When the Vision is Clear, the Results Will Appear
Vision is Clear, Results Appear
When the
Visionary leadership is a highly sought-after
attribute in today's rapidly changing world. Leaders who are able to envision a better future and inspire others to work towards that future are more likely to succeed in achieving their goals. However, it is important to note that being a visionary leader is not just about having a grand vision. It also requires strong leadership skills, such as the ability to communicate effectively, build relationships, and manage teams.
Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that visionary leadership can also have its drawbacks. Leaders who are too focused on their vision may overlook important details or fail to adapt to changing circumstances. They may also be perceived as overly idealistic or unrealistic. Leaders must lead by example and model the behavior they expect from others. They must be ethical, honest, and transparent in their dealings with others and be willing to take responsibility for their actions.
Therefore, it is important for visionary leaders to balance their vision with practicality and flexibility. They must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and take into account the needs and perspectives of others. Overall, visionary leadership can be a powerful force for positive change, but it must be accompanied by strong leadership skills and an ability to balance vision with practicality.
Leaders are often at the forefront of driving innovation and change within the organization. They must be able to identify new opportunities and adapt to changing market conditions to stay ahead of the competition.
Leaders provide a clear sense of direction and vision for the organization. They set strategic goals and objectives and communicate them effectively to the team. Leaders must be able to manage resources effectively, including financial resources, human resources, and technology. They must be able to allocate resources to maximize their impact and support the organization's overall goals.
Mapping the journey of these resolute leaders, CIOLook—through its latest edition, The 10 Most Visionary Leaders To Watch, 2023 —sheds light on the visionary leaders who are driving betterments and transformations in the dynamic business arena.
Flip through the pages and indulge in the fundamentals of progress with elements of innovation.
Have a Delightful Read!
CONTENT
Senior Editor Alan Swann
Executive Editors AbhishekJoshi
Alex Spellman
DESIGN
Visualizer Dave Bates
Art & Design Director Revati Badkas
Associate Designer Ankita Pandharpure
SALES
Senior Sales Manager Sihanee M., Rouniyar A.
Customer Success Manager Ankush Patel
Sales Executives Roopam, Brad
TECHNICAL
Technical Head Prachi Mokashi
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Research Analyst Eric Smith
SEO Executive Sagar Lhigade
Technical Consultant Victor Collins April, 2023
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Featured Person
Deb Nelson Executive Director
KoAnn
Just Economy Institute justeconomyinstitute.org
Building on decades of experience working with social entrepreneurs and financial activists, Deb has spent the past five years incubating, launching, and leading the Just Economy Institute.
KoAnn is Founder and CEO of Sustainable Life Media, producers and conveners of the internationally respected Sustainable Brands community. Sustainable Life Media sustainablebrands.com Google Cloud google.com
Matt Renner has spent over 25 years in the technology space, exploring ways to match customer needs with world-class technology solutions.
Mindy Lubber is the CEO and President of the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres. Ceres ceres.org
HRBoost hrboost.com
Projectivity Solutions projectivity-solutions.com
Nicole Martin is Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder of HRBOOST®, LLC a Shared Services Consulting firm based in the north suburbs of Chicago.
Phil works with boards of directors, executives, leaders, high potentials and teams to increase their effectiveness, influence and profitability.
Scilla Elworthy Founder
Plan for Peace planforpeace.org
BasaliTech basalitech.org
We First Inc. wefirstbranding.com
Scilla founded Peace Direct in 2002 to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas. Peace Direct was voted 'Best New Charity' in 2005.
Women in leadership positions tend to practice the Golden Rule with great efficiency, Standing out with these significant traits is Setsoto Hlohlomi, President, BasaliTech
Simon Mainwaring is a brand futurist, global keynote speaker, columnist, podcaster, and bestselling author of We First & Lead.
ChromaWay chromaway.com
Throughout her career, Zara has also worked in many different countries, mostly in very tough and harsh environments, with almost no other female engineer at work.
Simon Mainwaring Founder & CEO Zara Zamani Chief Solutions Officer Matt Renner Global Chief Operating Officer Phil Bristol Founder Vikoren Skrzyniarz Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mindy Lubber CEO and President Nicole Martin Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder Setsoto Hlohlomi PresidentThis continuous innovation is possible due to collaborative teamwork. At Projectivity Solutions, Phil and his team collaboratively integrate perspectives and methods to produce fresh ideas that differentiate the typical from the exceptional.
