Real Listening is Not Hierarchical. You Never Know Who Has the Best Idea.

The one thing that stands out for me, because it worked for me my entire leadership career, is being willing to listen to others and having an open mind for learning new ways of doing things.

Also, recognizing that real listening is not hierarchical. Sometimes the most junior person around the table has the best idea, and as a leader, you have to be able to say, “That’s a good idea, let’s go with it.”

The other important thing is to recognize that everybody is watching you as the leader, and if you are not the catalyst for the new direction or for the change that the organization has decided to make, then you’re a deterrent.

You also have to really influence and leverage others across the organization to make things happen. To do that, you’ve got to build and develop those future leaders by giving them space for expression and for taking smaller steps into bigger roles.

It’s also important to embrace a collaborative posture in order to foster a team approach to challenging and sometimes disruptive business environments.