AchieveGlobal's blog

The Leader ’s New Chisel

By Craig Perrin

This is the sixth of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." Be sure to read the complete report.

"Innovate or die" is no longer a cliché. That phrase now describes the real choice many organizations face in the current economy: rethink themselves from strategy to products to daily operation - or risk oblivion.

AchieveGlobal's 2009 international study identified six "zones of 21st-century leadership" - Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business.  Ingenuity, in particular, has taken on new meaning and new urgency. Today, offering and executing good ideas is not enough. Leaders must help others do the same by creating a culture in which innovation can thrive. To respond to new threats and opportunities, leaders must question everything, right down to received wisdom at the heart of their business.

Innovation at one time was a little-used skill at the bottom a leader's tool box, fished out for incremental improvements here or there. Today, leaders need sharp new tools and the requisite skills to create a true culture of innovation: curious, challenging, collaborative, confidence-building, and customer-close. Leaders strong in the zone of Ingenuity help their teams - even their organizations - to create a motivating shared vision of future success.

What defines Ingenuity in the 21st-century leader? Maybe exactly what defined it in that 16th-century sculptor, Michelangelo, who into his 80s, laboring over his unfinished "Bound Slave," could say, "I am still learning."

Craig Perrin is Director of Solution Development at AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Reflecting on Leadership

By Craig Perrin

This is the fourth of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." Be sure to read the complete report.

There's nothing like a long look in the mirror to motivate needed change. Gazing thoughtfully at your reflection can reveal positives to build on and negatives to improve or eradicate.

The same goes for business leaders: Those who often reflect on their own strengths and liabilities are far more likely to transform unproductive behaviors into behaviors that make them stronger and more effective.

Our recent research into how leaders can succeed in the 21^st century uncovered six zones or groups of best practices: Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business. Of them, Reflection is perhaps the most central.

To leverage strengths and remove the blind spots that lead to poor decisions, reflective leaders habitually assess their own motives, beliefs, attitudes, and actions.

If "the more you look, the more you see," as the adage goes, it should be no surprise that reflective leaders tend to succeed in other zones, as well. Why this spillover effect for the zone of Reflection?

It's quite simple.

The practices grouped under Reflection help leaders assess their performance in other zones. Because reflective leaders see their place in the big picture, they tend to "take responsibility for their own mistakes" (the highest-rated practice in our global survey). In this way, reflection helps them clarify what makes them strong and where they can improve in every zone. 

The Business of Leadership

By Craig Perrin

This is the third of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader" (complete report available HERE.)

Leaders with superior strengths in "Business" make successful business leaders.

Now there's a redundant statement, if ever there was one. But I recently have taken a few contemplative steps back from this statement and discovered a core truth.

Our recent research identified six zones or categories of best practices required to meet the challenges of 21^st-century leadership. Of these six zones (Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business), leaders tended to rate the Business zone of highest importance.

What are some characteristics of leaders who excel in the Business zone?

• They adapt quickly to changing business conditions.
• They're effective at managing the costs of operation.
• They seek new ways to make the business competitive.