Are Our Leaders Hip? - Leading Edge

My first leadership job was running teams of computer operators for the BNZ IT Department back in the 80’s. Recently I was at the 60th of the guy who hired me, hearing all the speeches I realised what a great break I had, my first mentor cared about people, built their careers and he is still doing that successfully today. That’s hip in my books. 

Back then the popular leadership mantra was to stay one step ahead of your team. After he hired me, as I had no confidence in being a leader I convinced him to let me be in the team for the first three months, he was incensed, but his good nature got the better of him and he let me do that. Once Id learned the ropes I stepped up and led a team of Computer Operators. It was nerve wracking trying to stay ahead, these where seriously sharp operators and the only thing I could really do to stay ahead was know the plan and keep my head about me, I had no choice but to keep it real. I found myself staying calm in the heat of mainframe crashes while they followed, also I listened to their gripes, their worries and pretty soon I learnt the fine art of actioning the plan and how they contributed to the big picture, how to develop them and build a sense of belonging. It became a “Let’s focus on what’s inside of our control and escalate what’s not” type of conversation while keeping their fears minimised, loving their inputs and developing their strengths. Pretty basic stuff really but I never did learn how to be one step ahead. Instead I learned how to help them work out their strengths, develop them and build their careers.

Since the 80’s we have transitioned from a dictatorial hierarchical model to the servant leader of the 90’s, the counsellor/coach leader of the new millennium to the authentic leader of today looking for what’s hip. I’ve digested everything from the 5 minute manager, to Simon Sinek’s latest book ‘Leaders Eat Last’ where he describes exactly what the authentic leader looks like. Check out this Ted Talk for the latest on leadership. Simon explores how hip leaders can inspire cooperation, trust and change.

One of the big learnings from the best places to work journey we have been on here at Leading Edge is that our people trust our leaders to take action as a result of the engagement survey, a cool 93% have told us this year that they trust us and we have scored high in this area year on year. This has been a key piece that our leaders have deliberately built into our culture, by taking the survey results back to the people, working through the feedback authentically and taking on board what needs to change. It has been inspiring working alongside our very hip leaders, watching them operate authentically, shout about how culture is king and build this into our culture.

Now we face another period of change, we know that this tenant is the successful cornerstone of our culture and our leaders will stay authentically hip…..not shoot from the hip, or be hypocrites or hypnotise with smoke and mirrors.