To increase business value by identifying and eliminating the unseen obstacles that adversely impact employee satisfaction and productivity, Phil Bristol founded Projectivity Solutions as an integrated service provider.
Phil's three decades of experience expands from Executive Coach, C-Suite Consultant, and Strategic Advisor. He enables business leaders and individuals to unleash their potential to deliver extraordinary results.
Projectivity Solutions programs help owners and leaders articulate a company's vision, mission, purpose, brand, and core values, which provide organizational direction. Projectivity applies these skills and tools to help business owners and leadership teams.
Position role sheets define the work expectations for every role, document business development operations, support primary service process, and explain how employees work collaboratively.
We caught up with Phil and talked about his journey and where his venture heads next.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Projectivity
Solutions. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
After leaving the US Army in 1984, I became a strategic systems consultant for an international pharmaceutical company and later became the manager of manufacturing systems until starting Projectivity Solutions, Inc.
Projectivity Solutions, formed in 1990, served California Bay Area technology companies providing project management solutions that evolved into program management consulting and training. Fortune 500 companies formed the client core until 2004 when the focus became small companies with less than 500 employees. Today, clients are located in the USA, Europe, and India. During this timeframe, the service offering evolved to include strategic planning, business process improvement, leadership development, and organizational culture.
The challenges along the way have been creating a cohesive service offering during COVID. The difficulty caused by COVID was the closing of all in-person client engagements; however, advancement within telecommunications technology allowed client engagements to continue and opened new opportunities in Europe and Asia. The Projectivity Solutions service offerings have been enhanced and integrated, offering clients multiple points of engagement depending on their needs and maturity level.
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
Projectivity Solutions increases business value by identifying and eliminating the unseen obstacles that adversely impact employee satisfaction and productivity. We build people; we build relationships; we build high-performing trust-based culture.
Enlighten us on how you have impacted the business consulting niche through your expertise in the market.
Unlike other organizations, Projectivity Solutions use over 130 years of science and research to objectively
Phil's three decades of experience expands from Executive Coach, C-Suite Consultant, and Strategic Advisor.
gather data by conducting targeted "X-Rays" focused on
Ÿ
Ÿ Relationships,
Ÿ Financial Performance, and
Ÿ Mindset.
The company has transformed into a company whose approach is people-centric and driven by objective data for informed decision-making. Projectivity Solutions is a leading integrated service provider that increases business value by identifying and eliminating the unseen obstacles that adversely impact employee satisfaction and productivity.
The programs and service offerings are continually updated depending on consumer requirements. This continuous innovation is possible due to collaborative teamwork. At Projectivity Solutions, Phil and his team collaboratively integrate perspectives and methods to produce fresh ideas that differentiate the typical from the exceptional. "Equally important are the practical implementation actions to create and deliver value."
Despite being a geographically dispersed team, they rarely rely on traditional brainstorming approaches. The group frequently connects via the web and Zoom to work on new ideas. Its 'go-to' tools are MindManager and Padlet, which allow multi-user collaboration. Like other organizations, Projectivity Solutions has an assortment of personalities and motivators.
There are also regular seminars and conferences for knowledge sharing and the latest industry and business updates which enhance team potential. As an employee at Projectivity Solutions, the typical is about creating solutions that help direct energy toward crucial activities, promoting teamwork, and establishing an environment that produces results. These factors help the team stay abreast of the trends and give the organization an edge over the competition.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.
In service to executives and leaders by providing strategies and skills for clarifying direction, accelerating productivity, implementing new capabilities, and inspiring collaborative teamwork.
Values:
We lead the way
Ÿ We look for new and better ways of doing things and seek to excel in everything we do.
Ÿ We take on big challenges and deliver great results every time.
Ÿ Our passion drives us, and we enjoy the journey.
We do what's right
Ÿ We do what we say we will do.
Ÿ We are open and honest, and fair.
Ÿ Doing what's right is always more important than doing what's expedient.
We take responsibility
Ÿ We take personal responsibility for creating an environment where people can flourish.
Ÿ We challenge the status quo and develop innovative solutions.
Ÿ We always aim to get it right the first time.
We care for each other.
Ÿ We watch out for each other's safety and well-being.
