My last article argued that we need to follow before we can lead, to listen before we can expect to be listened to. So, what does that look like in practice? What behaviors can we practice to become better followers, better listeners, and ultimately – better leaders? Following vs Leading In a nutshell, when we…
New Leadership, Part 6: The Management Funnel
Building on my last post, I would like to introduce a tool that can help leaders implement New Leadership’s two key principles: setting clear boundaries, and giving people autonomy within them. One of the most intriguing management concepts of the past few years, Filip Vandendriessche’s Management Funnel is described in his book Leidinggeven Zonder Bevelen…
New Leadership, Part 5: Setting Boundaries and Giving Space
In my last post, I discussed the ‘pecking order’ mentality that can often subconsciously drive our behaviors. I wrote about how these learned, yet unconscious and emotionally-guided behaviors often keep us from letting employees (and ourselves) be driven naturally toward autonomy, craftsmanship, and purpose. The struggle for our place in the pecking order takes place…
New Leadership, Part 4: The Struggle For Your Place in the Pecking Order, The Origin of Behavior
I’ve introduced the three underlying principles of New Leadership. The idea that employees are autonomous, meaningful partners, driven by the natural desire to behave according to these natural ways of being. And yet, across our organizations, human characteristics also prevent these from becoming practice. What are these characteristics and how do they guide our behavior?…
New Leadership, Part 3: The Core Values and Beliefs of New Leadership
My last article suggested a different approach to motivation, driven by intrinsic factors and our innate tendencies towards purpose and autonomy. Using a few examples, I illustrated the ways that protecting others’ self-esteem with respect is often a trigger for creativity, innovation, and positive emotions. Allowing people to be driven by their natural interests is…
New Leadership, Part 2: Relighting the fire; Do we really try?
In my previous blog, I looked at how the two previous centuries have been characterized by certain beliefs about motivation. Most commonly, that rewarding, punishing, or giving people attention was ‘the best’ way to motivate them. I also argued that this perspective—that extrinsic rewards are effective—is still prevalent. I thus suggested that in the 21st…
New Leadership, Part 1: The Challenge!
Good leadership means knowing how to motivate people for optimal performance. Or at least, this seemed to be the main paradigm for the 20th century. In the 21st century, however, ‘good leadership’ should, in my opinion, mean being able to shape meaning, autonomy, and happiness. This calls for a whole new approach to motivation. I…
Part 8: Brain-Friendly Leadership Tips
As we bring this change and emotions series to a close, I would like to share 3 final brain-friendly leadership tips. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me! 7. Co-create as much as possible. Co-creation is possible when people get autonomy within a clear framework (a defined direction and playing field). This is…
Part 7: Consequences for Leadership – Tips
4. When leading change, use arguments, facts and examples that engage the emotions. You can talk for a long time about our ever-changing world and the impact on your organization, but if your information is not interesting to the crocodile or the monkey, it will have no effect. So, use facts that show that survival,…
Change and emotions: Part 6: Consequences for Leadership
Insight from new research on the workings of our brain is crucial to becoming an effective leader, and building productive, happy organizations. In this article, we give three practical leadership tips to make sure that you lead in a brain-friendly way with a higher success rate. 1. Prepare your communication well. The first seven words…