FAQ

Leadership is best described as the ability to "lead", influence, or guide others to an outcome. Let’s unwrap this definition.

Ability
Ability is the possession of skills, knowledge, qualities, talent, finesse, means, power, etc. to get something done. When considering some of these abilities, you can start to see how leadership can be misconstrued as requiring popularity, authority, a strong will, and even a dictatorial style to make things happen. “I command you to do this” is one style of leadership. Although this style may work short term in an emergency, it is not effective for building trust and delivering results in the long term. It plays on individuals’ fears, uncertainty, and doubt and our natural tendency to listen to authority. Eventually, without treating people with dignity and respect, those people will rebel. The well-coined phrase, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink’ is a perfect example of having the ability to lead, but not being able to influence or affect the desired outcome. The abilities needed for effective leadership include vulnerability and emotional intelligence to inspire and enable people to take the required action.

Types of Leaders
I love that this definition talks about individuals, groups, and organizations. Organizations like Ford, Apple, Tesla, Starbucks, and Salesforce.com are leaders because they have disrupted markets and greatly influenced multiple generations to think and do things differently. Henry Ford is famous for the quote, “If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Companies that take the time to get to know their customers, understand their real pain, and introduce ways to resolve those problems become the leaders in the marketplace. No one believed that a Customer Relationship Database could ever work in the cloud claiming it would not be secure enough, however Salesforce.com knew the need for real-time information that was accessible anywhere invested and made it happen. Kodak, the leader in cameras lost that position when they did not listen to their customers. Although they developed the first digital camera, they are non-existent in the camera world today.

The next group of leaders are those with direct responsibility of other people, like Government Officials, CEOs, School Principals, and your boss. These people are referred to as Management because they have the responsibility for many people, and the authority to deliver results. Although they manage people and tasks, they are not automatically leaders. A leader is someone that inspires and enables others to make things happen without relying on authority. Managers that are successful will be strong leaders.

However, leaders are not limited to those managing a team. Anyone can be a leader: athletes, a role-models, team members, a drum major, soccer coaches, activists, etc. All of us can and should be leaders.

Lead, Influence or Guide Others
Leadership is about leading, influencing or guiding others. It is about building trust, providing inspiration, and empowering them with the tools, skills, knowledge and space to be successful. Great leaders can be best described as inspirational, authentic, empowering, and courageous, but they are also the leaders that consistently deliver results.

Yin/Yang of Leadership
Leadership is about balance, a yin and yang. Yin and yang, often referred to as "dark-light", or "negative-positive" is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Great leaders leverage these different yin and yang abilities.

• Vulnerable and Deliberate – Trust is built through intent and effective communications. Intent is being vulnerable and deliberate in your actions to demonstrate you care about others. By being human, personal, and emotional, a leader demonstrates that they care deeply and can be trusted. When a leader deliberately takes action to demonstrate the desire to help the individual and not harm them, others can sense the intentions are good.
• Methodical and Nurturing - Methodical means following a planned, disciplined, and orderly way of doing something especially out of habit to consistently deliver results. Being methodical, as an individual may work well, but in a team, can alienate others. To ensure success in a team environment it is critical to also be nurturing. Nurturing means caring for and encouraging the growth of others. To be nurturing requires you to be vulnerable, aware, and empathetic towards others. Strong leaders balance both.
• Masculine and Feminine Energy - Masculine energy is characterized by DOING and achieving and is molded by logic and reason. The feminine is more intuitive, oriented towards receiving and allowing, and characterized by BEING. When these energies are balanced, we experience a greater sense of harmony and fulfillment.

Leadership is about winning the hearts of others to take the action you need them to take. It is about inspiring and enabling them to take the path less traveled, to overcome their fears, to believe in themselves, to exude MTXE (Mental Toughness and Extra Effort), and accomplish things they crave but didn’t believe they could.

E3E = EXPRESS + ENGAGE + EXECUTE, powered by EMOTIONS
A leadership formula to help leaders excel in this Hybrid World
E, Equals Why Leaders Succeed

According to Merriam-Webster, a methdology is a body of methods, rules, and processes employed by a discipline. In this case, the discipline is Leadership. Leadership is best described as the ability to "lead", influence, or guide others to an outcome. Therefore, a Leadership Methdology is the set of established, proven and repeatable capabilities, processes and tools that can be taught and consistently applied. Although some leaders appear to accomplish success without an explicit methodology, when analyzed it will mirror the E3 Leadership Methodology: E3E = Express + Engage + Execute, powered by Emotions.

The E3 Methodology provides the structure for E3 Leaders to drive repeatable change.
1. EXPRESS: Paint the ideal vision of the 'to-be state'; define the Why/Purpose
2. ENGAGE: Connect with the people you need to influence for success
3. EXECUTE: Define the steps and measurements to ensure it happens
The E3 Emotional Toolkit provides the skills and techniques to guide E3 Leaders to the ability to be vulnerable and lead with their heart because structure is not enough. The toolkit focuses on the human, personal and emotional qualities to inspire and empower them to take they desire, and you need.

Business Acumen is a set of core capabilities required for strong leaders to succeed. It allows a leader to understand what is happening and how it is applicable to the task at hand. Stepping into leadership requires you to lift your head, stand up and look past the traditional narrow view of focus and understand the context to the rest of the company, industry and world.

There are 4 core elements or skills/capabilities within Business Acumen.
1 - Awareness
2 - Analytical Capabilities
3 - Strategic Thinking Skills
4 - Financial Aptitude

Check out this video for more insights: