Leadership is a big topic and buzzword these days. What defines great leadership?
There are thousands of materials and books on the subject, yet the world is still ridden with the same problems.
The disparity amongst humans, corruption, environmental destruction, and countries at war are nowhere closer to being resolved.
One problem appears to be that leadership is hierarchical and separates the decision-making powers between regular people, and the few at the top. This discourages people from taking responsibility and making impactful choices because they feel stifled from the decision-making system.
To combat this, the focus must be pivoted towards seeing how we can improve access to the economy, and accelerate cultural impact as a collective. This may be our only sustainable solution of giving hope to the future of leadership.
Leadership is a journey. One where you must lead yourself before you lead others. To Kiri-Maree Moore, CEO and Founder of Decision Velocity Global known as a Global Advisor, Strategist & Investor – International Speaker, “becoming obsessed with patterns” was her way of connecting awareness in leadership culture and helping leaders across the globe take ownership of their decisions.
An old approach to leadership was to emphasize having one person at the top. The new approach is where humanity recognizes “if every one of us does their one percent, then together we can shift the dial forward from problem to solution, ” Kiri-Maree states. The kind of cultural impact where we add value, not take away
This article discusses how when we disrupt old patterns, take a new approach, and view leadership through a “humanity as stakeholders” lens, it can create space to serve a new generation of global leaders.
Humanity as Stakeholders
Humanity means you and I, where the stakeholder is a measure of value. Looking at leadership using “humanity as stakeholders” as a lens means when you make a decision, you either add value to the human race or subtract from it. Kiri-Maree believes if we were all to do this then it would help to shift the dial in the right direction.
Things like conditioning, restrictive social norms, and distrust through biases must be eliminated. Permission at the table needs to become a non-negotiable where every human has a seat. All distinctions are welcome where you add value and are able to give voice to the change needed across the global leadership landscape.
This is exactly what Kiri-Maree means when she holds a vision of hope for the future of leadership. “The old approach has got us this far but the new approach will narrow the gap between where we are and where we need to be,” Kiri-Maree affirms.
Humans need to be proactive about rewiring old patterns in their brains, to make better decisions and to form effective behaviors that help shift humanity forward. This needs to begin in a leadership culture where leaders know the power of a leader who evolves.
Instead of defaulting back to the old approach based on the archaic principles of leadership, where leaders are stuck in a hierachy, we use the new approach which creates space for new conversations, different questions, and where we learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. “Patterns help us be more effective, to disrupt old systems and processes that are not working anymore”, Kiri-Maree says.
It’s a science and an art to rewire our brains. To achieve effective and sustainable solutions, we have to master the muscle of Human Intelligence (HI) and disrupt the patterns that are no longer serving us.
Exercising the Muscle of Human Intelligence (HI)
Technology continues to advance and time is moving at a fast pace. Leaders need more than ever to know how to make the right decisions, fast. Learning the secret advantage of exercising the muscle of HI is no longer just an option, but is essential for any leader. Human Intelligence is as simple as the data you gather from the environment and what you choose to do with the data.
Like any muscle, when the brain is underutilized— it atrophies, becoming less effective over time. Unfortunately, if leadership continues down the same pathway, it prevents from building a culture where it is encouraged to think for yourself, do things differently, and lead. It all begins with awareness, recognizing patterns, understanding the opportunities, and the willingness to make shifts to adopt better solutions.
Away with the Old Approach, onto the New Approach
Instead of shielding everyday people from making what has been known as top-level, executive decisions—why constrain these abilities to a few around the table. Rather, a new approach gives the opportunity for different leaders to come to the table, navigate decisions through a different lens and add their value to help give impact to the final decision. If we stick to having the same people around the table with the same patterns of thinking, we will always end up with the same outcome. This shift is crucial for evolution.
Moving away from a competitive, zero-sum mindset requires us as individuals to see the problem beyond our own limiting lens. Learning from others, either within our own industry or outside of it, gives us the perspective and skills needed to make better decisions and take action to move humanity forward in a better direction.
Kiri-Maree has always done everything with her vision in mind. Her vision involves helping people across the globe to know there is always a solution to any problem if you are willing to find it. To her, to equip people with access to resources and strategies allows every human the opportunity to have a voice at the table.
Conclusion
All in all, leadership that shifts humanity in a forward movement requires the need for a new approach. Assessing our decisions through the lens of humanity as stakeholders creates the space for a new culture of innovation, where leadership can pioneer a new pathway to bring sustainable solutions.
This environment should empower leaders being able to make smart decisions, be able to exercise the muscle of HI,and to add value to humanity going forward.
Find what requires us to build out an ecosystem that offers value on a universal scale. The more value we can add to humanity, and others; the closer we will become to narrowing the gap between problems and solutions as a society.
