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Intentional Leadership
Intentional leaders achieve positive impact, have high followership, successfully navigate challenges and seize opportunities. They are distinguished by their mastery of five disciplines Aspire, Ally, Adapt, Accountable, Accelerate.
Intentional leaders achieve positive impact, have high followership, successfully navigate challenges and seize opportunities. They are distinguished by their mastery of five disciplines Aspire, Ally, Adapt, Accountable, Accelerate.
1. Aspire: Leading Self
"Leadership is like a person walking across a tightrope – balancing carefully in a blizzard of factors that are constantly buffeting them. The key is the bar they hold–which is labelled ‘values’. They must be obvious, authentic, clear, and prepared to be held to account – then, perhaps you can lead successfully."
- Col. Oliver L.,
"Leadership is like a person walking across a tightrope – balancing carefully in a blizzard of factors that are constantly buffeting them. The key is the bar they hold–which is labelled ‘values’. They must be obvious, authentic, clear, and prepared to be held to account – then, perhaps you can lead successfully."
- Col. Oliver L.,
Being firmly anchored on self-understanding, motivated by a sense of purpose and courageously standing on values. ‘Aspire’ is about having personal conviction and values, while ‘inspire’ is about motivating and influencing others. If you don’t aspire, how will you inspire others?
The five themes of Aspire are:
The five themes of Aspire are:
- You as the pilot of your future. Learning from your life so far, when are you in and out of the ‘flow’. Choose to take control.
- Where are you going? What is your personal Purpose, where do you find meaning? Alignment of personal and enterprise Purpose.
- Your values 'compass'. Know, own and hold yourself to account for living by the values most important to you.
- Your authentic voice. Develop deeply meaningful and inspiring narratives from your most formative experiences.
- Overcome self-limiting behaviours. Manage your inner voices. Know and enhance what is it like for others to be led by you.
"Leaders who are confident in themselves are more comfortable allowing themselves to be challenged and, therefore, freer to let their thinking evolve"
- Colin M. SVP Asia, Europe, MEA of Global Tech Giant.
- Colin M. SVP Asia, Europe, MEA of Global Tech Giant.
2. Ally: Leading Others
“If leadership is lonely, you are doing it wrong. We exist in networks and communities, where everyone has their own reality and makes their own choices. It is my job as a leader to make connections and align energies. It's about relationships and relevance”
“If leadership is lonely, you are doing it wrong. We exist in networks and communities, where everyone has their own reality and makes their own choices. It is my job as a leader to make connections and align energies. It's about relationships and relevance”
Enhance followership through the experiences and meaning that you provide. Leave a positive impact that endures beyond the tenure of the direct collaboration. Alliances involve cooperative collaboration between independent entities for mutual benefit, while a hierarchy denotes an authority-based structure where one entity holds a position of higher power or control over another.
The five themes of Ally-ship are:
The five themes of Ally-ship are:
- Connect. Expand reach and influence through connecting with others, particularly with people NOT like me.
- Collaborate. Align energies through shared experiences and objectives, within and across boundaries.
- Make teams the ‘engines of performance’. Make explicit the implicit - team design, launch, processes, learning and evolution.
- Beyond the ‘duty of care’. Human-centred leadership, policies and practices. Guidelines and guardrails for self-direction.
- Networks as communities. Expanding, maintaining and motivating. Resources, insights and influence. Beyond the 'employee lifecycle'.
"As a leader, you must realise that everyone’s view of the world is inherently biased – be big enough to say, ‘These guys have a worldview that is legitimate for them – and I need to understand them – and then work out how I adapt: how I interact with them'"
- Patrick C. Managing Director, Europe. Digital Talent Marketplace
"We have to have the mindset that we are all equal, but we are each playing different roles at this point in time, in this particular setting.... and these roles and relationships will be forever shifting"
Sian B. Country Manager, Global Bank
- Patrick C. Managing Director, Europe. Digital Talent Marketplace
"We have to have the mindset that we are all equal, but we are each playing different roles at this point in time, in this particular setting.... and these roles and relationships will be forever shifting"
Sian B. Country Manager, Global Bank
3. Adapt: Enterprise Leadership
"The world that was – for which we were schooled – is no longer here. Leaders need to rethink risk. All decisions have risks; moving too slowly and cautiously is perhaps a greater risk than a wrong decision. We must embrace and understand that risk is required, we must be adaptive, agile, responsive, and resilient."
- Peter C. CEO, UK-based Professional Association
"The world that was – for which we were schooled – is no longer here. Leaders need to rethink risk. All decisions have risks; moving too slowly and cautiously is perhaps a greater risk than a wrong decision. We must embrace and understand that risk is required, we must be adaptive, agile, responsive, and resilient."
- Peter C. CEO, UK-based Professional Association
Work ‘on’ rather than only ‘in’ the enterprise. Knowing 'how to win' whilst navigating and shaping the unfolding, unknown future. 'Adaptable’ emphasises the capacity to adjust and evolve whilst remaining anchored, while ‘agile’ emphasises speed and flexibility.
The five themes of Adapt are:
The five themes of Adapt are:
- Lean forward into uncertainty. The ability to sense & make-sense of the unfolding future. Enhance judgement & decision-making.
