Being a Director or CEO of an organisation is an important role.
To be successful in these leadership positions it’s important that you understand the roles and responsibilities of a Board member and the different roles of Boards and Management.
Leading an organisation also needs you to have an understanding of your own leadership style and what effective leadership looks like, as it is very important to your governance role.
Board members often don’t think of themselves as leaders, but along with the CEO and executive staff, you are indeed the leadership team for your organisation.
There are many different models of leadership. They all focus on finding out what makes successful leaders excel in what they do.
Effective Leadership of an organisation requires Board Members and CEOs to have:
- A high level of interpersonal skills
- Self-awareness
- A commitment to life-long learning
- An ability to create new visions
- Change focus and management skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Intellectual Creativity
- Inspirational Motivation
- Individualised Consideration
- Team Building Power
Most people see leadership as the act of leading someone else. Not Peter Urs Bender however. For him, leadership begins with leading ourselves. It means finding out what will bring us fulfillment not in isolation from others but in collaboration with them.
His book ‘Leadership from Within’ notes 5 key leadership steps:
- Know Yourself
- Have Vision and Passion
- Take Risks
- Communicate
- Check Progress and Results
The next question though is……Leading us where?
Think of the way your Board operates. What sort of leaders are you? Do you have a collaborative culture? Are you setting the Vision and Strategies to achieve it? Setting the vision is a pivotal role for the leaders of any organisation. And once you do, you also need to monitor performance, celebrate achievement, coach and develop your senior people.
We can work with you and your team to undertake leadership and/or governance development. We undertake CEO and Board Performance Reviews with recommendations and support for improvement, codesign leadership programs and undertake governance training.
Contact us if we can assist.
Michelle Swallow – Director