Developing Leadership that Has Impact
Climate change, global inequality, food insecurity, crumbling infrastructure—it seems like the list of challenges we face is never ending. These are all monumental crises that are shaking the very foundations of society that we have relied on for so long.
That’s why we need to cultivate leaders who will have an impact both right now and in 50 years.
In the corporate world, there’s been a typical path that many leaders have followed, myself included. Most corporate personal’ development looks something like mine :
From my early days in school to my work as an SVP at international design firm Pininfarina, this has generally been the path my career took.
But there was one thing I realized at each step: What I learned at the previous stage had become obsolete by the time I reached the next stage.
This is quite common among young professionals who, after about a year or so working in a professional context realize that their education did not sufficiently prepare them for the workplace.
I was lucky that at every stage of my career, I’ve been surrounded by amazing leaders who helped me adapt and grow my skills.
The truth is that the world is constantly in flux; context and people’s expectations change. But leadership needs to transcend what is happening in the now. True leadership must look ahead and craft a vision for the world in the future. They need to start enacting changes today that will have the desired impact, often well beyond their life. Leadership, then, is based on two things: Building long-lasting relationships today and the belief that we can—and must—reach monumental achievements.
Now, too often, people get stuck in their ways of thinking
We call this tradition. And while tradition certainly has its place, we all know it can be extremely limiting. If we always adhered to tradition, we never would have invented the car, the iPhone, the airplane, and so many other things we take for granted today.
The only way to get beyond tradition is communicating your vision. Great leaders who want to have an impact follow technologies and cultural shifts while questioning themselves about how their vision will impact society. What’s more, they find a way to communicate their ideas and drive decision acceptance. That is, they inspire people to buy into their vision, and they do it by facing cultural resistance, gaining knowledge, being consistent and honest, and caring about people.
All this leads to infusing trust and engagement into every interaction they have with others.
To that end, those who want to be leaders can’t be driven by processes that control situations or environments. That’s for middle-managers. Instead, true leaders focus on creating an impact.
But how do we know if something will have an impact?
To answer that, we can turn to scientists, engineers, and economists, who can build models (Vice & World 3) that show us the potential impacts of our visions and the actions that will lead us there.
They can help us think through the ramifications and unforeseen externalities our decisions may make, which in turn, can guide us in refining and communicating our vision.
To be an impactful leader, you must develop communication skills that will help you forge long-lasting relationships in various contexts so you and your peers, team, and customers can face various emotions together.
But most importantly, you must:
Be Honest
Be Curious
Be Kind
Be Courageous
and Have FUN