Engaging Employees through Leadership Distinction

Every year for the last few years I’ve given a year a particular name. 2016 was the year of outstanding distinction, 2017 the year of creative distinction. Last year was the year of cutting edge distinction and 2019 I’ve called the year of global distinction.

There’s an unprecedented political, economic, socio-cultural and technological shift. This means we have easy access to fake news, fear news and forward thinking news. But, through it all, I truly believe we are in one of the most exciting times, hence why I’ve called it the era of creative distinction. 

With a global market that is now local and a local market that is global, with the emergence of AI, now is the time for leadership brand distinction. The first question is, what actually is leadership? In 2015, in my message of Cutting Edge Distinction, I wrote the following quote. “Leadership isn’t about age but rather, leadership is about influence, impact and inspiration”.

Leadership is not about how old or young you are, how long you’ve been in your job or industry.

In this era of creative distinction, finding, developing and leveraging your distinction as a leader, as a manager and therefore also as an employee is key to your development and that of your department and organisation as a whole. 

What is a 21st century employee?

I have established the outline of the 21^stcentury employee in the following three areas. Leading with Excellence, Being a Trailblazer and Pioneer and Bringing constant Change to your Organisation.

Lead with Excellence

We’ve established what the essence of cutting edge leadership is. From my message of cutting edge distinction, I’ve combined excellence with leadership branding to create the 3 V’s; Your Vision, Your Values and Your Voice. The key to employee and leadership distinction is to immerse yourself in the vision, value and voice of your organisation. Why? If you’re not seeing, believing and saying what your organisation is seeing, believing and saying, you cannot create brand distinction. And your leadership brand will influence and has an impact on the prosperity, progress and purpose of your organisation. 

Trailblazer and Pioneer

I have developed the 3 C’s of employee distinction. To lead with distinction in your chosen career, the 3 C’s have to be your way of life. You’ve heard of thinking outside the box. But, using the ‘box’ as a stepping stone to save money, improve output and increase productivity is key to leadership distinction. Creativity is the new currency. So regularly reading articles and watching TED Talkswill in my opinion increase your creative awareness. Once you achieved a task in work, actively look for other tasks to complete. If you find them hard, ask team members for assistance. Knowing that not only does teamwork make the dream work, teamwork also makes you write, work and win. And at the same time it enhances your leadership skills. 

Bring constant change to your organisation

With your understanding of what cutting edge leadership is all about, taking the lead to be known as a solution provider in your organisation is a vital key to employee distinction.  

Spending quality time to serve, showcase and speak your distinction will mean you sometimes being misunderstood but because you’ve integrated the 3 V’s of your organisation’s brand, any misunderstanding will mean you’ll eventually be understood as a leader who is a critical thinker and a problem solver. 

For the next seven days spend time observing the challenges you face at work. Then see how quickly you use critical thinking to gain a quicker result. It doesn’t matter if you are a junior staff or been in your organisation for less than 6 months. Your leadership distinction will come from constantly applying the 3 M’s of time management stated in the quote below. It comes from asking questions, looking for quicker solutions and working in a team. As a result, if you see and understand the future goal you can understand, apply and celebrate your leadership distinction.

So there you’ve have it. I’ve given you the essence of cutting edge leadership and who the 21^st century employee is. Organisations are desperately looking for employees who are thought leaders by nature and results. Therefore, now is the time for you as an employee to lead with your distinction. 

About

Onyi Anyado is a Global Leadership Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur and Workshop Facilitator on cutting edge leadership. He delivers workshops, talks and coaching sessions on educational, business and corporate platforms around the world. If you need help with training and coaching on how to locate, leverage and lead with distinction please contact him.
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At ClearVoice Comms, we are experts in delivering employee engagement and communication strategies that inspire your people and transform your business. We influence change through the power of communication to improve your company’s performance. For more information or help with developing your leadership brand and culture in your organisation,call or email us today. And let us show you how the power of communication can change your business.