Releasing Potential through Leadership

When you run your own business or social enterprise leadership skills are vital. Whether it is leading yourself, your volunteer team, your staff or your customers. And often as a young person you are taking on a leadership position for the first time, so you are just building your own leadership skills.

Great leaders make things happen by releasing the energy of others.

Traditionally the role of leadership consisted of controlling your subordinates. An effective leader was seen as someone who was able to get others to follow their orders with the results achieved limited to the vision and ability of the leader.

In an attempt to better understand the role of leadership and its ability to influence performance, leadership
guru Malcolm Knowles from the Uni of QLD business school looked at organisations as though they were
a system of human energy. Here’s what he discovered about what makes great leaders.

1. Leaders offer challenges and share responsibility
Creative leaders make a different set of assumptions (essentially positive) about human nature from the
assumptions (essentially negative) made by controlling leaders.
Creative leaders have faith in people, offer them challenges, and delegate responsibility. When people are given an opportunity to contribute, they’re more creative and productive. The more they feel their unique potential is being used, the greater their achievement.

2. Leaders involve their staff
Creative leaders know that people’s level of commitment to a decision is equal to the extent that they feel they have participated in making it. Creative leaders therefore involve their employees in every step of the planning process.

3. Leaders believe in self-fulfilment
Creative leaders understand that people tend to rise up to other people’s expectations of them. The sports
coach conveys to his team that he knows they’re capable of winning, the good supervisor displays faith in
her employees that they will produce superior work. There’s a positive relationship between positive
self-concept and superior performance.

4. Leaders value individuality
Creative leaders realise that people perform at a higher level when they’re using their unique strengths, talents and goals rather than trying to conform to an imposed stereotype. Team arrangements are therefore encouraged in which each member works at what they’re best at and enjoys most.

5. Leaders stimulate & reward creativity
Creative leaders understand that creativity is a basic requirement for the survival of individuals, organisations
and societies. Leaders exemplify creativity in their own behaviour and build an environment that encourages
and rewards innovation in others. ‘Failures’ are treated as opportunities to learn, which encourages
experimentation and growth.

6. Leaders love change
Creative leaders aspire to make their organisations innovative rather than static. They understand the theory of change and are skilled in strategies to cause it and deal with it.

7. Leaders emphasise internal motivators
Creative leaders focus on building achievement, recognition, fulfilling work, responsibility, advancement
and growth, and try to minimise dissatisfiers like organisational policy and admin, supervision and status.

8. Leaders encourage self-direction
Creative leaders understand that we all move toward states of increasing self-directedness and that we
look to leaders for guidance through this process.

What could you achieve today by releasing the energy of others?