A Glimpse at Corporate Leadership
Leadership plays a pivotal role in the corporate environment. Companies invest in leadership training and head hunt for the best possible options in the market. Executives beef themselves up for greater leadership skills and pursue impact on the workplace. Leaders make or break companies.
At first glance, leadership appeals as a set of sophisticated skills to meet corporate challenges. Pacesetting industries seek professionals who can craft cultures of innovation, make major changes, develop direction and strategy, create learning organization, devise strong organizational structures, build powerful teams, lead in networks, foster diversity and inclusion, promote partnerships, manage mergers, improve work processes, encourage social responsibility, streamline operations and mobilize the workplace for constant update and learning. Yes, these are some challenges a corporate leader must face nowadays. Thus, leading companies constantly seek ways to raise the bar of efficiency to meet growing demands and excel in such a highly competitive environment.
Although these skills are determining factors to competent corporate leadership, they do not determine leadership in its entirety. Behind and beyond the complex role of a leader are core qualities and practices that are crucial to leadership. Corollary to these are the obstacles that need to be surpassed to live up to top leadership standards.
First and foremost, before confronting the above-mentioned challenges, here are essential competencies a leader must have:
1. Integrity and trust
2. Emotional and Social Intelligence
3. Business Insight
4. Critical and Analytical Thinking
5. Creativity and innovation
6. Decision Making
7. Organization and planning
8. Empowerment
9. Collaboration and teamwork
10. Performance Drive
11. Results Orientation
12. Communication and influence
13. Change Management
14. Customer Impact
It is said that business is 80% psychological and 20% technical. Whereas recruitment in companies is largely based on technical skills, dismissal is propelled by psychological factors. Needless to say, resumés do not capture the person´s psychology.
To progress in corporate leadership, here are some psychological obstacles one must overcome:
1. Self-centeredness
2. Arrogance and insensitivity
3. Temper Volatility
4. Lack of Confidence
5. Disengagement
6. Short-sightedness in decisions
7. Lack of Focus
8. Aloofness
9. Perfectionism
10. Complacency
11. Eagerness to please
12. Anxiety
13. Close-mindedness
14. Personal interests over and above collective agenda
On the one hand, matters of behaviors and attitudes are somehow presupposed prerequisites to any individual aspiring for leadership position. As to whether these issues are relevant or not, that is subject to each company´s criteria. On the other hand, formation and specialization are largely based on technicality and instrumentality. They can be represented by diplomas, certificates, resumés and referrals. To ask it bluntly, should a company care about hiring an arrogant or insensitive director as long as he or she is capable of delivering results?
Again, it depends on individual company´s criteria and values, i.e. whether a company really cares about people or it only uses them as tools for profit generation and business expansion.
Let me conclude with an assumption that corporate leadership is built around good intentions. Hence, there is always a room for improvement and growth in leadership skills. What is unsatisfactory can turn into good, good into excellent, and excellent into outstanding.
With this assumption comes our noble aim of helping current and future leaders in the quest for higher levels of psychological greatness and beyond. "Beyond" means bridging intelligences to quantum and spiritual heights to catapult professionals towards well-rounded leadership for fuller human fulfillment.
Beloved Life Quantum & Spiritual Leadership Coaching serves with fourfold approach focusing on the leader´s character and integrity, harnessing inspirational interpersonal skills, wholistic top performance and unshakeable purpose rooted in one´s innate quantum and spiritual essence.
More details at www.belovedlife.com.br