- Win with Strategy. Define competitive strategies. Embrace strategic agility. Achieve strategic alignment. Enhance strategic planning.
- Resolve Adaptive challenges. The real work of leadership. Know the practices to solve the ‘Houston. We have a problem’ moments.
- Master continuous evolution. Build the capabilities and mindset for change and transformation agility. Transient competitive advantage.
- Right-sizing for advantage. Achieve smooth scaling and internationalisation. Seize, Replicate, Reposition and Reconfigure.
“You can’t analyse your way into the future, nor wait for it to happen. But, very few decisions can’t be revisited and adjusted as the future unfolds”
"Flow–create the sense of flow; how do we drive mobility and adaptability in the organisation? Companies that win are those that move fastest. Efficiency is a foundational requirement; it is not a differentiator any longer."
- Nick H, CEO Global Nutrition-focused Company
"Flow–create the sense of flow; how do we drive mobility and adaptability in the organisation? Companies that win are those that move fastest. Efficiency is a foundational requirement; it is not a differentiator any longer."
- Nick H, CEO Global Nutrition-focused Company
4. Accountable: Own the choices
“If you want to know what type of leader you are….. look at those following you”
“If you want to know what type of leader you are….. look at those following you”
Freeze - Flight - Fight, are common reactions to adversity, however we believe the most important response of a leader is to lean-in and choose to do something about it, to take ownership for finding a positive solution. It may be that a mistake has been made, or that information wasn't previously available, or the situation has changed or there were systemic effects that could not be predicted. It is in such situations that leadership is most required and leaders (or a lack thereof) are revealed.
The five themes of being Accountable are:
The five themes of being Accountable are:
- Personal accountability. The choice of Victim or Responsible. Climb the ‘ladder’ from Powerless to Powerful.
- Resolve team dysfunctions. "There’s no ‘I’ in TEAM but there is in WINNING". Individual responsibility for collective performance.
- Shape culture. Know and manage the shadow you cast. Create a legacy of sustained performance and impact.
- The responsible leader. Your choice of which stakeholders and which interests. You can’t please everyone, all the time on everything.
- Leadership Presence. Manage your brand as a leader and influencer across media and in-person. Enhance credibility and influence.
"The characteristic [of my executive team] that I am proud that we have now created is whenever there is a set-back, challenge or some failing, we all come together to collectively find a solution. A year or two ago we would point-fingers, think about our own achievements against our budgets and plans. Now I feel we are truly operating as one team and thinking as one company."
- Robert M, Vice-President, Global Retailer
"It's been a revelation for me - moving from thinking and acting defensively to taking ownership. As you say 'deciding to move up the ladder, to climb out of the hole, from Victim to be Responsible' the difference the victim mindset is powerless, whereas the responsible mindset is powerful"
- Rachel W, CEO and Founder of Education Services SME
- Robert M, Vice-President, Global Retailer
"It's been a revelation for me - moving from thinking and acting defensively to taking ownership. As you say 'deciding to move up the ladder, to climb out of the hole, from Victim to be Responsible' the difference the victim mindset is powerless, whereas the responsible mindset is powerful"
- Rachel W, CEO and Founder of Education Services SME
5. Accelerate: Be the best version of you
"There are two types of people – those waiting for the situation to end when ‘things will go back to normal’ vs those managing in the new reality; they are pushing to be better given the changes that have happened and are happening. This is the difference between managers and leaders."
- David H. Asia-Pacific Managing Partner, Executive Search
"There are two types of people – those waiting for the situation to end when ‘things will go back to normal’ vs those managing in the new reality; they are pushing to be better given the changes that have happened and are happening. This is the difference between managers and leaders."
- David H. Asia-Pacific Managing Partner, Executive Search
Time is short, and your energies are finite; learn faster, be the best you can be.
The five themes of Accelerate are:
The five themes of Accelerate are:
- Take stock to move forward. ‘It’s your life and only happens once’. Nine domains of wellness. Does this REALLY matter to me?
- Personal development. Set-up for success with Positive Psychology. Personal discipline. Adopt an experimenter’s mindset. Stretch.
- Overcome derailers and self-sabotage. Manage triggers. Recognise and manage conflicting beliefs & priorities.
- What's next? Make change stick. See through the goal to what’s next
- Super-boss. The practices that engender followership whilst heightening individual and collective performance.
“What stands in the way - becomes the way”
"Let go – delegate to your team until you are uncomfortable – and then delegate some more. In doing so, they will rise to the opportunity. ‘Fail fast, fail early’. Trust your people."
- Mark H. European Practice Lead, Management Consulting
"Let go – delegate to your team until you are uncomfortable – and then delegate some more. In doing so, they will rise to the opportunity. ‘Fail fast, fail early’. Trust your people."
- Mark H. European Practice Lead, Management Consulting
Find out how to embed the skills and mindsets of Intentional Leadership in your enterprise - achieve Leadership Prowess
Enhancing Outcomes AND Building Capabilities
Intentional Leadership is explored in depth in the book "Antidote to the Crisis of Leadership", published in April 2024 by Degruyter. Which is available via Amazon and many other channels and retailers.