Ÿ We respect and support each other and listen.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
Projectivity Solutions uses a mixed-media client engagement model that integrates video, small and large collaborative discussions, practical exercises, whiteboard exercises, customizable graphics, and plan templates.
What change would you like to bring to your industry if given a chance?
Dramatically reduce the low high business mortality rate. Typically, 20% of the small business fail in their
first year, 30% in their second year, and 50% fail after five years in business. Finally, 70% of small business owners fail in their 10th year in business.
Where do you envision yourself in the long run, and what are your future goals for Projectivity Solutions?
Projectivity Solutions 2024 aims to significantly improve the enterprise's strategic planning process offered to clients. This year, Projectivity Solutions will collaborate with European firms to evaluate the strategic domains of projects, relationships, and governance. This assessment approach provides facts and insights into organizational strengths and challenges, resulting in a realistic strategic plan.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into this sector?
Network with like-minded professionals and collaborate for the greater good.
The Projectivity Solutions service offerings have been enhanced and integrated, offering clients multiple points of engagement depending on their needs and maturity level.
Aventure without an exceptional leader can’t
carve out the path to success for itself. To thrive in today’s fierce atmosphere of the market with extensive services, an apt leader is one who fuels not only the business but also the minds of its team members. Supervisors who know their delivery commitments and are fixated on providing exceptional services in given circumstances are the ones taking the lead in any industry.
Leaders like Nicole Martin —who project an attitude of natural ease and effortlessness while having a sharp vision and objective to provide delegated services to the industry—demonstrate the aforementioned influence of such leaders. With extensive industry experience, Nicole not only empowers her business but also helps create growth opportunities with unmatched expertise.
Nicole Martin is the Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder of HRBoost® LLC . HRBoost transforms companies into talent magnets and—under Nicole’s impeccable leadership—creates a Dedicated HR Team & provides businesses with hands-on support to best practice solutions and overcome a myriad of workplace challenges.
A dynamic and empowering consultative leader, and a futurist skilled at helping organizations to meet their strategic objectives, Nicole Martin is an internationally renowned speaker and an author. Being the Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder of HRBoost® LLC, a Shared Services Consulting firm based in the north suburbs of Chicago, Nicole has been building HR departments from the ground up ever since she was 18
years old. What makes her approach so unique, she says, is that she begins with the business’ vision and creates HR programs that are completely integrated with that vision.
Nicole states, “We support employers at every stage of the employee experience, and small businesses deserve to compete for talent in today’s market. Our Boosters create programs designed to further the business, boost productivity, and help employees understand why and how their contributions are meaningful.”
Nicole credits her team for all the success the business has accomplished. Today, she is proudly a woman that has built a seven-figure business from scratch and knowing only 2% of women-owned businesses do this is alarming.
Talking about her vision, Nicole says, “It is our Vision at HRBoost to bring JOY and PURPOSE to PEOPLE through their Work. It is how we serve our clients and the people that choose to join up with their visions. We live it at HRBoost.”
It is her number one responsibility to empower her team of Boosters and invest in ongoing education, tools, and resources to optimize her team. She has faith that they will, in turn, delight their clients. She was truly humbled when after years of serving on the Advisory Board and being part of a winning organization in her prior roles, her own company took the stage of Best & Brightest ®Companies to Work for in Chicago in 2020.
Nicole’s philosophy is that leadership must live at every level in a business. She expresses that hierarchy is a thing of the past; people must be invited to live leadership from wherever they stand, the language of what
makes a leader is a creative space where teams can create their reality for shared leadership in their space.
An exemplar of Resilience
“We have always trended with growth year after year; however, amidst the pandemic, we were hard hit like many. Thankfully, we have successfully returned to pre-Covid-19 revenue levels, and this is something we are pleased with, given the level of uncertainty in the market,” says Nicole while revealing how new innovative ways help her reach clients in today’s volatile market. In 2023, she will be launching new opportunities for seasoned HR practitioners across the nation. Proudly, with Nicole’s leadership, HRBoost’s talent currently spreads across five states, and the boundaries no longer apply.
Nicole acknowledges that, ironically, the biggest threat to the marketplace is talent, even now. According to her, only truly forward-thinking companies will make winning moves even in the downturn of the economy. Nicole loves what she does, and she does it remarkably well. Nicole didn’t set out to create HRBoost. She simply followed her passion for helping clients understand the importance human resources can play in developing a strong business. Today, Nicole is a successful entrepreneur and an HR industry innovator who is dedicated to helping small to mid-size businesses realize their potential through their employees.
Because she believes HR expertise is essential to any business as they grow its enterprise.
HRBoost’s Shared Services approach allows businesses to access strategic HR at their pace and budget, all while taking a holistic approach to integrating a culture plan that enables their strategic and/or operational plans as a business. It delivers skilled talent to its clients. Nicole believes HRBoost’s shared services approach to the middle market is the PEO Alternative.
Today it serves businesses spanning multiple sectors; these include Professional Services, Non-Profit Organizations, High Tech, Manufacturing, Staffing firms, Hospitality, and Healthcare. Its clients are typically high-growth businesses with 50-250 employees. The company’s model is to meet the clients wherever they are. Thus, it provides full-service embedded HR support, project-to-project support, culture design and management training, employee programs and assessments, virtual support, and phone support. HRBoost has experienced tremendous growth, and proudly nearly every client has been sourced through word of mouth.
HRBoost’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is that it
meets the clients at their pace and budget and brings a team with 40 years of aggregate experience from day one. It offers small and mid-size businesses HR services on an ala carte, project, or retainer basis.
“We meet our clients wherever they are on their journey to be an employer of choice, and we also meet them at their pace and budget. Our Shared Services approach allows us to build HR departments from scratch and align them to business strategy,” Nicole states.
With a team of truly conscientious and driven people on our team, Nicole feels blessed to have them by her side. Because they live HRBoost’s core values, and instead of Nicole recognizing every time a core value is witnessed, they have taken peer reward recognition to be a strong reinforcement.
Nicole feels it is imperative to get hands-on experience doing what you seek to learn. She asks others to make sure it brings them joy before investing time and energy and dedicating their life to it.
“Enjoy the journey, and be prepared to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Surround yourself with people who inspire and support you but also don’t patronize you. Remember, even if it gets harder or takes longer, stay diligent,” she says while also emphasizing that everyone deserves a coach, as accountability to self is paramount in achieving goals.
Nicole believes women remain an opportunity and can develop teams that foster collaboration, and creating a culture of conversation takes rigor, where a two-way exchange is fostered and upheld.
“Investment in women. The fact that less than 2% of the money is invested in the United States in women-owned businesses is disturbing," suggests Nicole.
Nicole advocates the importance of being vulnerable and authentic. She exclaims that knowing oneself is important because if you don’t know you need others to be successful, then it will be hard to build a business.
Currently, Nicole serves on the Chicago NAWBO Membership Committee and is a Star Conference Global Speaker, citing all the women’s conferences and came home as Best Speaker from Paris 2021. She also mentors some newer female entrepreneurs who reach out to her.
Transformative leaders are individuals who are
capable of driving significant and lasting change within their organizations. These leaders possess a unique set of attributes that allow them to inspire, motivate and empower their teams, to develop and execute innovative strategies, and to navigate complex challenges with confidence and grace. They possess a unique set of attributes that enable them to inspire and motivate others towards a common goal.
In this article, we will explore some of the exemplary attributes of transformative leaders.
Transformative leaders are visionaries who possess a clear understanding of where they want to take their organization. They are able to articulate their vision in a compelling manner that inspires and motivates their team to work towards a common goal.
They possess a long-term perspective and are capable of anticipating future trends and challenges. Visionary leaders have a clear and compelling vision for the future. They are able to communicate this vision to others in a way that inspires and motivates them. Visionary leaders are often creative thinkers who are able to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems. They are not afraid to take risks and try new things.
Transformative leaders are authentic individuals who are true to themselves and their values. They have a strong sense of self-awareness and are able to communicate openly and honestly with their team. They are not afraid to admit their mistakes and learn from them. Their authenticity fosters a culture of trust and transparency within the organization.
Transformative leaders possess a high degree of empathy, which allows them to understand and connect with their team on a deep level. They are able to recognize the unique strengths and weaknesses of each individual and tailor their leadership approach accordingly. They are supportive and approachable, and their empathy creates a positive and inclusive work environment.
Transformative leaders possess a great deal of courage, which allows them to take calculated risks and make difficult decisions. They are not afraid to challenge the status quo and are willing to try new approaches. Their courage inspires their team to push beyond their comfort zones and to embrace change.
Visionary leaders are courageous and are willing to take bold action in pursuit of their vision. They are not afraid to challenge the status quo or make difficult decisions.
Passion: Visionary leaders have a deep passion for their vision and are committed to seeing it through. They are able to inspire others with their enthusiasm and energy.
Transformative leaders possess a high degree of resilience, which allows them to navigate challenges and setbacks with grace and determination. They are able to bounce back from adversity and to maintain their focus on their vision. Their resilience inspires their team to persevere through difficult times and to maintain a positive attitude.
Transformative leaders possess a high degree of creativity, which allows them to develop innovative solutions to complex challenges. They are able to think outside the box and to approach problems from a new perspective. Their creativity fosters a culture of innovation within the organization.
Transformative leaders are collaborative individuals who understand the value of teamwork. They build diverse teams with a range of skills and perspectives and create an environment where everyone feels valued and heard. They encourage open communication, constructive feedback, and constructive conflict resolution. Their collaborative approach fosters a culture of inclusivity and innovation.
In conclusion, transformative leaders possess a unique set of attributes that allow them to inspire, motivate and empower their teams, to develop and execute innovative strategies, and to navigate complex challenges with confidence and grace. They are visionary, authentic, empathetic, courageous, resilient, creative, and collaborative. These attributes enable them to drive significant and lasting change within their organizations and to create a positive and inclusive work environment that fosters innovation and success.
Regardless of the type of business you're running, or even the industry that you're operating in, to say that strong female leaders are important is something of an understatement. In truth, they're essential - not only for providing a much-needed perspective on the direction that a business is taking but also in terms of the types of qualities that they bring to the table that you're unlikely to find anywhere else.
One of the most invaluable traits that female leaders bring to the table is their sense of awareness. They typically try to look at the bigger picture first, but then break a situation down into the finer details to see what is really going on underneath.
Women in leadership positions tend to practice the Golden Rule with great efficiency. Standing out with these significant traits is Setsoto Hlohlomi , President , BasaliTech .
Under her guidance, BasaliTech has held various initiatives since its inception. These include a mentorship program where women in tech were assigned a mentee in technology education to provide insight into opportunities and challenges the women face and how these young girls can successfully navigate them.
In an interview with CIOLook, Setsoto shares valuable facts highlighting her leadership qualities and her professional tenure in the niche.
Below are the excerpts from the interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at BasaliTech. What
challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
This all began with a career in technology, where I was one of the very few women in the department. While our societal norms are evolving to accept women into such roles, the gender gap in itself was and to some extent still is intimidating. Through a passion for learning and a love for technology, I quickly climbed from junior to more senior technical roles in technology and eventually leadership positions.
Being a leader is both challenging and fulfilling. Leaders are constantly faced with pressures that come from decision-making, which can give people the misconception that we have to be perfect and should know it all. And yet, it is basically the capacity to cement efforts from multiple divisions and people to achieve that vision we have.
The most recent highlight of my career was obtaining my master’s degree in management from the University
BasaliTech is an organiza on that values posi ve societal impact and driving change.
of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, in 2022. This has significantly shaped me as a leader, and I have grown so much – from working with people to strategy and it has renewed my passion for knowledge sharing and mentorship. This led to me facilitating a leadership program recently held by BasaliTech.
I believe having a mentor, is one of the ways we can pave our way to being successful as people. Mentors, whether formal or informal, offer guidance, perspective and opportunities. With women significantly outnumbered in the technology industry and worse in leadership positions, it has been harder finding women mentors.
Balancing work and life can also be a challenge, especially with a growing family. And there still exist some stereotypical expectations of being a woman leader that can make it a bit harder. The skills I have acquired, have played a great role in my leadership position at BasaliTech, as well as in acquiring a Cloud Support Engineer Role at AWS.
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
BasaliTech is a non-profit organization that I founded and registered in Lesotho. With technology being one of the most rapidly growing and evolving industries, we aim to democratize technology education and impart the African youth with technology skills through various means, to equip them with the right skills to thrive in this era.
The gender gap in the technology sector remains a concern, with women significantly underrepresented in technical roles as well as leadership positions. It is also our mission to tackle this by driving initiatives that encourage young girls and women to pursue technology education and careers.
Enlighten us on how you have impacted the IT niche through your expertise in the market.
