Leadership Matters: How to Change Your Leadership DNA

Your leadership is built on DNA that’s the primary driver of your results. What you believe, do and aspire to accomplish are all a part of your leadership DNA. Unlike human DNA, leadership DNA can be changed in ways that transform your results to astound senior leaders, delight members and foster employee growth. That’s not hyperbole, but rather the outcome for those who see leadership as the catalyst for greater performance.

In my new book, 7 Principles of Transformational Leadership: Create a Mindset of Passion, Innovation and Growth, I outline seven principles that are not a paint-by-numbers, off-the-shelf leadership recommendation—but rather represent the process successful credit union leaders use to transform their members experience, their employee engagement and their financial performance.

1. The Purpose Principle. This principle is the jumping-off point for all meaningful leadership. As a leader, if you're not flourishing, the likelihood of you enabling employees or members to flourish is negligible. Flourishing leaders find one idea, hope, dream or aspiration that grabs hold of them and won't let go. The aspirations for their work move well beyond the transactional; they fully embrace the transformational, both for their members and their employees.

2. The Promises Principle.Promises define you as a person and are the backbone of character. The promises made by transformational leaders are the GPS of their leadership, keep them on track and allow for midcourse corrections when needed. Are your promises made purposefully or accidentally? Any promise undertaken without first articulating your leadership purpose is made accidentally.

3. The Projects Principle.The projects principle focuses you on creating significant value for your members each week, month and quarter. Engage routinely in leadership stretch projects that make a member’s life easier. This requires that you forget your role and title and do everything you can to understand your members’ experience. Live and breathe it. When you do, you will not only make your employees’ and your members’ lives more rewarding, but yours also.

4. The Persuading Principle.In every meeting you attend, email you send or interaction you have, there is an opportunity to persuade someone to support you and your initiatives. If you want your credit union to achieve higher levels of performance, the act of persuading people to accomplish something of value and importance is your primary role as a leader. Are you living out your leadership purpose with passion? If you’re not, your workplace community is not one of like-minded co-conspirators doing amazing things, and that’s a drain on your results.

5. The Praising Principle. Today’s world of work is a series of communities and connections where leaders can purposefully cultivate the mindset of what's working as opposed to what's not working. Purposefully helping people feel good about themselves infuses hope and optimism into the workplace and allows people to flourish. Are you an exemplar of hope, optimism and praise?

6. The Perseverance Principle. Your talent is important, but your perseverance is the real game changer. This principle implores you to never give up. There is work that only you can do, and you need to hold true to your aspirations more than ever. In every corner of your credit union, employees are experiencing unrelenting adversity—adversity that can leave them drained and disenchanted. Continually and purposefully put one foot in front of the other, and never lose sight of your purpose and promises.

7. The Preparation Principle. You have a choice to make about how you choose to live your life personally as well as professionally. The preparation principle is the culmination of your transformational leadership journey as well as the jumping-off point for continued growth and success. This principle requires looking at the previous six principles and prepares you to review critically your leadership results and reinvent yourself in ways that uplift and support your professional growth.

You can change your leadership DNA by embracing these seven principles of transformational leadership. But to embark on the journey of transformational leadership with authenticity and commitment, you must be willing to fall in love.

Bear with me while I invoke this four-letter word that is far too often sacrificed on the altar of rational-thinking leadership types. As an advisor to executives and entrepreneurs for more than 25 years, I’ve found love to be the most transformational emotion we have. Love propels us and changes us. Love removes fear and allows us to live our lives more boldly. That’s exactly what’s needed in today’s world of work.

So in order to change your leadership DNA, first fall in love with an idea, hope, dream or aspiration; fall in love with your employees and your members; fall in love with doing valuable work; fall in love with infusing hope and optimism wherever you go; fall in love with praising people for doing their best work; and fall in love with the pain and discomfort of moving forward in times of overwhelming adversity. Fall in love with the notion that each day can be a day that you flourish personally and professionally. The world needs more people with the fire to flourish. Are you willing to be transformed?

Hugh Blane is president of Claris Consulting, Normandy Park, Wash. He is a globally recognized performance expert hired to help organizations solve challenging business issues, strengthen personal and professional relationships, and execute on strategic initiatives faster and more reliably. Blane publishes a top blog on leadership and mindset at www.clarisconsulting.net and can be reached at 206.829.9413.