What Is A Rouser? The Ultimate Business Leader
Rousing leadership sets off a chain reaction that propels a business forward
Editor’s note: This is the 3rd installment in the series. Read part one here and part two here.
So far in this series, I have covered reason and revenues. This time I’ll explain the indispensable driver of success: rousing leadership.
Why are rousers so important? They put things in motion. They set off a chain reaction that propels the company forward, enabling it to grow beyond the ordinary to become truly great. To rouse people you need to lead them.
This is not to imply that it only includes people at the top. Jobs do not come neatly packaged with a narrow range of required skills. No matter where someone is in an organization or what task they’re doing, they can be hugely influential – motivating and inspiring others around them. And because business leadership exists at every level of the organization, so too do rousers.
Leaders at the top need to motivate and inspire everyone and they must encourage others to do so throughout the organization. Rousers are critical to growth, innovation, employee engagement, value creation and much, much more. In short, rousers are the people who drive success.
Four Keys to Rousing Leadership
Being a rouser means inspiring, motivating and gaining the commitment of people for the company’s mission and objectives. It lies at the heart of leadership because rousers bring people along to achieve the company’s goals. So, what do rousers do and how can they increase commitment to their plans? The answer is by succeeding in four key areas.
1. Focus on Achieving Results
You should be goal oriented, improve the efficiency of processes and quality of products and services, make sure plans are sustainable and convey the stability of the company to employees. This requires openness, trust and honesty, making the company’s results visible to everyone.
2. Engage Others and Gain Commitment to Achieving Common Objectives
A key skill for a rouser is to ensure that everyone’s efforts are aligned. For this reason, the global strategy of the company must be accepted at all levels in the organization. The level of commitment among leaders is especially significant here, as they are in positions to influence the efforts and commitment of others. Conversely, leaders have the greatest capacity to jeopardize plans if they fail to obtain the employees” commitment for achieving common objectives.
3. Increase the Company’s Ability to Adapt
As we have already seen, two certainties are known about the future: it will be different and it will surprise. Companies, therefore, must update the way they work and the products and services they deliver. In addition, the lifespan of products and services is becoming shorter and shorter, requiring companies to innovative more rapidly and be ready to respond immediately to new products from other companies. This means leaders need to motivate their people to accept change and to reorient to new situations quickly. This is achieved by instilling new behaviors and attitudes into the culture of the organization. Therefore, a rouser should encourage people to be adaptable and they should also empower them to be proactive.
4. Instill an Innovative Approach
Rousers are not only innovative themselves, but they also encourage innovation in others. This means keeping an eye on what is happening in the business environment and the world at large. It also involves looking to the future, anticipating trends and identifying and creating opportunities to help the company achieve future success.
Achieving Greatness
“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish”, said Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
The future that companies face is uncertain and will be difficult. The impact rousers can make throughout a company is immense: they ignite an organization and its people to achieve greatness. In the next article I will highlight the next foundation for successful businesses, brands and careers: the challenge of building and maintaining reputation.
Related content:
What is Your Company’s Reason?
