Last week, we explored how to take a more strategic approach to coaching and influencing upwards in your respective organization. This week, we want to shift gears and revisit why intentional and purposeful leadership is critical to your success.  

Every single interaction matters as it will influence what others think of you and it sets the tone for how your teams and others will show up, too. Employee engagement and satisfaction are highly dependent on how well you interact and engage with others because your people are following your lead. Be mindful and aware of the fact that your people are observing you at every turn. Let's explore what this means.‍

Intentional leaders:‍

• Establish clear goals and objectives for their teams which help everyone understand how to focus on doing good work that adds value to the organization.
  
  
• Influence organizational culture by establishing values and norms that guide appropriate behaviors that foster a positive workplace culture and create a sense of belonging for everyone.

Purposeful leaders:

• Foster alignment among team members, encouraging collaboration and commitment to shared objectives which boost morale and engagement.
  
  
• Invest in the growth and development of their team members, empowering them to take ownership of their role and career. This not only enhances individual performance, but it also builds stronger and more capable teams.

When leaders act with intention and purpose, they are better equipped to navigate challenges by helping others stay focused and motivated on what is most important, even through tough times.

Let’s build on this concept of intentional and purposeful leadership by exploring the importance of planning, prioritization and strategic thinking, and how it influences this philosophy. 

Planning, Prioritization and Strategic Thinking

‍Remember the 5 Ps that define effective leadership that we explored a few weeks ago. We emphasized the importance of proactively planning your day, establishing clear priorities for yourself and your team is what enables us to be highly productive and get things done.  

You have a choice in what and who you will give your attention to, so please use your judgment and be selective about how you manage your time. It goes without saying that there will be the occasional meetings that you will be pulled into because they are high priority and need your attention.That will continue to happen as needed but if it becomes the norm, then I encourage you to revisit your priorities because firefighting does not foster high performance.

In parallel with the ability to utilize your time wisely, being able to prioritize what is most important and in alignment with your strategic imperatives is critical to your success and the success of your team. Being able to discern noise and distractions from value-add projects and priorities will ensure that you are focusing on the right things vs. trying to appease every request that comes your way.

Prioritization is a skill that aligns with our ability to think strategically – what are the strategic imperatives for the organization and how does your team and functional area line up to the overarching strategy? If that isn’t clear for you, then why would it be clear for your people?

The higher you climb in leadership, this becomes even more of a critical skill that you must have as you will be pulled in multiple directions and at laser speeds, so you need to be at the top of your game as it relates to planning and prioritizing for yourself and your team.

You might be thinking – what does planning and prioritization have to do with being an intentional and purposeful leader? The answer is overly simplistic – everything.

Are You an Intentional & Purposeful Leader?

As you plan and prioritize, are you intentionally being clear and specific as it relates to defining what success looks like in every interaction?

Prior to attending or planning a meeting are you consciously thinking about how that meeting or discussion will flow, what the agenda entails or how you will contribute to the meeting? What are you striving to accomplish in the allotted time? 

Have you (or they) established a realistic agenda or will you time out which might create frustration for yourself and others? 

How will you go about creating engagement and buy in? Have you allotted time for questions and feedback to ensure you have a common understanding and that the action items are clear? 

Time is precious and we are all "busy", so use it wisely and purposefully in every moment you have, and in all aspects of your life.

‍We want to hear from you.

What are your thoughts on the concept of intentional and purposeful leadership? How effective are you at planning and managing your day and priorities? 

Feel free to reach out. You can email me at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca or call 416.560.1806.