4 New Rules for 21st Century Leaders

Tuesday is guest blogger day, and today I have the honor of hosting Shawn Murphy.

Shawn is the founder and President of Achieved Strategies. Achieved Strategies is a organizational change and transformation firm that helps organizations weave together people, technology, and process and business to achieve results. Shawn is an unabashed supporter of the belief that "the business of business is people." He blogs weekly at www.achievedstrategies.com/blog. He also tweets at@shawmu. You can also contact Shawn at info@achievedstrategies or calling 888.361.5181.

Ted Coiné is a kindred spirit. We both are impassioned by the opportunity to spread the beliefs, words, and behaviors of 21^st Century leaders. We see a shift away from arrogant, self-indulgent, controlling, and self-centered leaders driving businesses. Yes these leaders exist today in major corporations, in politics, in small businesses, and in our community. Slowly, however, these leaders will become irrelevant as humanity is added back into how organizations partner with employees, and emerging community-focused and driven companies become more the norm.

The 21^st Century Leaders are learning from the power of social technology and the way it unites people. They are observing, taking note on what NOT to do when the company finds itself in a PR nightmare. They are learning to speak the truth when called to do so, take the resulting lumps, and move forward. These are but a few of the influences on Generation Y current and future-leaders, Gen X and even Boomer leaders.

People are more connected than ever before. They want to be heard. They want to make a difference. This is a powerful influence on leadership. The observant leader will find new ways to invite people to make a difference. In the context of business, 21^st Century Leaders know how to invite people to contribute at work.

Inviting employees to contribute in the changed workplace will need a new set of “rules.” The header on Ted’s blog states, “Welcome to the new rule book.” Here are some new rules to put in your rulebook.

Transparent intentions. We’ve grown disgusted by CEOs, other executives, and politicians’ inability to speak the truth. From infidelity to corruption, we all want to hear the scandalized speak the truth, to fess up to and own their mistakes. We want to see what they’ve learned. Until then, we’re skeptical of their intentions, of their words.

For 21^st Century Leaders, they know to “own” the outcomes of their decisions. And they speak openly, in public with their people, about difficult decisions and about their potential impacts. People can handle the truth. It’s time to start talking about how company’s can move forward from the tough decisions made over the past three years.

Embrace the virtual workplace. With the cloud growing in importance, and mobile technology abundantly available, leaders will allow work to occur anywhere. Why not allow people to work wherever and whenever. Employee isn’t the only role people fill in their life. Work and personal life will be better integrated to bring greater satisfaction in both worlds. It means quality and efficiencies are to be gained. The 21^st Century Leader embraces the virtual workplace because successes aren’t achieved between 9-5.

Employees are first. The axiom “customers are always right” is turned on its head by leaders of the 21^st Century. It’s about employees first. They get that when employees are heard, encouraged to “leave their fingerprint” on the organization’s offerings, and invited to transform the company, customers are taken care of. It’s an outcome of focusing on employees. There’s no relevance for the old saying about customers coming first. It’s a moot point. Why does this work? It’s because there is a clear purpose and meaning in the work.

Create meaning at work. It’s human nature to want to make a difference. Leaders understand that human need and find ways to maximize it. 21^st Century Leaders mobilize their people to invent/improve better services and products. They encourage cross-collaboration across the organization. They allow employees to interact with customers to improve the company’s products and services. This new’ish leadership approach weaves the company’s values, mission, and vision in interactions with others. This type of leader wants to help employees succeed. When meaning is present at work, conversations about profitability become easier. Why? Because employees see how what they do impacts the success of the company.

These four rules are merely the tip of the iceberg for 21^st Century leaders. The social, technical, economical, and political changes are in hyper-drive and changing how people relate to one another. And since leadership is about relating and helping people, your style of leadership must, too, change. Inspired leadership is influenced by the surrounding environment. It cannot exist in a vacuum. Today and future leaders see how their leadership and the environment are interconnected, evolving together. This is the 21^st Century Leader.