Since October 2019 I’ve had a pleasure to work with a group of 18 international leaders, who participated in the Fluent’s Leadership for Transformation (LFT) Programme. Together with a team of Fluent coaches and facilitators, we’ve designed the LFT programme to empower leaders to be ready to face challenges of the rapidly changing market environment.

It was a real privilege for us – coaches and facilitators of this programme – to observe and actually be part of the learning journeys that all participants embarked on. It would be fair to say that the programme yielded development opportunities not only for them – we have learnt a lot about modern leadership, too.

Power of diversity
What we’ve observed is that diverse environment really works and accelerates the learning process. The participants of the LfT programme represented many different nationalities and a variety of organisations, including businesses and the NGO sector. That broad span of backgrounds enabled the participants to look at almost every issue from totally different points of view and boosted inspiration. The diversity of business/NGO approach was a truly enriching experience to all of us. We could observe how both groups were learning from each other. One of our conclusions is that diverse backgrounds are key to the leadership development process. This factor broadens the participants’ perspective and increases their sensitivity and awareness of the ecosystem we live in.

Authentic leadership
Most leaders face a challenge of how to inspire and engage their employees. How to build a team of people that are committed enough to take ownership of what they do? Based on the experience of the LFT participants I can say that authenticity is one of the answers. The faster and the more digital our world is, the more we appreciate truth and authenticity. The more challenging the life becomes, the more we value support, empathy and integrity that our leaders demonstrate. Therefore, authentic leadership becomes one of the most effective ways to inspire and engage others.

What does the authenticity really mean in practice? I like Simon Sinek’s definition: “You are authentic when everything you say and everything you do you actually believe.”

Sharpen your leadership saw
My final conclusion is that the more turbulent the times we live in and the more challenges leaders facing, the more important it is to ‘sharpen the saw’ as described by Stephen R. Covey in ‘7 habits of highly effective people’. Leaders need to find time to invest in their personal development, reflect, regain energy, learn new skills and constantly look for inspiration. We can only become great leaders if we are attentive students in all circumstances.

Małgorzata Kalisz
Partner at Fluent

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash