next leadership

Success in the area of tension between people and systems

Success in the field of leadership always takes place in an area of tension between people and systems. Leadership is about people – success is about a social system making something happen, which is considered successful. The executive is always part of a system, usually part one of your organization. Otherwise, there is no need for guidance. Even leadership in a family happens within a social space, and in a business context, leadership means that talents and leaders are integrated into a system.

Success as a contribution to the big picture

Success is also not an end in itself, but rather results in a contribution to a greater whole. Success also becomes more valuable when it is recognized by other people, organizations or the community at large. Success is rarely self-defined, but attributed. In this respect, part of the success may be a measurable contribution to the growth of the company, a contribution to an innovation and/or an increase in the quality of life. However, this contribution must have a reference value. This is mostly found in the purpose of the company.

Purpose, meaning and mission

In practice, this means that your company needs a purpose, a meaning, a mission. If this is fulfilled, your company is successful and in turn makes a contribution, which in turn has a reinforcing effect on the Purpose.

Meaning creates an identity

Furthermore, meaning creates an identity and thus means that your company is given a meaningful identity. And more than that, the individuals in your organization, as well as the leaders themselves, identify more with your company the more it fulfills its purpose and contributes to society. This identity is directly influenced by success and in turn leads to higher motivation and performance. In this way, you also motivate the people in your organization to continue to make their contribution – because they see a purpose in it, because their work is identity-forming and because they contribute something to the big picture. A flywheel is set in motion, which rotates around the success, but also makes it visible and concrete.

The Key Factors for Business:

1. The culture as the basis for interaction is (pre-)given, although it can also be changed. It consists of the norms, values, and patterns of action of the majority of organizational members.
2. A strategy that describes the way in which the company’s purpose can be achieved and goals or visions fulfilled.
3. A sensible structure that also serves the purpose. Structure is also the umbrella term for processes, functions and roles.

The Key Factors for Employees:

1. The potential that people bring as a possibility space for their task and development.
2. The ability or competence of people with what can be productively implemented from their potential. According to John Erpenbeck, competence means the ability to act self-organized and creatively in dynamic, complex and open situations.
3. The motivation, which is ultimately the trigger for a movement and makes the employees do something through effort and thus causes performance. In the background, personal motives and subjective expectations influence what is wanted. Subjective expectancy is, on the one hand, the unconsciously estimated probability between effort and outcome and, on the other hand, the presumed probability between outcome and reward. This reward can be either extrinsically or intrinsically dominated.