After 34 years of speaking and teaching leadership in 14 countries, one truth stands taller than the rest:<\/p>\n
People everywhere want the same things \u2014 meaning, success, and a better life \u2014 but the way they pursue those things can be radically different.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve spoken on a beach in Hawaii to sales teams celebrating in tents and in a luxury mall in Dubai owned by the ruler of the kingdom, invited to address his ministers \u2014 their version of a Cabinet. The locations couldn\u2019t be more different, but the desire was the same: to do good work, to succeed, and to live well.<\/p>\n
Yet here\u2019s where many leaders get it wrong:
We assume shared goals mean shared approaches.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
A U.S. automotive plant in Ohio featured in a documentary was shut down, sold to a Chinese company, and reopened to manufacture glass. The American and Chinese workers had identical goals \u2014 higher performance and meaningful work \u2014 but their cultural differences in how to achieve the goals became the barrier to achieving them.<\/p>\n
The future belongs to leaders who understand both:<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd39 what people have in common
\ud83d\udd39 and how differently they pursue it<\/p>\n
Leadership has always been global. The difference now is that your workforce is global too \u2014 even if everyone lives in the same ZIP code.<\/p>\n
Followers Are Gone. The Workforce Has Evolved.<\/p>\n
For decades the question was: How has leadership changed?
But the bigger shift has been this:<\/p>\n
Followers have changed.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s employees don\u2019t want to be told what to do; they want to be invited to contribute. Computers follow instructions \u2014 people contribute ideas, passion, creativity, and even heart.<\/p>\n
We haven\u2019t hired people merely for hands in a very long time.
We hire them for their minds and motivation.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s the leadership checkpoint that often stings:<\/p>\n
How we talk about the people we lead determines how we treat them \u2014 and how they respond.<\/p>\n
When we refer to people as \u201cfollowers,\u201d we subconsciously default to compliance and control.<\/p>\n
When we refer to them as coworkers, colleagues, contributors, and partners \u2014 everything about our engagement changes.<\/p>\n
Great leadership isn\u2019t measured in compliance.
Great leadership is measured in commitment.<\/p>\n
People OR Profits? That\u2019s the Wrong Question<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a leadership myth that refuses to die:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can take care of results or you can take care of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n
People AND profits are not in conflict \u2014 they\u2019re interdependent.<\/p>\n
If you only focus on results, people will do the minimum to survive.
If you only focus on people, you won\u2019t be around long enough to employ any.<\/p>\n
Leadership today requires balancing both. And one of the biggest shifts helping leaders do that is the move from motivation to inspiration.<\/p>\n
Motivation offers rewards.
Inspiration offers purpose.<\/p>\n
Purpose isn\u2019t a luxury; it\u2019s fuel. And when employees \u2014 especially younger ones \u2014 don\u2019t feel their work matters, they disengage regardless of compensation.<\/p>\n
The best leaders don\u2019t just motivate effort. They inspire purpose.<\/p>\n
There Is No New Normal \u2014 There Is Only Reality<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not a fan of the phrase \u201cnew normal.\u201d
The moment you think you\u2019ve found normal, you stop paying attention.<\/p>\n
The world isn\u2019t stable \u2014 but leadership doesn\u2019t require stability.
Leadership requires agility.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the formula I teach executives navigating uncertainty:<\/p>\n
1\ufe0f\u20e3 Rest \u2014 an exhausted leader can\u2019t lift others
2\ufe0f\u20e3 Routine \u2014 start days with habits that ground you
3\ufe0f\u20e3 Problems \u2014 solve the most important ones first
4\ufe0f\u20e3 Projects \u2014 make measurable progress every single day
5\ufe0f\u20e3 Relationships \u2014 communicate better, not more
6\ufe0f\u20e3 Recreation \u2014 recovery fuels performance<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t crisis leadership.
This is leadership that works in crisis \u2014 because it works in everyday life.<\/p>\n
Leadership is no longer about what you tell people to do.
It\u2019s about what you can inspire people to become.<\/p>\n
The leaders who will thrive in the years ahead will be the ones who:<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd39 Understand both common values and cultural differences
\ud83d\udd39 Speak to people as contributors, not followers
\ud83d\udd39 Balance people and performance without sacrificing either
\ud83d\udd39 Lead with purpose, not pressure<\/p>\n
No industry \u2014 from AI to manufacturing to healthcare \u2014 buys products or services.<\/p>\n
They buy the ability to succeed.<\/p>\n
And they will follow the leaders who help them do that.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark Sanborn is an international speaker and advisor to leaders and is the Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point University<\/a>, the Premier Life Skills University which challenges students to \u201cchoose to be extraordinary.\u201d For more information about his work or to book him to speech, visit\u00a0www.marksanborn.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marksanborn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Mark-Sanborn-Headshot-2023-150x150.jpg\")
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