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Question Of The Month
How should a leader get feedback on how she is doing as a leader?
Spatialedge – Can You Have Legitimate Leaders Without Managers?
In the winelands outside of Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa is an extraordinary company, a data and applied AI solutions start-up called Spatialedge. When I was first introduced to Spatialedge, they were a company of 85 people. Just over a year later they now have plus-130 people, who they call “data enthusiasts”.
They have attracted investor funding, are scaling exponentially and expanding internationally. They would argue, and I agree, that their success in the AI space, while partly due to the qualifications and exceptional skills of their people, is also due to their unique culture which has been developed and fostered by the founders since the inception of the company.
Is Generosity The Most Underrated Leadership Skill?
Leadership isn’t about role or position, it’s about generosity. We need generous leaders, who give of themselves freely without expectation of personal gain so others can develop, grow and thrive at their full potential.
For more information regarding the above, please e-mail events@legitimateleadership.com
Question Of The Month
By Josh Hayman, Director, Legitimate Leadership.
Question: How should a leader get feedback on how she is doing as a leader?
Answer: Legitimate Leadership believes that if one truly wants to know how a leader is doing, the best judges are the very people who depend on that person for leadership. We incorporate this principle into our approach to transforming leaders by conducting Leadership Surveys for each participant. These surveys diagnose how the leader is perceived to be aligned to the four key criteria of giving Care, providing Means, cultivating Ability, and holding people Accountable.
The process is of course anonymous. It provides leaders with immensely useful feedback – and gives them clarity and focus on where their development opportunities lie.
When discussing this feedback with leaders on our programmes, one of the questions I often ask is how often they themselves ask their people directly for feedback on how they are doing. The response is generally not about how often it happens, but more about whether it happens at all.
Read the full response by clicking here.
To submit your question, email info@legitimateleadership.com
Case Study: Spatialedge – Can You Have Legitimate Leaders Without Managers?
By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.
In the winelands outside of Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa is an extraordinary company, a data and applied AI solutions start-up called Spatialedge. When I was first introduced to Spatialedge, they were a company of 85 people. Just over a year later they now have plus-130 people, who they call “data enthusiasts”.
They have attracted investor funding, are scaling exponentially and expanding internationally. They would argue, and I agree, that their success in the AI space, while partly due to the qualifications and exceptional skills of their people, is also due to their unique culture which has been developed and fostered by the founders since the inception of the company.
So why should they need Legitimate Leadership? As with any of our clients, we clarify upfront what they are seeking to achieve in embracing the Legitimate Leadership principles and practices.
At the outset, the leadership of Spatialedge was crystal clear about their “why”:
READ THE FULL CASE STUDY BY CLICKING HERE
Video: Is Generosity The Most Underrated Leadership Skill?
By Joe Davis, former regional chair for Boston Consulting Group in North America, and author of the book The Generous Leader: 7 Ways to Give of Yourself for Everyone’s Gain.
COMMENT ON THIS VIDEO BY WENDY LAMBOURNE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Giving is only giving if it is unconditional – giving without expectation of getting. Joe Davis provides some good examples of generous giving. But to be an exceptional leader requires two forms of giving, not one. The other form of giving is courage – it is about putting oneself on the line. Of the two, courage is more difficult because the price that may have to be paid is greater. What we need are leaders who are both generous and courageous.
OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO: My first job was as a sales rep for Procter & Gamble; thereafter as a manager with three reps reporting to me. They were in their 40s I was 26 and frankly I had no idea how to be a manager. I rode with them every two weeks, visiting stores yet rarely giving any feedback. I was in awe.
Then it came time for year-end reviews. I compiled a list of things that each person could do to improve. I launched into my review with Rich. About three minutes in he cut me off: ‘Wait a minute, you ride with me every two weeks and you’ve never said any of these things!’ I was mortified – he taught me something in that moment.
Leadership isn’t about role or position, it’s about generosity. We need generous leaders, who give of themselves freely without expectation of personal gain so others can develop, grow and thrive at their full potential.
READ THE FULL SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE
TO VIEW THE VIDEO CLICK HERE
