Michael J Griffin
CEO and Founder of ELAvate
Maxwell Leadership Founding Member
An Antifragile Leader on the Journey of Humility
michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
+65-91194008 (WhatsApp)