Leavers to Leaders
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The age of individualism
In the age of individualism, it is each and everyone’s responsibility and their individual leadership ability to improve & impact the organisation, not just the CEO or the board. In short, the power is shifting to individuals and those who fail to lead oneself first will have an impact on leading others and in consequence affect the ability of leading an organisation. I call it ‘The 3 L.O.S of Leadership’, which is at the core of Leavers To Leaders. The new age of individualism requires Leaders who are multifaceted and multiskilled. Organisations will need to shift from an employee to employer mindset for the future development of both the individual & the organisation. In the corporate world, leadership is often spoken of as a management tool & strategy for business development, whereas the military has always invested time & money on developing the leaders first and foremost. This is now becoming more important for corporate leaders & business leaders to invest on developing people first so that they can lead in times of ambiguity and uncertainty.
Being a citizen of two commonwealth nations made me realise the importance of creating lasting value where success is about significance, leaders need impactful learning to enrich their lives, which is largely unexplored factor in individual and collective performance.
Why Leavers To Leaders?
The private sector needs to understand that leadership is not ‘soft skilled’, it is not whether you have it or not. Leadership is an art that can be learned. This is exactly the aim of our Leavers To Leaders accelerator; it is by no means a management program but a military style development tool that looks at the individual leadership influence of a person in 360°, leaving nothing behind. The standardisation of control and command from a leadership point of view has slowly been shifting since we entered the 4th industrial revolution. Leaders of organisations are now faced with an unprecedented challenge: how to keep their staff motivated and engaged especially after working in the comfort of their home, tapping in their family lives, enjoying the freedom of choice.
This is where empowering individuals becomes more important than employing. The age of individualism is going to also benefit the organisation as employees will be encouraged to work remotely, which is one of the key topics I recently talked about on my monthly show at Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, with Dr David Baxter, associate professor of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The age of individualism is where the white-colour jobs like accountants, economists, architects and many others would be able to tap into, not just national work in Mauritius but international contract. This is the real shift we will see post Covid-19 and those who are Leaders in their field will strive in the comfort of their homes. Others will certainly need to develop new skills in order to adapt: skills that will enable them to better lead Oneself, Lead Others & Lead Organisations. It is those skills that have allowed me to move as a Freeport officer of the Mauritius Freeport Authority to become a multi-award winning member of the British Armed Forces and an international bestselling author & beyond.
I believe everyone has the potential to lead, and you start by leading Oneself first and understanding your strengths and weaknesses. The more I study Leaders from the tri sectors of government, corporate and the third sector, the more I realise people want Leaders from all sectors to be honest, competent, forward-looking and inspiring.
Failure of leading Oneself will have an impact on those around you and your organisation, especially during challenging times. It has now become very clear that Covid-19 has cemented the world into a digital one. Since the confinement in Mauritius, restaurants and supermarkets have been compelled to become an ecommerce business. This will accelerate in the next few years, especially with the new optic cables in the Indian Ocean. Leaders at all levels need to understand how to be engaged and motivate teams while innovating into an industry where companies in Mauritius need to adapt to this offer, an offer of flexibility & innovation – not just a 9 to 5 job. There is going to be a need for a more flexible approach to remote working.
Let’s be clear, this is not a time to stand still. Stand still and you risk being hit because no company is too big to fail nowadays.
Samuel T. Reddy
CEO TriAtis global
Founder TriExForces
