Are you a Creative Leader?

I just got back from a three-day Leadership Circle Profile Certification class, which has been on my professional development / innovation goal list for two years. It was amazing! Leadership Circle has a unique purpose statement: We exist to evolve the conscious practice of leadership, to steward the planet, and to awaken us all to our inherent unity. How refreshing to spend three days learning that the old model of competitive, controlling leadership does not get the business results organizations need.

The Leadership Circle Profile is used all over the world. It is a tool that focuses on leadership effectiveness and the importance of leading in a VUCA world.

What does VUCA mean? All organizations have:

Volatility
Uncertainty
Complexity
Ambiguity

Can you think of any organization that is not struggling with these factors? A leader can make a lasting impact when they can operate as a creative leader and not a reactive leader. In my twenty years of coaching, I have noticed that organizations no longer have the patience for reactive leaders and that progressive, creative leaders often replace them. Reactive leaders create a work environment filled with anxiety and fear and their reports lack engagement. Creative leadership is filled with purpose, passion and action!

The Leadership Circle Profile assesses where you fall on their 18 Creative Leadership Competencies. These include: Caring Connection, Fosters Team Play, Collaborator, Mentoring & Developing, Interpersonal Intelligence, Selfless Leader, Balance, Composure, Personal Learner, Integrity, Courageous Authenticity, Community Concern, Sustainable Productivity, Systems Thinker, Strategic Focus, Purposeful and Visionary, Achieves Results, and Decisiveness. In the latest research, these leadership competencies are highly correlated to both leadership effectiveness and business performance.

How would you rate today if ten people with whom you work closely evaluated you on these competencies?

You may be surprised to see some of the Leadership Circle Competencies that are considered reactive. These include: Conservative, Pleasing, Belonging, Passive, Distance, Critical, Arrogance, Autocratic, Ambition, Driven, and Perfect. The key with these reactive competencies is that in certain situations they may be helpful, but when they are used as a preferred mode of leadership, we see poor business results and a lack of engagement with the people these individuals manage.

The Leadership Circle profile also assesses the response to five key statements to determine your Leadership Effectiveness. These are:

I am satisfied with the quality of leadership he/she provides.
He/ she is the kind of leader that others should aspire to become.
He/she is an example of an ideal leader.
His/her leadership helps this organization to thrive.
Overall, he/she provides very effective leadership.

I learned by working through many case studies in this certification how powerful creative leadership can be and why so many organizations are using this progressive model and seeing great success!

Where do you and your organization fit when you assess your leadership effectiveness?