Go Big, or Go Home

As the characteristics of what makes a great leader in the Post-Machine Age are being re-defined, expectations of what leadership means are also increasing: Markets, Influencers, Thought Leaders, Boards and staff are revising their criteria for successful leadership. This re-appraisal of capability and capacity is either a stomach-churning event for leaders, or the greatest opportunity to apply new ‘ways of leading’ to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; with the change it’s bringing to everyone, everywhere, all the time.

Simply put, this is the ’Go Big, or Go Home’ moment.

If you don’t, won’t or can’t change your leadership approach, you can pretty much guarantee the ‘Home’ option is your most likely outcome.  It may not happen immediately, but once a change in mindset and application has proven clear value, it’s hard to backtrack on, or dismiss. Then there are those who think that disruption is what happens to leaders in other sectors (an incorrect assumption or a glib position that denies reality).

But if you buy into the idea of embracing the liberating, revenue-and-reputation-building, energy-enhancing disruption as your ‘Go Big’, and the critical value and power of a robust, flexible culture where people are the source of ideas, solutions and consistent belief, the benefits can flow strong and fast across the whole organisation.

The rewards go even further. Leaders who commit to Going Big (and seeing it through to realisation) increase their reputation, become sought-after as opinion leaders, and leave an enduring mark on the organisations they’ve taken to a whole new level. Win/Win.

We know a lot about ‘GBoGH’, having used this as a cornerstone of the attitude and application required of senior executives during our ground-breaking work for Vodafone. In a global technology business, leadership roles are usually dominated by engineers and people with highly rational, technical mind sets. This was true at Vodafone, so when the ‘hard-headed’ became the greatest advocates and exemplars of the work, we knew that change was real and lasting.

The key to this was creating a ‘world view’ that put the reality of the business challenge in a way that clearly highlighted the limitations of a BAU approach. By giving permission to ‘step outside the box’ to solve a problem, engineering oriented thinkers had a point of connectivity that reduced anxiety and opened a new line of conversation. This allowed the CEO the space to craft a ‘new logic’ that informed every aspect of behaviour and application. This is a classic example of why and how a ‘Go Big’ mindset can go far beyond the tenure of the CEO and becomes the hallmark of an extraordinarily successful global business.