Since our inception in 2018, we have held various initiatives that I have led. These include a mentorship program where women in tech were assigned a mentee in technology education to provide insight into opportunities and challenges the women face and how these young girls can successfully navigate them.
We have also held website development boot-camps to provide introductory knowledge in building websites as insight into one of the growing careers in technology. As a technical trainer and mentor, I have been at the forefront of these.
As the diversity in technology careers increases, we released a series of videos describing the various careers in technology to guide the youth and to inform them about the opportunities available.
This was done with the support of our volunteers, that are experts in the technology field. Finally, we have hosted the nation’s first technology conference, TechCon Lesotho, for two years.
It gathered experts to discuss technology trends, opportunities, and how these can be utilized for a better Africa. We have engaged 500+ through our inperson initiatives and over 5000+ remotely through our media platforms.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.
BasaliTech is currently a small organization that values positive societal impact and driving change. We understand that partnerships will help us achieve our goals and that our team is at the core of delivering value to our customers.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
Technology has assisted in our mission to reach more people. We have constantly used the internet and social media platforms to deliver our message as well as training content. Using video editing tools has aided us
to digitize career guidance videos and our training content, allowing us to have them accessible online when we would have otherwise held them in person. This way, we continue to reach more people.
What change would you like to bring to the IT industry if given a chance?
Aligning myself closely with our organization’s mission, the change I would love to effect is to drive and encourage the inclusion of women in the technology industry. To see more women taking up technical roles, they are passionate about and eventually leadership positions through our skills-sharing initiatives and networks. This directly contributes to the United Nations sustainable development goal 5 of empowering women and girls.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for BasaliTech?
My dream is to be a senior leader in a multinational organization through continuous personal development. For BasaliTech, the primary goal is to grow it and expand its reach. The current impact from the organization can be seen in Lesotho and neighboring South Africa. We aim to reach the rest of Africa through our initiatives, combatting these challenges on a continental scale.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the IT sector?
I have often seen people trying to lead teams and organizations they do not understand, which has always been detrimental. For example, to lead an IT team, you need to have some expertise in the field; this way, you will understand their pain and processes amongst other things. Having this basic knowledge of the territory will lead to better decision-making.
The IT sector is large, continues to grow, and is becoming very competitive. Find your niche, focus on that and never be afraid of change when it becomes necessary. Lastly, never stop learning. This is the quickest way to become irrelevant.
eadership is an essential function of every L organization. Effective administration depends to a great extent on leadership as it holds the ability to influence the employees of the organization with the sheer confidence to work exceptionally hard with a vision to achieve success and complete their designated objectives.
Leadership is about innovation and initiative to achieve success by the quality of the leader to guide the employees for organized efforts that lead them to work in a professional environment.
Learning in leadership is a constant process; the ability to learn with dedication and overcome difficulties, and, most importantly, never giving up are the qualities that create an exceptional leader.
Throughout history, great leaders have emerged with their leadership values in providing directions, implementation of their plans, and motivating people through their actions and their approaches to relative situations.
Let us explore the different leadership approaches that carved great leaders:
The premise of this approach is simple. Instead of focusing on the problems or something which is going wrong, the focus is learning about the problems and implementing vital solutions in problem-solving. Appreciative leadership is all about turning human potential into positive power and using it for a relational and positive process.
Appreciative leadership has its roots in appreciative conversation. The mindset plays a significant role in highlighting what is right and could be better with constructive conversation. Within this approach, an individual can feel encouraged and can work better while maintaining a cheerful outlook towards appropriately executing that task. The mindset of the leaders with this approach focusses more towards,
Ÿ The things that are essential to execute tasks properly.
Ÿ Focus on what is next, rather than thinking about what is left behind.
Ÿ Positive actions towards problem-solving.
Ÿ Manage the operations with efficient decisionmaking skills with the vision, mission, and organizational goals to execute the assigned task properly.
The situational leadership approach is centred on the proper guidance and direction provided by the leader in a necessary situation. The interaction of these two factors is related to the team members, their level of competence, confidence, and commitment towards an assigned task.
The role of the leader is to develop individuals, encourage them towards achieving excellent performance and with the situational approach, the extent to which leader engages in defining roles in setting goals, organizing the workflow, directing, and controlling the efforts, for the essential management.
A leader also executes two-way communication and provides encouraging support in positive communication, active listening, and providing feedback while pointing out the areas of improvement with necessary interactions.
