Successful Leadership in Difficult Times (LEADER)
Leaders face many difficulties in today’s world because the market is changing quickly and a successful leader needs to have a wide range of skills. In my work as a soft skills trainer for leadership, motivation, and stress management, I frequently come into contact with executives and observe these aspects as leadership challenges.
the globalization and digitization of industries
Leading staff in different cities and nations requires new forms of leadership as a result of digitization.
Employees with intercultural challenges are being globalized
Managing the changing demands of generations X, Y, and Z
What is the most effective way for you to develop your leadership skills for these changes?
I typically start my presentations on leadership motivation with the acronym LEADER, which succinctly outlines key leadership principles.
L-Listening
Embracing Change Online
A-Being Willing to Fail
D-Development
E-Entertainment
Relationship Development
The six fundamental principles of effective leadership are more important than ever in the current environment.
Based on my background in adventure and my self-experiments “How to Travel the World for Free” (Tonight Show, NBC) and “How to Barter for Paradise” (Honolulu Star-Advertiser), I have firsthand knowledge of the significance of the six components of the acronym LEADER in overcoming significant obstacles.
Without money, I once traveled to the edge of the planet.
Listening
became a fantastic exercise for me because I found that the more I paid attention to people and listened to their stories as I traveled 35,000 kilometers around the globe, the more I was able to help them. After all, I required daily free transportation, lodging, and food. And isn’t it similar that employees want their managers to pay attention to their needs and wants in the workplace?
According to a recent study, the average listening attention span in our culture is just under eight seconds. It was at least 12 seconds at the turn of the millennium. We are getting used to short messages and quick information because of digitalization. How can we listen to our employees, particularly when we’re under time constraints?
Accepting Change
is unquestionably the main problem facing modern leadership. Frequently, what was pertinent yesterday is no longer pertinent today. Compared to before digitization, production cycles, market trends, and consumer behavior are occurring more quickly. In order to adapt to the new, one must be able to repeatedly step outside of their comfort zone.
Here, I like to use Kodak as an illustration of how the once-dominant photo company and global market leader failed to foresee the coming of digital photography. This signaled the giant’s demise.
Insolvency results from inaction.
On my own journey to the end of the world without money, I experienced the pressure of change every day. I had to keep trying new things in order to receive free food, lodging, and travel in various locations and nations. Because Americans were more interested in completely different things than Belgians, even though the “tell a joke for a free roll” exchange worked beautifully there.
I advertised unusual services on the open street in Las Vegas and San Francisco, such as “the human sofa for a dollar,” to entice them out of their shells (to assist me) (my back still hurts…) And these stunts were helpful because 300 Americans who engaged in pillow fights with me one after another contributed $1 each to pay for my flight to Costa Rica, which cost $300.
I felt like a traveler in the shape of a chameleon because the rules of free travel were, of course, drastically different in South America and Antarctica. Corporate leadership is less likely to involve pillow fights (I suppose), but the level of change needed draws a direct comparison between it and my adventures.
Embracing Failure
As I kept starting promotions for free barter deals that didn’t pan out, accepting failure was also crucial. Trial and error followed by a backup plan.
Development
For managers as well as for adventurers, development is crucial. Staying in your comfort zone causes two things: stagnation or even regression (old patterns that you believed you had overcome long ago may reappear), as well as a lack of motivation.
After completing the adventure challenge “How to Barter for Paradise,” I had that exact experience. I became too complacent after success to push myself further. The lack of drive appeared suddenly. Exactly this is what managers need to stay away from. My motto is “Challenge 4 Change” because I view challenges and personal growth as essential to success and inspiration.
Entertainment
I couldn’t imagine overcoming my challenges without entertainment. I reached the end of the world primarily through humorous misadventures performed for no pay, such as pillow fights with onlookers for a dollar or serving as the British butler for the German ambassador in Panama. In this situation, humor was essential to success.
Networking
I counted the number of people I spoke with during this trip. 50 contacts per day, or 7,000–8,000 (!) in 150 days, must have been made. The cornerstone of my challenges—and possibly your professional challenges—is networking.
In my (German) motivational keynotes, I use these and other experiences to humorously introduce the LEADER requirement to the audience. There is also my most recent LEADER talk from my presentation in the United States.
