Since I am somewhat of an old timer – having received my Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering in December of 1987 – I have seen a lot of change in the way business is conducted. In the “old days” there was no email, no cell phones and no texting or chatting on the Internet. What Internet? Amazingly, we had to make phone calls or visit folks in person, hence the phrase “cold call”!
I have been in a few meetings were when I say “I have a rather large Rolodex of contacts” a hand shoots up because they have no idea what a Rolodex is……and I actually do laugh out loud!
I expect that most of us, including those of us who have been around awhile, cannot even imagine no email, cell phones or Internet. We have embraced these new technologies to enable our lives to be better, more efficient and to allow us to work on the tasks that need our attention. We changed from then to now, and yet….the thought of changing from now to the unknown future can be frightening.
As technology and tools progress, so must processes and expectations. True Transformational Leadership recognizes these changes and uses them – and the full team – to their greatest potential. The new tools and processes enable the team to do what we humans do best – work with others, innovate, plan, solve hard problems that have never been thought about before. Transformational leaders must pave the way, through the amorphous unknown, and develop best practices, for our specific company and domain, to ensure success while inspiring the team to embrace the changes. It will be hard. It will be tiring. It will be an uphill slog some days. And we must do it anyway.
One of the first things we must do is know ourselves. Know our corporate capabilities. Know our limitations. Recognise that we are not all things to all people and decide what battles are ours to fight. Determining our objectives and goals for the day, month, year and beyond enables us to set tactical plans to reach those goals and filter out projects and tasks that are not relevant. These plans can then be evaluated to determine what is our added value and where we should spend our time. Tasks deemed not as important can be moved to tools or outsourced allowing our staff and company to focus on what is important – as defined by us.
Since growth is a clear objective for most companies, we need to recognize how this is best achieved. By knowing ourselves and having a clear list of objectives for our out years, the transformational leader can help set the stage for success. Knowing “what” we want to do as a company allows us to then work on the “how” we will get it done. This can be a daunting task especially if the objective and goals are audacious – and they should be! The Transformational leadership quickly recognizes that this cannot be accomplished alone and must set up a team to help guide the journey.
In my experience,
whenever there is change, and especially when people are moved into different Transformational Leadership leadership positions, the “human condition” will show itself – encompassing both positive and negative aspects of our existence. It is our job, as the Transformational Leader, to not only recognize this, but embrace it and use it to our corporate advantage. We also need to be aware that our younger staff have a lot to add – especially when it comes to new concepts, tools and supporting technologies – we need to listen to them.
Willowview embraces our flexibility and ability to quickly adapt as the world, as our project parameters, change. In my experience, the single trait that predicts success is mindset – and a team’s ability to pivot quickly to a changing landscape. The Transformational Leader sets the stage to make this happen and trusts her team to make the best decisions.
Read Full Magazine – The 10 Most Successful Women Leaders in Business, 2024
