In today’s information economy, to prosper and even to survive, an organisation must tap into
the creativity, imagination, and decision-making capabilities of every employee. This means that the people – along with the information, knowledge, and skills they possess – are the most important resource in any organisation. Consequently, the very nature of leadership has radically changed.

To succeed in the future, organisations and leaders must grow and change at least as fast as
the world around them changes. In a world of constant change, organisations are struggling to
meet the challenges of the new competitive landscape. The most important change for leaders is their view and understanding of the role of people.

During the Industrial Revolution and most of the 20th century, people were seen as cogs in a great machine. Organisations wanted workers who could do simple, repetitive tasks as efficiently and quickly as possible. Leaders were the “head” and workers were the “hands.” To achieve this dynamic, the best form of leadership was a command-and-control process. The leader was responsible for all the creativity, thinking, and decision making. The workers were expected to simply follow the orders of the leader.

Leaders should lead with one purpose in mind: to achieve increasingly positive results from the efforts of their team members. Highly effective leaders see the qualities of passion, trust,
commitment, and loyalty as essential for improving results from their organisation. Imagine the power of an organisation where every team member has white hot passion, unwavering trust, total commitment, and enduring loyalty! These qualities are developed in team members as a response to specific values held by their leader.

Truly effective leaders also understand that no leader can convince team members to become
something the leader is not. The old expression, “Do as I say, not as I do” carries no weight in a work environment that strives to motivate team members. Leaders who want passion, trust, commitment, and loyalty from team members must first develop these values in themselves.

Effective leaders understand that purpose is the ignition to passion, integrity is a prerequisite for trust, service to others generates commitment to the leader and the organisation, and stewardship ensures that team members develop their potential, which fosters loyalty. To ignite passion, trust, commitment, and loyalty, highly effective leaders base their leadership on a foundation of four cornerstone values: purpose, integrity, service, and stewardship.

Purpose.

Purpose provides the “why.” Your purpose is why you are doing what you are doing.
When you know why a person is doing something, it enables you to understand that person’s
intentions, motives, and priorities. People don’t work just to have something to do, they want
to make a difference, they want to contribute to something they believe in and are passionate
about. Only a noble, worthy purpose will fan the flame of passion.

Integrity.

Leaders are required to be individuals worthy of trust and genuine respect among those
they lead. Leaders at every level cannot expect followers to grow and develop unless they are
willing to improve themselves. Leaders must first learn and master personal leadership –
leading themselves – before they can truly master leading others. The root of the word
“integrity” is integer – which means a complete, whole, indivisible number. Leaders with
integrity live complete, whole, well-balanced lives. All great leaders display personal integrity by being dedicated to the pursuit of significant goals in all areas of life – not just goals for the organisation. Numerous studies have shown that team members consistently regard integrity and honesty as the most important qualities of effective leaders. Leaders with integrity display consistent thoughts and actions; their words and deeds do not contradict each other. Team members want to know that their leaders will do what they say they are going to do, and that they will keep their commitments.

Service.

Highly effective leaders succeed because they desire to be of service. With today’s global
business climate shifting away from production of goods toward a knowledge and service
orientation, leaders who respond to challenges with a commitment to service empower their
organisations to grow and prosper. Organisations now recognize that customer loyalty is vital
for ongoing success. To achieve this loyalty, businesses must offer the highest quality products and services and be responsive to customer needs. Leaders must also give the same
consideration to team members to earn their loyalty. An attitude of service must start with the
leader. When top leaders demonstrate that they genuinely care about the people they lead,
their team members will respond in the same manner. The result: team members who want
to be of service to customers and customers, who in turn, will continue to buy your product or
service. Both customers and team members will go where they feel welcome and stay where
they are valued and appreciated.

Stewardship.

Leaders who are committed to service develop a strong sense of responsibility, or
stewardship, over the resources and assets they have in their charge. A steward places
emphasis not just on the financial assets, but also on the invaluable, intangible assets of an
organisation. The collective talent of team members is recognised as the core resource of any
company or organisation. True stewardship acknowledges human potential as the
organisation’s most important asset. In organisations that fail, effective stewardship has been
the Achilles’ heel of management. Some leaders are simply unable to sacrifice their own needs and desires for those of their team, even if that sacrifice would be for the good of the group. Short-term pressures easily crowd out long-term concerns for developing people and their talents. The inevitable result of this short-sighted approach is that you will have team members who feel unappreciated and unwanted, and who fail to deliver their maximum contribution to the organisation. Successful leaders believe stewardship is a vital, permanent part of their management effort. This is because they see their team members as repositories of human potential. As stewards of this incredible untapped potential, highly effective leaders feel an ongoing responsibility to help team members grow and develop in all areas of life. An
organisation can grow only if its people grow. Great leaders can mould a partnership that
enables all team members to dream great dreams, make noble plans, and daily pursue those
plans together.

Leading an organisation and embracing these core values daily is not easy. It takes clear focus, unwavering commitment, and a high degree of self-confidence.