So far we’ve asked you to plan and practice leadership habits and behaviours to grow and optimise your positive impact.
But why impact?
Every way we exercise leadership creates a ripple effect and has Impact on those around us. Our people, our peers, our leaders, our customers, our boards, our communities and all of those that we serve. As you work on your leadership, we want to re-share with you how our IMPACT work can help. How it outlines the areas in which your practice will result in the kind of leadership that will have the most positive effect, empowering your teams and unleashing performance.
A number of years back, Google analysed data on over 180 teams in search of the drivers and differentiators that stood out from their most effective teams. Project Aristotle, as this research was named, came up with 5 key traits of a successful team, that is, the elements that really mattered for high performance.
It is here that we first noticed Impact, as the need for teams to think their work matters and creates change, included as the fifth of these key elements.
Image credit – https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/
However, when we started to develop our IMPACT work we wanted to create a model that would encompass these traits underlining the practice, the work that goes into developing them. We also wanted to bring the importance of impact to the next level.
We truly believe that leadership impact goes beyond the organisation to have a ripple effect on the outside world of stakeholders, customers and communities. Our IMPACT is not only about how teams think their work matters and creates change but about how their leadership ripples beyond that work.
As you look through the elements of our IMPACT model you will notice much is shared between the kind of leadership we strive to develop and the traits that Google presented as key.
Thus, it is through the practice of positive team Communication and team dynamics that you deepen Trust and allow for a psychologically safe space to collaborate, take risks and grow. It is not enough to say, team members need to feel safe and supported. It is how you make this happen, how you create the space for it through trust, communication, clarity of intent and accountability that makes it possible. As it is through structure and clarity that teams can establish a real Pulse, an operating rhythm that will enable them to thrive. It is through Intent that teams develop and align to meaning and through practices of Accountability that your team becomes dependable.
Whether you’re looking at impact from the perspective of leadership traits or the practice of the IMPACT elements that develop and enhance said traits, ultimately, what is true of both is that these essential components will make your team succeed.
So, not only get back to practicing your impact, but bring your team along and connect with us to set up the program that will get you there.
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