THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF LEADERSHIP

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Work on yourself; individually and in relation to others

Leadership. You can take it, get it, and give it. And almost all leadership development methods focus on that first aspect: taking it. How can you do it better?

It might sound like common sense, but you can't do anything with your leadership on your own. Many leadership programs do their work on an isolated island – sometimes literally. With retreats, personal coaches, in-depth one-on-one sessions. Very useful, important, and enlightening. But never complete. They exclusively focus on all the skills, insights, and obstacles to overcome of one person: the leader.

Forging leadership through a partnership

Leading a group of people is more than just a fact. Those people, individually and as a group, influence your leadership. You can't develop your leadership without them. This also applies to the situation and environment in which you develop your leadership. You can't separate your personal leadership from them.

In doing so, you would shortchange yourself, the people you work with, your team, the momentum the organization is in, and the entire organization.

Your development, our development

The development of your leadership is largely the development of your team and all the people in that team. It can't be otherwise. You can't become better in your role without making the people around you better. Leadership, team, and employees move as one unit. You can only work on yourself by also looking around you and involving the people and your team.

Inclusive Leadership

Inclusive leadership development may sound ambitiously grand. To some extent, it is. Everyone on the team needs to make a minimum investment – contribute their part. And everyone also gains a lot in return.

You work on leadership in four dimensions: 'personal', 'relational', 'team', and 'organizational'.

Personal leadership is about you, your leadership style, your values, and motivations. What you can and want to do. Through e-learning, personal conversations, and on-the-job guidance, you gain insight and a better understanding of the essential elements of successful personal leadership.

Relational leadership discovers and develops your communication style, how you can support, influence, and motivate people. You do this by involving your employees in the process. They also receive an e-learning module and have a good conversation with you. This gives you insight into how your employees communicate and the alignment between work processes and employee profiles.

Team leadership focuses on your ability to create an atmosphere of trust and safety. From giving feedback to fostering growth. You gain insight into the team's dynamics and how to leverage and optimize individual differences. This aspect focuses on processes. It begins with a comprehensive analysis based on the Role Model, includes a team session, and provides tools to develop a Team Development Plan.

Organizational leadership enables you to compare and align the development of your personal leadership with the leadership principles of the organization you work for. You implement the newly discovered ideas and concepts and evaluate them in daily practice.

Taking, getting, and giving

Personal leadership is largely about you. About how you take the lead. Your style, what motivates you, what your talents are. At the same time, you need to get that leadership; and that's determined by every person you come into contact with. They guide you. And by supporting them, they help you develop essential leadership skills. Lastly, you need to give leadership: knowing your team, strategically using talents and motivations, and improving processes.

All of this within the leadership principles and culture of the organization you work for.

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