Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.
Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO, General Electric.
The future lies in the hands of all of us taking action together – building dreams, driving influence, walking the talk of the leadership we expect now and the leadership we envision for the future.
We know we are living in a fast paced, ever-changing world – we can feel it every single day. We know the future is uncertain, that the job economy is evolving before our very eyes as technology reshapes the what, why and how we do things and how we communicate. We know that resources once plentiful are becoming increasingly stretched and at the same time knowledge and data is available in bucket-loads. We are living in an era where curiosity, innovation, ideation and creation is a must; where execution of ideas and change a necessity. We are living in an era where staying in status quo is a one way ticket to disaster,
The people and businesses that will ultimately succeed will be the ones that are capable of making sense of the complex and chaos. The ones that will provide the insight, evolution, innovation and most of all the execution of said ideas. They will have their eye well and truly on the future goal, whilst being adaptable and willing to change their dance as required to get there.
Are you being this leader now?
Are you walking this talk now?
Are you actively creating a team of future leaders around you who can make sense of the world they will be operating in?
Are you making an impact and actively sponsoring tomorrow’s leaders today?
In this last week I have witnessed the active sponsorship of future leaders:
- Layne Beachley and her Aim For The Stars Foundation granted 40 scholarships to future leaders across multiple industries*
- Ann Sherry, CEO of Carnival Cruises reminded me that “there’s always that one moment one person believes in what you do”
- The commitment of an MD and senior leadership team to a long term, intensive leadership program for fifty of their future leaders, developing thought leadership, personal positioning and their potential to influence and impact more
- A panel of achievers and disrupters sharing their career journeys, highlights, and learnings gifting future leaders the encouragement to create their life by design.
One thing I know for sure. Creating tomorrow’s leaders today and sponsoring the future talent of tomorrow lies in the hands of every single one of us. We have to individually make an impact – to live it, speak it, breathe it and believe it every day if we are going to make a difference. It is so much more than mentoring – it is about the intentional support of another, taking action, collaborating and sharing what you know and who you know to better someone else; to ensure the leaders we are searching for now are guaranteed to exist tomorrow.
Creating tomorrow’s leaders today is everyone’s responsibility – it’s about right here right now, working together, working collaboratively, to drive change.
*I established First Seeds Fund over four years ago with a mission to reduce the impact of poverty and abuse amongst women and children in our own Australian backyard, focusing on education support, community initiatives and employment opportunities. With a wonderfully visionary and results oriented Board of Directors, the achievements of the First Seeds Fund have gone from strength to strength and we are proud to announce that we are supporting three Aim For The Stars grants.