Shift: The Rise of Revolutionary Leadership

As a highly respected thought leader and someone who advises leaders around the world, we are currently experiencing one of the greatest leadership shifts in history. Crisis is always the birthplace for change and the world is going through a period of radical change. I can feel it, sense it, and see it as I interact with leaders all around the world. It’s becoming evident that many leadership models are broken. More importantly, we have developed managers but we still have a void of leadership in the world. As the world changes and economies shift, now more than ever we must develop leaders that will respond to the challenges, bridge the gap, and bring solutions to world problems. This era will demand more than talent and charisma. This era of leadership will demand courage and conviction as we hit a global inflection point.

1. Revolutionary leadership begins with the building of trust. According to Forbes, trust goes right along with relationship building. When I first started out in leadership, the thing that was important to me was not looking the part but living the part. In other words, I wanted to build trust with the people that I would be leading. However, I knew that trust is not just given and it has to be earned. If you have followed my work for any length of time, then you know that relationships move at the speed of trust. Therefore, trust is the currency of relationships. As we look at the moral decline and ethical decay of leadership globally, it becomes clear that a lack of personal integrity and core values has contributed to the demise of twenty-first-century leadership. If you want to be an impactful leader, then you need to lead the way by modeling the way. Build trust with those that you lead by being truthful and modeling authenticity through your life and work. Trust is built through integrity and destroyed through inconsistency. The more trustworthy you are the more credibility you will gain as a leader.
2. Revolutionary leadership requires the establishment of authentic connections. Unfortunately, most leaders want your respect before they want a relationship with you. In other words, they want to be respected because of their status without you ever knowing their standards of principles. In my research, I discovered from the Harvard Business Review that to gain influence you have to first build rapport with the people that you want to influence. In other words, I call this learning the art of authentic connection. For me, this includes genuinely getting to know the people that you will serve and lead. In addition, it is finding out what they value and what they prioritize when it comes to company culture. Most of all, authentic connection is about building rapport and opening the heart space of an individual so that you can connect with them at a deeper level. People are not interested in your ideas or your policies until they understand the standards and principles that guide and govern your leadership. What the world does not need is another artificial leader looking polished but lacking personal values and standards. Connection is not about who you think people want you to be. Connection is about being who you are and showing that you genuinely care about what is important to those that you serve and lead.
3. Revolutionary leaders introduce new paradigms. As some of you may know, I am recognized around the world as a revolutionary thinker. I’ve written thirteen books and almost every one of them has addressed the mind. My ideas are respected around the world and have even become models for leadership in the twenty-first century. However, when I look around the world today, I do not see a lot of revolutionary thinkers. I see a lot of people who have lost the ability to think creatively and innovate. Everyone is busy trying to create the next big breakthrough. On the other hand, we are missing out on everyday opportunities to innovate within our industry, field, or discipline. Through my work, I have consistently challenged conventional ways of thinking and created new paradigms. Some have considered my ideas extreme but others have found my innovative thinking to be refreshing. If you want to introduce new paradigms, then you have to be willing to think outside the box, challenge assumptions, welcome dialogues and engage diverse perspectives. Most of all, if you want to introduce new paradigms, you must be able to think differently, think strategically, and think innovatively. Revolutionary leaders are visionaries who can birth realities not yet born to time. New paradigms emerge from pioneering new schools of thought and expanding the mind to new possibilities.
4. Revolutionary leaders model excellence in all their endeavors. Excuses are the symbol of the average and the mediocre. Conversely, excellence is the symbol of those who are world-class at what they do. Excellence is not about perfection. In fact, if you try to produce perfection, you will become frustrated and fall back into the habits of the average. Excellence is about improvement and endeavoring to be the best at what you do. In other words, excellence is a commitment to quality and undeniable value. Entrepreneur Magazine says that excellence is more than the pursuit of perfection and distinction. Excellence also includes empathy and kindness in how we lead and how we exercise power. Personally, excellence is even more than that. Excellence is setting the standard, shaping the vision, and blazing the trail that other visionaries, innovators, and history shapers will one day have to travel. Excellence is the willingness to be the seed for the possibilities and opportunities that future generations will enjoy. Excellence is reaching for more and daring to reimagine the way we live, work, and play.