The transformational leadership approach can transform and improve the potentials of individuals, teams, and organizations. They specifically identify their own values, and encourage their employees, to boost up teamwork.
Transformational leaders motivate and teach with a shared view about the future. Their communication skills are exceptionally good, and they can inspire their group or an organization as they believe in every person is capable and competent while working together and expect the best from everyone. They hold themselves accountable as well.
Transformational leaders are always honest, self-aware, authentic, and they have an innovative mindset.
Charismatic leaders never doubt their own decisions. They move forward un-waveringly and believe that the decisions they make are the correct ones. They move through a crowd of their followers, shaking hands and lending an encouraging word. They are undeniably clear on their expectations and where they see the company going.
The relationship between a charismatic leader and followers is an emotional one. People with this leadership skill are experts in the art of developing images for themselves that others want to emulate. Charismatic leaders have four common personality characteristics:
Ÿ A high degree of confidence and lack of internal conflict
Ÿ High energy and enthusiasm
Ÿ Exceptionally good and effective communication skills
Ÿ Influencing factors like a role model
A person who adopts the authoritarian leadership approach dictates policy and procedure and directs the work done by the group without looking for any meaningful input from them. The group led by an authoritarian executes its task under close supervision. This leadership approach plays a vital role in situations like:
Ÿ When employees are not able to execute their tasks properly, either because of incompetence or lack of experience, they need someone to guide them. An autocratic leader helps these employees to sharpen their skillset and provides them valuable feedback by closely monitoring them.
Ÿ An autocratic leadership approach helps the employees to take initiative and motivates them towards their work. When employees need an extra push, an authoritarian leadership style works out better.
These leadership approaches will help individual leaders to rectify situations and implement their skills to improvise and motivate their employees.
Additionally, leaders can enhance the productivity of their employees by providing expert guidance with these diverse leadership approaches.
Moving with a clear vision and strong principles
throughout her career, Zara Zamani, Chief Solutions Officer at ChromaWay , has set her sights on entrepreneurship and is now also the Cofounder and Chief Strategy Officer at Neoki .
ChromaWay is an early pioneer of ‘blockchain 2.0’ technology and provides a platform for smart contracts and issuing and transferring assets through a blockchain. Meanwhile, Neoki is a virtual reality platform for the world of calculated expressions such as design, music, and the gaming industry.
On the path to building and growing her business, Zara has faced many challenges, such as People management, relationship building, networking, and being super multifunctional yet keeping that strategic and holistic view to ensure her team is walking in the right direction.
Throughout her career, she has also worked in many different countries, mostly in very tough and harsh environments, with almost no other female engineer at work. Alongside the brilliant technical skills she gained, Zara also learned how to communicate with different cultures, how to be patient, how to manage people, along with lots of delivery management skills.
CIOLook , in an exclusive interview with technologist and futurist Zara Zamani, gains insights about rapidly gaining popularity technologies like blockchain and metaverse.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Zara, please brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current positions at ChromaWay and Neoki. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
I studied Electrical and Electronics and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Technology Petronas, where I was under full scholarship by Petronas as a top student. Like every student, I was worried about finding a job. However, I never wanted A job; I always wanted THE job. The job, for me, was something that would enable me to travel the world and gain career experiences besides highly skilled professionals as much as possible. So, I started writing what I would expect from companies and sending emails to the ones at the time I thought would be the right fit for me.
I guess I always knew what exactly I wanted. Out of that effort, I had eight job offers from top global companies by the time I graduated, and I started my career at Schlumberger, the number one oil and gas service company in the world, as a wireline field engineer.
At some point in my career, I thought I needed more to be happy. I needed to be part of the change-making wave. I wanted to be able to leave a legacy behind, and that was not very much possible where I was. So, I decided to step into the path of entrepreneurship in what I thought I was good at and felt comfortable with, Technology. I became an entrepreneur in TravelTech and FinTech industries and eventually started working with blockchain in 2015 and found blockchain to be THE technology that enables me to make the change I wanted which was to make the world a fairer place for all.
At different levels of maturity and growth in my career, I have faced different challenges. From being a girl and having limited access to opportunities in Iran to leaving my whole family to live abroad alone for education and to starting a career in a super male-dominant industry, moving to tech entrepreneurship, which was not less male-dominant and working in top-class international emerging technologies companies like ChromaWay.
