LearningEnvironments
Our contemporary approach to leadership is still largely driven by the legacy of industry leaders immediately following World War II. In the decades immediately after the war, a topdown hierarchy that closely modeled the structure and chain of command in the military was brought to the business world.
In the decades since, we have been fortunate to experience a technological revolution that allows us to get more done in less time, and to have extreme flexibility in how and where we get things done. Technology has outpaced our approach to leadership, and creating sustainable leadership today requires a new paradigm in how we view our role as leaders.
Day 1-30: Laying the Groundwork Focus:
Self-awareness, vision alignment and team engagement
Action Steps:
Clarify your leadership purpose: Identify your values and leadership goals to create a strong “why” behind your approach.
Assess team strengths: Conduct a skills inventory to understand individual strengths and opportunities for growth.
Transparent communication: Share your vision for the leadership ecosystem and invite feedback early to foster ownership and trust.
Getting Buy-In: Hold a team vision-setting session to co-create shared goals, demonstrating that collaboration starts from the top.
Day 31-60: Strengthening Collaboration and Contribution
Focus: Establishing roles, promoting interdependence, and building trust
Promote cross-functional collaboration: Initiate small projects that require input from multiple team members across different areas.
Encourage peer mentorship: Pair seasoned team members with emerging leaders to foster mutual growth and transfer institutional knowledge.
Celebrate quick wins: Acknowledge and celebrate small achievements to build momentum and reinforce trust.
Best Practice: Schedule weekly “ecosystem huddles” where team members can share progress, challenges and innovations.
Day 61-90: Creating a Culture of Adaptability and Growth
Focus: Continuous feedback, innovation and sustainable success
Implement feedback loops: Establish regular, two-way feedback sessions to identify areas for improvement and celebrate contributions.
Incentivize experimentation: Create space for innovation by allowing team members to pitch and lead small initiatives with support.
Review and realign: Revisit the initial goals and progress after 90 days to ensure alignment with team needs and organizational goals.
Pro Tip: Reinforce psychological safety by framing challenges as learning opportunities, not failures.
A major challenge for leaders today is how to model leadership practices that focus on satisfying the current needs of your team and organization while also laying a strong foundation for sustained future success. With so many commitments and competing priorities, leaders must wear many hats and juggle multiple responsibilities to influence the success of others. The best leaders find a way to create an environment where each member of the team can balance their unique strengths against the skill sets of others.
One way that leaders can create this type of success is by emulating how natural ecosystems operate. Looking to nature for leadership insights can teach us lessons that elevate how we show up for one another and improve the collective success of our teams. Thriving ecosystems teach us that success depends on balance, resilience and adaptability. We should strive to create a place where everyone can lean in and contribute. Leaders can emulate these principles to create sustainable systems where people and ideas flourish.
These best practices are a guide to operating in a leadership ecosystem:
Foster frequent connections: Regularly bring remote and cross-functional teams together to strengthen relationships. Be creative when assigning project teams and combine diverse skillsets in project teams.
Include and involve new perspectives: Ensure diverse voices are heard and valued in discussions and decision-making. Create an environment where your team is safe to speak up and share their thoughts and opinions.
Be the role model for adaptability: Demonstrate resilience and adaptability in your leadership to encourage the same in your team. Set the standard and encourage creative problem solving for issues that come along.
Lead with empathy: Show that you understand their concerns by actively listening and addressing their questions. Listen more than you speak and ask questions that show you are attuned to their needs and experiences
Co-design solutions: Involve team members in key decisions to foster a sense of ownership. When someone has a better idea than you do, embrace it and game-plan how to implement it across the team.
Highlight benefits: Share examples of how an ecosystem approach enhances flexibility, innovation and professional growth. You are stronger together than you are individually, lean into each other’s strengths to be successful and meet your goals.
To create your leadership ecosystem, focus on identifying how you can ensure that there is balance in the skills that each person brings to the table. In nature, ecosystems share nutrients and resources and play a specific role in keeping the environment strong and healthy. Ensure that your team can contribute their strengths while learning from the strengths of others. This balance creates a resilient and resourceful culture that fosters growth, innovation and adaptability, allowing challenges to be navigated with minimal disruption to achieving your goals.
Creating a sustainable leadership ecosystem has many advantages for leaders across the spectrum. Common challenges leaders face today include resistance to change, siloed thinking and generational disconnects. Ecosystem leadership empowers teams to see change as a pathway for growth, breaks down barriers to cooperation, opens communication channels and promotes intergenerational mentorship across your team.
Using the ecosystem model for sustainable leadership, empowers you to thrive by embracing feedback, to be able to fail forward, adjust on the fly and quickly react to an ever-changing era of business. Teams create deeper connections with one another that fuel creativity and growth by amplifying the diverse voices within your organization.
The trust that is formed among your team leads to spontaneous and informal mentorship that facilitates the transfer of institutional knowledge and best practices. This provides a comfortable place for young and emerging talent to experiment and learn from one another, while solidifying your pipeline of resilient future-ready leaders.
Ecosystems are the new organizational chart, focused on growth, collaboration and adaptability. With teams increasingly spread across large geographic areas, it’s essential to embrace diversity, break down silos and set the stage for long-term success.
It’s about creating something bigger than yourself, a place where people and ideas flourish balancing the here and now while defining the legacy you want to leave behind.
James Boyd, ACC, is a principal with Redwood Leader. Email James at james@redwoodleader.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/james-boyd-msm-2014.
