Leadership model

Leadership model

Within Business Markers we work with hundreds of organizations across various industries, providing support to leaders and leadership teams facing various challenges. Through these experiences, we have identified common themes that have allowed us to distill leadership into different capabilities and characteristics, which we have integrated into our Business Markers Leadership model.

3 levels of leadership

To grow an organization, you must grow your teams, and to grow your teams, you must first focus on your own growth. You can’t be a good leader if you are not taking good care of yourself, physically, mentally, as well as professionally.

We all have a different starting point as leaders, and we all have the potential to further grow, how experienced we might be. But what is that starting point? That’s why the basis for any leadership development is an honest self-reflection, and that’s why self-leadership is at the heart of our leadership model.

In this part you will be invited to explore your resilience and motivation, your emotional intelligence to collaborate and work with feedback, and your appetite to learn and grow.

Self

To grow an organization, you must grow your teams, and to grow your teams, you must first focus on your own growth. You can’t be a good leader if you are not taking good care of yourself, physically, mentally, as well as professionally.

We all have a different starting point as leaders, and we all have the potential to further grow, how experienced we might be. But what is that starting point? That’s why the basis for any leadership development is an honest self-reflection, and that’s why self-leadership is at the heart of our leadership model.

In this part you will be invited to explore your resilience and motivation, your emotional intelligence to collaborate and work with feedback, and your appetite to learn and grow.

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Team

Leadership is a balancing act between leading, and following your team in order to lead. Leadership implies a responsibility to deliver growth, for both the business and the people in the team. And in order to be successful at both, you need to try to capture the collective wisdom of the team, while matching the energy and talent in your team as good as possible with the organization’s requirements. We have clustered the necessary leadership capabilities to get you there around your three main tasks as a leader: your need to inspire, organize, and enable. Within your task to inspire, you need to start from a compelling vision, inviting the people around you to get on board and take initiative, while setting the tone in terms of how you lead by example. You need to act as a leader. Besides inspiring, you also need to organize your team. You need to build cohesive and productive work and project teams in order to achieve the required outputs, either as a work unit or as a component within the organization. You need to manage. Your final task as a leader is to enable. You have an active role to create a climate in which others thrive, both individually and collectively. You are the coach.
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Organization

Leadership doesn’t only apply to your direct reports or the people around you. Your leadership also resonates throughout the whole organization, as well as outside of the organization to impact its ecosystem. As a leader, you are a role model and your leadership will inspire more than your team members. This implies a responsibility toward the ecosystem of your organization, both from the perspective of a (possible) collaboration as well as from your impact on all your stakeholders. Your organization does not operate on an island. You cannot shy away from the role you play and have to play within society, taking into account the impact of your words and your actions on this and future generations.
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3 drivers of leadership

Inspire

Inspiring revolves around articulating a compelling vision and strategic plan, challenging the status quo, and leading by example. A good leader must be a skilled communicator, a storyteller who motivates others to pursue excellence and take ownership of their work.

Organize

Organizing involves creating clarity and structure, managing tasks and projects, and promoting collaboration and decisiveness within the organization. It provides the essential framework within which a leader must operate. Effective organization ensures that everyone is aligned and working toward shared goals, characteristics we mostly associate with a good manager.

Enable

Enabling focuses on mentoring, coaching, and creating an environment that brings out the best in people. Promoting diversity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging adds value to both individuals and the organization. A good leader enables their team members to grow and develop in their roles, fostering a culture of care and wellbeing. This leader acts as a coach.

21 Capabilities

21 Capabilities

Herewith you will find the 21 leadership capabilities we try to focus on. Leadership is a journey though, and your³ starting point and context are personal. This means it is perfectly logical that the growth potential of you³ on some aspects will be higher than on others, and will differ from that of others. Whilst you should of course tackle your development areas, never forget it are your strengths which make you unique.

Self-leadership...

Actively builds self-knowledge & resilience, and manages own motivation & wellbeing
Has emotional intelligence to work with feedback
Knows importance of learning agility, keeps own curve steep

Team leadership...

Inspire

Articulates the vision & strategic plan in a compelling way
Challenges the status quo, manages resistance, and takes a stand
Leads by example

Organize

Communicates with impact
Develops others by installing a feedback culture
Manages performance, and delivers above and beyond

Enable

Creates clarity & discipline
Sets goals, roles & responsibilities
Builds healthy high-performing teams

Organizational
leadership...

Inspire

Leads in a purposeful & value-driven way
Owns & impacts the ecosystem
Is contagiously courageous

Organize

Promotes a learning culture
Ensures swift collaboration within the organization
Empowers ownership & decisiveness

Enable

Encourages trust & psychological safety
Stimulates a culture of care & wellbeing
Is open-minded and drives diversity, inclusion & belonging

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