Right now, the challenges of being a VP or C-level leader are unprecedented, relentless, and coming faster than ever. It can be draining. To complicate matters, in today’s world, even getting results is not enough.
Every senior leader wants and needs to deliver business results – your annual objectives. However, executive success is not just about delivering those measurable annual results anymore. That is not enough for your stakeholders or your customers, or your own teams, and can be too short-term focused. In today’s uncertain world, success is more than results. It’s now all about impact.
- Impact is going beyond the stated goals.
- Impact is about moving the needle in a bigger way, new conversations, positive change, and disruption.
- Although broader and tougher to measure, impact is more critical now than it’s ever been.
- Impact is what is valued. Every senior leader I coach tells me that they feel the pressure every day to demonstrate their value.
So how do you create more impact? It’s hard enough to have impact, let alone create more impact in very complex situations. To have more impact as a leader requires a deeper connection to the whole game of being a senior executive. That means requiring more of you than you may be used to giving. The executives I work with who are performing the best in these times have learned that the solutions to creating more impact are actually not complicated. They are simple…but not easy.
Successful executives are not doing different things, but they are doing the same things differently.
Differently how? Even if you are already performing well, a powerful way to create even more impact is to "deepen connection" in 3 specific areas.
- Deepen connection with your Vision.
- Deepen connection with your Stakeholders.
- Deepen connection with Yourself.
Senior leaders often underestimate the value of creating greater connection. But imagine shifting your attention to deepening connection, instead of focusing your energy on proving your value. This is actually the way you will prove your value and the outcomes will be infinitely better.
It seems paradoxical. How could having more impact come from focusing less on a tangible result and more on essential leadership principles? Consider the analogy to weight loss; there is a simple solution: eat less, move more, lose weight. Simple concept, but hard to execute. When work gets crazy, leaders often forget some of the most important and basic things they know – in this case, the value of deepening connection to what really matters.
How does deeper connection translate to more impact? If you think this is only theoretical, here is an example of how this translates in the real world. A CEO I once coached explained to me how he thinks about the distinction between results and impact. When looking to promote someone to a C-level role, he looks for more than the leader who is considered the high performer. He looks for people with broad organizational impact, beyond just results. He wants to see the leader who connected with people across multiple functions in the organization, has built strong followership; has shaped the company's perspective, and shaped the company's risk-taking and actions. These are clear signs that the leader has invested themselves in that deeper connection: building a shared vision, co-creating with their stakeholders and knowing themselves as leaders.
Sounds simple...? Why not evaluate your own skills at creating greater impact? Take the 10-question "Even More Impact Assessments" in Val's new book Even More Impact available at Amazon.
