Enlightened leaders recognize the importance of self-awareness and effective collaborative relationships and they focus their efforts on building connections with the people they lead. Collaborative relationships in the workplace are created through a special kind of ‘connection’ with others – a connection that can only be made with a fully optimized brain and mind. Optimizing your brain and mind, and the brains and minds of the people you lead, requires a strategic approach to development of quality cognitive behaviour. The six behaviour attitudes of a strategic approach to quality cognitive behavior development are as follows:
1. Develop Attentiveness
Enlightened leaders give their people their undivided attention every day. Whether in leader huddles, using the old Hewlett-Packard “leading by wandering around” approach, or health care’s rounding for outcomes, suffice it to say leadership connection begins by being available and genuinely attentive to the needs of the people doing the work of the organization.
2. Develop Alertness
Enlightened leaders have a highly developed empathic sense. They are able to detect when an emotional state of another person is in distress and then they respond to what they see. Failing to be alert to the emotional state of other people is a major impediment to execution of strategy. When you sense a negative state, the skill of Positive Presence equips you with the words and/or behaviour change needed to mitigate and/or entirely eliminate the negative.
3. Develop Appreciation
Enlightened leaders are constantly looking for qualities to praise people for – daily! All too often leaders are critically-minded and quick to verbalize errors. Leaders should spend a great deal of time identifying what people do right and acknowledging them for it. All too often there is a mindset of “that’s what you get paid for” and positive encouragement is not forthcoming.
4. Develop Thoughtfulness
Successful leaders and good business people know that effective communication is a critical element of execution and peak performance. Enlightened leaders know how to use suggestions and expressed-thoughtfulness as a form of inclusive, participative leadership.
5. Develop a Learner’s Attitude
Success in every dimension of life is related to your ability to connect with others. It is also true that your success is directly related to your ability and willingness to learn, to change, to adapt, and to grow. To learn is to change. Throughout our life there is a constant evolution in the way we think and act, brought about by new understanding, new knowledge, and new skills.
6. Develop Leadership with Humility
Humility is a key factor of leadership character and requires an affirmative answer to the following: Can you be open to new concepts of leader obligation? Can you be open to receiving candid and honest feedback about your behavior and its impact on those you lead? Can you get excited about letting others help you learn about your own habits and the changes needed to improve the effectiveness of your leadership influence?
Applying a strategic approach to quality cognitive behavior development will optimize minds and brains to create the necessary connections for collaborative work relationships.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.