The idea of a Leadership Covenant brings leadership back to basics. Too often leadership comes from a negativity bias – expectation, comparison, gap filling and incentives. It’s draining and won’t go away.
I reckon leaders have more to gain by setting a different basis for engaging people.
Getting back to basics.
Leadership is entirely about people.
Leaders lead people.
They don't lead strategy. They don't lead finance. They don't lead change.
Leaders lead people.
People do everything through a framework of value (Carl Jung). Literally everything: How we perceive information, how we process it, how we then take that to action. That's all filtered by a framework of value(s) inherent in each of us.
So, to lead people, leaders must connect on value, honestly and transparently. Let people see your conception of value, how it is to be contributed and counted. Share this explicitly at the core of what I’m calling The Leadership Covenant.
Draft Framework:
I envisage The Leadership Covenant in seven main sections:
Direction and Purpose: Set a direction for Your Leadership and clarify its mission to amplify the capacity for people to work artfully together in a complex adaptive enterprise.
Conceiving Value: Your fundamental values driving leadership behaviour.
Contributing Value: What and how you propose to realise the mission, considering people's desire to lessen our impact on planet, increase value for people and societal prosperity in ways that make genuine progress.
Counting Value: The numbers that matter and the things that matter more
Implementation & Governance: Leadership commitment to anchor on value, identifying roles, responsibilities, accountability and Covenant review.
Covenant Benefits: eg, your aspirations for adaptive decision making and risk management, high rates of meaningful work, talent retention, and trust regeneration.
Call to Action: Top executive commitment and call to action.
Now you might say we could do all that without The Leadership Covenant. Yes, you could but how often do leaders fail when the systems around their leadership are weak? The Leadership Covenant becomes part of your governance framework – setting an identity and framework for you and your people to adapt constantly.
An invitation.
I’m looking for 6-8 top executives prepared to join me to explore and evolve a framework for The Leadership Covenant. You will share ideas on leadership, conceive a framework, perhaps customise a version for your own leadership context.
My hope is for you to evolve your version of a covenant to help your people navigate the complexities of today’s world and shape a legacy of positive impact for generations to come.
In time, I would love to see a community of practice emerge where leaders share their experience of engaging people in ways that constantly regenerate cognition to fit the changing world, conscious of the consequences.
The Leadership Covenant offers a foundation stone.
Let’s Connect:
If you’d like to speak with me about this, there’s two options:
1) Find a time in July via Calendly.
2) By direct message to Richard@DrRichardHodge.com
Between Monday 17 June and mid-July, I shall be heading to UK to visit family and then to Dublin for the annual symposium of the International Council on Systems Engineering, where I’m co-chair of the Enterprise Value Working Group and will explore this idea further in that professional setting.
I look forward to sharing insights with you along the way.
If you’re exploring ideas to uplift your leadership to be the difference you want to see in the world, I do hope to hear from you.
Have a great week and month ahead.
Cheers for now,
Richard
#NoProblemTooBig
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