What's Next for Leadership Development: A New Gold Standard

LEAD| December 30, 2020

By: D.C. Alves M.Ed., Chief Leadership Officer, ExuLAB

Leadership is a power.

Leadership is an honor.

So, by logic, power and honor are synonymous, right? (My philosophy professors would be so proud!) Seriously though, my point here is that what’s really next for leadership development is learning how to harness the power of leadership as a force for wholesome, honorable, good in our teams, organizations and the world at large- to affect a new gold standard.

Leaders, get ready because your evolution, development and impact are going to be stratospheric. You are invited to see the potential of your power in a new way through a new lens that values leadership as a force for good, as ExuLAB likes to say in our purpose- "even when it seems impossible". 

We expect more from leaders and so we should. They are bestowed an enormous power and weight of responsibility in organizations- and consequently our world. They have tremendous influence. Do the majority of leaders realize the potential of their power as an honor able to do so much good? 

The new gold standard does.

So what would this new gold standard of leadership development look like? Let's look at this in terms of productivity. Here are some examples... As a leader with your team, how much optimism did you "produce" today? How much helpfulness? How much kindness? How much uplifting of others? How much respect? How much encouragement? How much enthusiasm? How much excitement? How much trust? How much care? How much coaching? How much genuine praise? How much hope?

As executive leaders are given such a power in this world sometimes the power is too much for a human to handle. Sometimes, due to human weakness, power can be used to fill a void of self-insignificance and result in dangerous and nefarious use. This power can be so seductive and so often misused. Leadership is not for everyone. The power is a strong force. 

What’s next for leadership development is taking a real good look at ourselves as leaders, our weaknesses and barriers that prevent us from growing and developing into leaders who treat the strong force- the power- as an honor of genuine authentic service... learning to recognize when help is needed, how to ask and seek support of others to guide us on our journey forward- and celebrating the gifts as well as strengths that work in harmony with our struggle to animate this new possibility.

What’s next for leadership development is to harness the power of the leaders in your organization to prioritize this new leadership gold standard beginning in the new year.

Imagine if all the leaders in your organization (with sincerity) put the gold standard first- in every interaction with every person- every team member, every client, every customer in every interaction live or virtual and in every program, product or service? Now imagine if all the leaders in all organizations across the world prioritized the same gold standard- leadership as a force for good in the world wouldn’t be so impossible after all and, ironically, would yield the prosperity we so ardently seek.