The other day I gave a (newly developed) talk on Exponential Organizations – building on top of the fantastic work my dear friend Salim Ismail and his team did a few years ago (and published in the excellent book under the same name).
Our research is based on a layer model which goes from changes in the business model which lead to changes in the operational model (which is what Salim’s book is all about), resulting in changes in the organizational model, which lead to a change in culture and lastly leadership. The process is top-down with a significant amount of interference in-between the layers.
In my talk, we explore all the layers one-by-one. When we get to the leadership layer (the deepest layer in the model), I love to make a significant point: Leadership is (contrary to what some people may want you to believe) mostly good, old common sense. In other words —
It is not complicated. It is just hard.
Which, of course, doesn’t mean that we do not have our work cut out for us – as most leaders seem to not invest the time, resources and effort into becoming better versions of themselves. And yet – we know from study after study that good leadership makes a massive difference: On employee satisfaction, productivity, creativity, and the bottom line.
Make the time, space and invest the resources in becoming a better leader. Your people and your company will thank you for it. Just don’t overcomplicate it. It is not that complicated…