In a world where information travels
faster than ever, the expectations of work and leaders have changed
significantly in just a few years, and, with those expectations, the emotions
and motivations that affect our jobs and our lives also have changed. The goal?
To develop leaders rather than followers.
With so many distractions, not to
mention the lure of instant emotional gratification, average employees wait to
be told what to do. Worse, they often do not see, feel or understand the bigger
picture of their roles in an organization. Some leaders chalk it up to poor
attitude or mentally challenged employees. The reality may relate more to a
poor environment created by leaders who are unaware of the psychology of modern
society. To cultivate leaders in an organization and lead them to greater
achievement, consider applying a psychological form of leadership called
environmental leadership.
The Psychology of Environment
Individuals have various
environments that bring out different facets of their identities, and each is
successful in one area or another. The key differentiators are the emotionally
charged perceptions within each environment. The environmental leader creates a
platform through education and awareness where employees fulfill each other's emotional
gratifications and become more conscious of when and how they affect the group
dynamics in positive or negative ways. This sets the foundation for the talent
leader to cultivate a unified culture where employees feel they are important
parts of achieving a greater goal and their roles in attaining that goal also
serve them on a personal level.
Essentially, an environmental leader
is the sculptor or an organization that promotes confidence and responsibility
to act on what needs to be done to achieve business objectives in ways dictated
by the culture.
Environmental leadership is not
about changing the mindset of the group or individual; it's about cultivating
an environment that brings out the best and inspires the employees in that
group. It is not the ability to influence others to do something they are not
committed to. Instead, environmental leadership nurtures a culture that
motivates and even excites individuals to do what is required for the benefit
of all. It is not carrying others to the end result; it's establishing the
surroundings to develop qualities in employees so that they can lead each
other. In other words, an environmental leader implements a psychological
support system that fulfills the emotional and developmental needs of the group
while simultaneously nurturing self-leadership.
The path to becoming an
environmental leader is founded on a bed of self-discovery and laid with the
tiles of group psychology. Only when we have an understanding of how leaders
affect the system of a group, and how that system affects us, can we evolve to
environmental leadership.
At first glance, it may seem like a
daunting journey, but this path has an applicable structure that can
be followed to create specific results. The first step is to realize that
every action a leader takes, every decision made, no matter how small, will
affect the group and will impact the organizational culture. Whether it is
positive or negative, there will be an effect. Second, when any individual
in a group reacts, it will affect the leader and each of the other members
of that group, and this how a corporate culture is created.
Again, a leader's actions and
reactions not only affect the psychology of individuals, but the entire culture
of the organization or group. An environmental leader manages seven key
psychological influences - two keys of personal awareness and five pillars of
transformation - to cultivate a group and a culture that effectively supports
the greater abilities, fulfillment and passion of the members of that group and
nurtures leadership within.
Trust is a common fundamental for
leadership, and while there are many facets of trust and many different ways to
build it, one crucial way to do so is in simply sharing information. Group
dynamics are best established by getting the group involved. The environmental
leader does not develop followers; he or she nurtures leaders and
leadership in their group or organization. To facilitate this, exactly how to
be an environmental leader must be common knowledge disseminated
throughout the organization. The more people there are who understand the
essence of how they can become environmental leaders, the easier it becomes to
cultivate a leadership-enriched environment and the better results everyone
will attain.
The Two Keys
Cultivating a corporate culture
where leaders develop leaders and decisions are competently made to achieve
organizational objectives is an achievable outcome. It starts with
understanding the seven key psychological influences an environmentally savvy
leader manages in order to cultivate a group and a culture that effectively
support the greater abilities, fulfillment and passion of the members of that
group, while nurturing internal employees who have strong leadership potential.
Self-awareness leads to the
recognition of two keys of personal awareness that must be accepted before the
environmentally savvy leader can build the final five pillars of a
transformational environment. The first step is the ability to realize that we
will consciously or subconsciously make others wrong to support our ego, which
leads to blame and discourages growth. Learning about our encoded assumptions,
our rules of engagement and our circle of tolerance can help us recognize the
reactions that may be preventing speedier growth for ourselves and those around
us.
Thus, the first key is: Concentrate
on growth and results; do not blame or make others wrong.
The next step is making others
right, making leadership decisions and taking actions that help others to
succeed and develop their abilities. And when they do succeed, specifically
acknowledging their success and why they were successful. Learning how our genetic
processing affects the way we perceive the world and approach tasks and
decisions and what that means in manifesting our natural talents not only makes
this easier, but also gives us a better platform to understand, cooperate
and communicate with others.
Thus, the second key is: Create
opportunities to make others successful, and positively acknowledge their
specific actions that lead to that success.
The Five Pillars of Transformation
The following five pillars are the
cornerstone of a leader's ability to modify group dynamics and to nurture an
environment that inspires and brings out the best in others. Further, it is the
process of constructing the five pillars itself that enables the leader and his
or her team to embrace the two keys of personal awareness. This course of
creation acts as a leadership catalyst to the keys' implementation, and
modification of the leader's own behavior advances that individual's
development into a more powerful, environmental leader.
1. Have a greater purpose.
The team must have a purpose that is
greater or nobler than the personal goals of each individual. Yet realization
of this greater purpose should be equally fulfilling to each individual.
The role of an environmental leader
is to inspire this noble idea. The leader should make the group or team want it
and be willing to take action to achieve it for the cause, for the promise of a
greater working environment and to create a greater self.
2. Have a methodology that can make
change.
The team must believe that change
can happen and that they as a group can make it happen. They must believe that
their own behavior can be improved and that they, as human beings, can be
better people. They must believe that there is a way, through a common wisdom
in the group, in which they can become powerful enough to change the
organizational culture into a more fulfilling environment for all and, equally
important, for the betterment of their own lives.
But to believe any of this,
employees must have, and must recognize, a psychological methodology that can
effectively make change happen.
3. Speak a common language.
The methodology carries with it a
specific language. The language reinforces the learning and the higher purpose.
It sets a foundation to understand and explain awareness, change and a
higher level of living and working in a concise and effective way.
The role of the environmental leader
is to use and reinforce the use of language in the group. Essentially,
this individual should set the example by applying or using communication that
supports the greater cause.
4. Have a unified identity.
The label or name given to a cause
provides a psychological reference to a common goal and a common identity. The
role of the environmental leader is to solidify that identity, to facilitate
the team's efforts to associate or align itself with that identity and
everything it represents. The environmental leader should be able to
distinguish those who are a part of the greater purpose and simultaneously give
them a group vision.
5. Maintain a supportive, internal
environment.
The role of the environmental leader
becomes to nurture and develop other environmental leaders within the team and
the organization.
At this stage, the environment
created will fulfill many of the constantly expanding emotional gratifications.
This environment provides greater substance and meets the greater expectations
of the modern world. Yet it cannot be developed without the right leadership.
Environmental leaders must go into this knowing that as the process matures,
they will no longer be as essential as when they started.
