Our View on Leadership

Leadership for us is a reflection of one’s ability to provide support and direction to help others achieve individual and team goals through the use of positive behaviors and a positive mindset. Strong values and competencies, we believe, are key to successful leadership. Our move from people management to leadership has led to a shift in our paradigm of how people operate at their highest levels. We now understand that human nature is more powerful than any controls that can be placed on individuals or groups. Therefore we need to work with people’s natural tendencies and needs.

Our Leadership model is based on values and competencies that fit people’s lives and belief systems and help drive them to their full potential as contributors within their own contexts and also as citizens of the world.

The SelfStir.com 360 degree feedback competencies are listed and defined as we see them. The competencies are grouped by categories depending on the existing role of a person; they are :- the core competencies, leading self competencies, leading others competencies and leading organizations/extended families/communities competencies.

The first category groups eight core competencies or human essentials, which we believe are essential for everyone in all walks of life. They provide skills that help you live your life with honor and dignity, and provide you with the basics for success in every context you are in.

Accountability/Responsibility

The ability to take on required roles in every context you are in and to meet the demands of those roles. Holding yourself accountable for your actions and outcomes.

Adaptability/Flexibility

The ability to understand changes in situations and individuals around you. The willingness to adjust your approach and actions accordingly, as you become aware of these changes.

Compassion/Empathy

The ability to recognize and acknowledge other people’s circumstances and feelings. To genuinely show care and concern for others. The willingness to place people’s well-being as a priority.

Self-Awareness

The ability to understand the reasons behind your own values and beliefs. The ability to be aware of and understand your own biases, assumptions, emotions and how they guide behavior. It’s the reflection and understanding of the ‘why’ that drives you.

Personal Integrity/Inspiring Trust

To believe in and live by strong ethical and moral values and principles. To place these universal values above other references, and thus to inspire trust and be able to restore it where it is breached.

Openness

The ability to be transparent and share your feelings, beliefs, knowledge, and thoughts with others. Encourages open and honest two-way communication. Is approachable, welcomes feedback and has the strength to be vulnerable.

Positive Attitude

The ability to see life events as learning experiences and to capture the positive elements within. To look at the future as a potential for opportunities that you can seize through your actions and choices.

Humility

The understanding that no matter how much you know, there is a vast amount of knowledge that still needs to be learned and discovered, knowing that you can learn from every person you come across.

 

The second category is leading yourself within your context. Leading self describes you when you are leading your own life and have no dependants. The competencies selected for this level are there to help you learn to work with yourself and others. Having these provides you with the foundations to successfully move to higher levels of leading people.

Engagement

The ability to be involved and to draw and involve others in contributing to the achievement of a shared purpose.

Influence without Authority

The ability to change someone’s beliefs and behavior through the use of dialogue and by setting an example.

Learning Orientation

The ability to capture experiences and put them into perspective through reflection. This knowledge is then used to help better address and face new challenges.

Collaboration

The ability to work with others to create collective value through the sharing of ideas, experience, knowledge and skills, while also relying on others’ areas of strengths to compensate for your own limitations. You value others’ contributions, and are flexible in your approach.

Future Outlook

The ability to anticipate and plan for the future by establishing and meeting milestones with an overall sense of where you want to go, how and when you would like to get there.

 

The third category is leading others in different contexts. Leading others describes you when you have dependants and are leading them towards a common goal. This could be in the context of work, such as a team leader or manager, in a family when you have children, or with friends when you are leading a group. The competencies selected for this level help individuals by providing the foundations of working with other people in a leadership role and having to manage human dynamics in a team/family/group environment. Mastering these competencies will help you move to higher levels of leading complex systems such as organizations, extended families or communities.

Authenticity

True to yourself and others. You walk the talk, practice what you preach, and expect the same from others. True to your own values, principles, and beliefs, and your actions reflect those consistently. The ability to express yourself in a way that reflects who you are. Standing up for what is right in the face of opposition.

Building Effective Teams

The ability to form and lead a group to become a successful entity as a whole while developing each individual to become effective in his or her role. Understanding the dynamics and elements of team development and applying this knowledge in leading.

Communication

The ability to understand and be understood by those around you. The ability to adapt your message to the context you are in and the audience you are speaking with.

Empowerment

The ability to provide freedom and support to those around you in order for them to achieve and learn. Ability to transfer responsibility based on a trusting relationship.

Developing Others

The ability to provide people around you with opportunities for growth and development, allowing for mistakes and experimentation, presenting them with appropriate challenges, giving constructive feedback, and sharing experience and knowledge.

Motivating Others

The ability to understand each person’s drivers and provide them with rewards and recognition. Communicates a confidence and belief in others’ potential.

 

The fourth and final category is leading organizations/extended families/communities. Leading organizations/extended families/communities describes you when you when you are leading within complex systems and structures such as large organizations, extended families or are leading within a community. Competencies selected for this level help individuals by providing the foundations that are needed to lead large, complex, and intertwined systems of people. Mastering these competencies will help you build and lead successful and effective organizations, build a healthy environment in the extended family and build nurturing and cohesive communities.

Achievement

Being led by an intrinsic drive that satisfies a higher purpose. Able to lead others towards achieving goals by focusing on key priorities.

Consultative Decision Making

The willingness to seek opinions, ideas, and advice from trusted individuals involved in the matter to enable you to make a sound decision.

Vision and Purpose

The ability to clearly see a path and destination that will inspire others to take part. The ability to effectively communicate this vision and provide direction for the future.

Wisdom

A rich and deep understanding and knowledge of life, people, and yourself gained through deep reflection and learning from experiences. Having sound judgment and perception, and the ability to put things in their proper perspective. An awareness of your own and others’ emotional states, an ability to regulate emotions, have a sense of humor, and humility stemming from self-knowledge. The ability to act based on all of the above.

 

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