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
ChromaWay was founded in 2014 with our relational blockchain model, called Postchain, which proved itself to be an excellent platform for private enterprise blockchain applications.
Since then, the team and vision surrounding the company have grown exponentially. In addition to our private enterprise work through ChromaWay, we have also launched a public platform called Chromia, which boasts a rapidly expanding ecosystem.
We strive to provide blockchain applications that are easy to use and create real value in society by providing transparent systems that enhance efficiency and reduce exploitation. ChromaWay was named among the 50 fastest-growing tech companies in 2021 by Deloitte.
Additionally, Neoki, founded in 2021, is a decentralized multi-Metaverse, virtual reality platform powered by blockchain for the world of design and creativity. Our vision is to offer a profoundly immersive design-based Metaverse to democratize the design industry by introducing concepts such as:
Ÿ Design to Earn allows every user to create an economy around their obvious or hidden talents.
Ÿ DAO is to be utilized as an infrastructure that allows every member of the community to be seen and have a say in decision-making and therefore bring out the real meaning of democratization.
Ÿ Collaborate to Earn provides an incentivizing model for users and community members to interact and collaborate with each other.
Ÿ Multi-Metaverse as a means to enable community members to build their own verse in our Metaverse.
Anyone or entity who is either an end customer of a piece, a talent, a designer, a collector, a brand, a design
house, a design school, a manufacturer, or is in any other way connected to a design piece of interior, fashion- accessory, jewelry, art, automotive, architecture, industrial piece, etc. can create, commercialize design, purchase design piece, collaborate, educate, and monetize their content. The Community of Neoki permanently owns the land parcels in which they fully control and decide on what content is published, which can vary from art, democratized, fast, and direct communication and connection to its users without any intermediary. Neoki was nominated as one of the top 5 blockchain companies in Europe in 2022.
Enlighten us on how you have impacted your niche through your expertise in the market.
I believe what people like me bring to the table is breaking the chain of tech-bro communities. We bring a difference in mindset, worldview, and in consumer behavior analysis. We know the reality of the world, and we try to connect that to the power of technology. I have impacted my niche in many ways, such as supporting building REAL use cases and products for REAL people with REAL values. Besides that, I always inspire young girls and women not to be afraid of
stepping higher in the technology career world. Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.
We embrace the working culture of distributed, decentralized and remote-first companies both at ChromaWay and Neoki. I believe that is how every crypto company needs to work to live up to the core values of the technology we are evangelists of.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
We at ChromaWay are at the bleeding edge of technology by creating Chromia, a permissionless blockchain protocol that enables everyone to build the Dapp of their dream and transfers power back to the public while being a pioneer in building blockchain games, fashion Dapps, DeFi, and tokenization Dapps.
At Neoki, we are building a multi-metaverse virtual world based on blockchain and leveraging NFTs, DAOs, and crypto aspects.
What change would you like to bring to your industry if given a chance?
Bring more business-oriented people into the space in order to be able to build more valuable and userfriendly Dapps. If we can merge the mature user experience of Web 2.0 with the technology provided by web 3.0, that will be great.
What, according to you, could be the next significant change in your sector? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?
From my perspective, the next big thing in the world of blockchain is IP holders stepping in. AT ChromaWay, we are preparing by creating Chromia to enable them to build their dream much easier, faster, and costeffectively.
At Neoki, we are making the transition of IP holders from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 much easier by offering plenty of what we call Web 2.5 solutions.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for ChromaWay and Neoki?
I envision myself building, building, and building for the next decades. I have no other path to encourage more people to join us in this movement of making the work a fairer place and giving freedom back to the public. I see ChromaWay definitely being a pioneer and an example not only in the world of tech but also in the world of crypto and blockchain as a company that lives truly to the meaning of decentralization.
And I see Neoki as that one Metaverse world that, instead of competing, is connected to multiple other metaverses and living up to the name of multi metaverse besides closing the loop of the life transition from physical to virtual and back from virtual to the physical world, meaning allowing people to expand their experiences as much as they wish both physically and virtually.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into your sector?
Be patient. Constantly learn. Your team is your everything. Stay focused and surround yourself with the right people.
I believe what people like me bring to the table is a difference in mindset, worldview, and in consumer behavior analysis. I also inspire young girls and women not to be afraid of stepping higher in the tech world.
