Leadership transformation requires shifting from telling to asking, fostering collaboration and trust.
Language shapes organizational culture, driving innovation and collaborative decision-making.
Transformational leaders must focus on self-control, structural alignment, and fostering a learning-oriented environment.
Deep dives
The Launch of Future of Work Fundamentals Course
A course focused on the building blocks of Brave New Work, designed for new transformers, is being launched following positive feedback from the previous cohort. The course includes access to a Slack community and facilitated events. More experienced practitioners have the opportunity to join an invite-only community of practice, with a public launch planned later. The course aims to immerse participants in new ways of working.
Leading Through Transformation
The podcast delves into the challenges and excitement of leading through transformation. It highlights a transition phase between initial excitement and tangible outcomes where leaders can feel uncertain. This stage entails significant learning in a complex system, focusing on making gradual impactful changes that require building a learning-by-doing muscle and developing new habits.
Shifting Leadership Mindsets
The conversation emphasizes the importance of shifting from telling to asking in leadership styles. It underlines the need for leaders to refrain from giving orders and instead encourage team members to voice their intentions and decisions. The key lies in fostering a collaborative environment where individuals commit to actions guided by principles, promoting transparency, autonomy, and trust.
Importance of Language in Leadership
The episode introduces the concept of changing language to drive organizational transformation. By altering the structure of communication, leaders can guide teams towards collaborative decision-making and innovation. The examples demonstrate how language influences behavior, emphasizing the value of clear communication, commitment over compliance, and creating a culture that values thoughtfulness and active participation in meetings.
Advice for Transformation Journey
Recommendations for individuals embarking on a transformation journey include focusing on self-control, aligning organizational structures with desired behaviors, and transforming meeting dynamics to encourage collaboration and diverse perspectives. The importance of language in driving cultural change and fostering a learning-oriented environment is highlighted as key elements in successful transformation efforts.
Leading a team through change is hard, but leading a team to a place without traditional leadership is far harder. If you ask people to step up... will they do it? And can you really mandate self-management?
In this episode of Brave New Work, we talk about what it takes to realize a new way of working within a team or organization, and why that's so hard for—and so dependent on—those of us in charge. Later, they're're joined by former submarine commander David Marquet, author of Turn The Ship Around! and Leadership Is Language, who talks to us about the power of stepping back, the way language shapes the workplace, and how to create a "can think" (and do) culture.