8 minute read
Leadership 2.0 By Rebecca Miller
Let’s talk leadership. Gosh, where do I start?! I feel leadership, and its definition is often misunderstood. Leadership is not something you are born with or without, but a powerful skill that can be developed and evolved over time and with experience.
True leadership is unleashed through experiences, openness, gaining new insights, taking on feedback and most importantly, embracing personal growth. There is a lot of information out there on leadership and the different styles and I feel it is very outdated. It’s time for Leadership 2.0!
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I would love to share what leadership means to me. Through my years as a multiple salon owner who leads and inspires big teams, and of course being a Mumma of 3 beautiful children, I can say hand on heart that I haven’t always had it right. I still stumble, but through my personal development, I have learnt how to empower, not disempower, those around me.
Long gone are the days of dictatorship-inspired leadership. If this is you right now, that’s ok, you don’t know what you don’t know. Today, I ask you to open your heart and mind to a new way of leading and thinking. Leadership is not about telling people what to do, it’s about demonstrating what to do.
Leadership to me is not a title, but a way of being and an attitude. Farewell the idea that leadership is a badge of honour and instead, discover the behaviours that form a great leader. Right now, in our industry, there is no greater time to stand up and lead. Our industry, and world at large, needs leaders that are heartfelt, transformational, and empowering.
The birth of every great leader begins from within.
Ask yourself, “how am I leading myself right now?”.
Leading yourself encompasses all areas of life. It’s how we consistently care for ourselves, our relationships, our health, our business, and the daily habits we adopt so we can show up in the world as our best selves.
Stepping into this high level of leadership takes dedication and self-mastery through development. It is a trained result that only those willing to do the work required will achieve. Great leaders serve as examples to those who are watching on, they’re the kind of people our team, our communities, and our children want to follow. Our biggest opportunity is leading our children, the future generation, and inspiring them to step up as emerging leaders themselves. Leaders inspire themselves and others to do, be, and give become more than they ever thought possible.
Ask yourself the BIG questions.
Self-awareness and assessment are critical in this process and something I think about each day, asking myself the big questions. Sometimes you must get uncomfortable and that’s okay.
“Did I show up as my best self today?” “Did I live my core values at the highest leave?” “Did I inspire those around me to see in limited possibilities?”
I encourage you also to take the time to selfreflect each day. Adopting daily rituals, like selfreflection, is part of the inner work towards selfimprovement. If it doesn’t feel difficult, it is not a real improvement.
For me, this includes reading inspirational stories, harnessing the support of my coaches and mentors, leaning into the lessons of some of our world’s greatest leaders and a commitment to never stop learning to master my craft.
The leaders I look to for inspiration and empowerment include Brene Brown, Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins, Simon Sinek. They’ve been my go-to and they can be yours too.
Next, I want you to uncover your purpose.
“What is my purpose?” “What is my cause?” “Why does my business exist?” “What makes me bounce out of bed every single day?”
It all starts with your WHY. Having clarity on why you do what you do and articulating your WHY in such an encouraging way, inspires others to follow you.
What is your company mission? This is your 5–10-year BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) so your team are clear and inspired to reach goals with you. Every business should know where and who they want to be in the years to come and know how they’re going to get there. This HOW should always be aligned with your values.
Understanding your values and living them each and every day ensures you are consistently aligned to your purpose. This has been a gamechanger in both my personal and professional worlds.
For La Bella Medispa, embedding cultural values in our team has created our non-negotiable standards. Our values are a set of expected behaviours that are demonstrated on mass and lived regularly. They create an environment where people will naturally step up. These values will create your culture, support your vision, give your business meaning and invite your team to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to empower others to lead with you.
Simon Sinek says, “the value of true leadership is not measured by the work they do but by the work they inspire others to do”.
is our job is to grow more leaders and create opportunities for our team to evolve and empower them with new skills, knowledge, and experiences. When we present them with kickass systems and processes, we are creating an environment where they can truly flourish. With opportunities come a sense of safety and security within our business.
We have the greatest opportunity to influence, impact and inspire our people to do what’s possible. We’re able to unleash our teams’ unique gifts and talents to achieve company and personal goals.
This is why meeting rhythms are so important. They invite open and honest communication, encouragement to have courageous conversations and to inspire our people to greatness. It’s our daily opportunity to take the time to listen and understand our team’s needs and say thank you regularly.
If you are not having 1:1 time each week, I suggest this be your big action item today these are an opportunity for you to grow and expand as a thought leader, along with creating a deep connection to your team.
It’s time to stand out from the crowd!
Being courageous to stand out and speak up, even when your voice is shaky. Your noble example will live on long after you’re gone, and you never know who you are inspiring!
Dedicating yourself to living your greatness generates beautiful steps towards a brighter world. Step into your power, your creative and compassionate self, and energise the people around you to awaken to their gifts.
I am exactly like you and have my flaws! It’s what makes us human. At times, I can feel insecure, unworthy and battle with my ego regularly. Knowing this journey is not about me but the legacy I want to leave behind, the impact I want to have and the value I can deliver to my family, my team and this amazing industry love is what keeps the fire in my belly. We should never stop opening our hearts and minds to new ways of thinking, opportunities to embrace our spirituality and chances to enhance our emotional intelligence. Individuals that continually expand their way of thinking are welcoming new ways of living a more fulfilled life and leading with even more purpose. This is how Leadership 2.0 was born!
For me, my reason for living is giving and the gateway to living a life of fulfilment.
I want to share how contribution plays a role in my life as a modern leader. My purpose has become so powerful that the vision for my life can be even greater than the influence and impact I am already having through my clinical work, my podcast, my speaking, coaching and philanthropy.
I want to fulfil my highest, truest expression of myself as a human being. I want to serve and bring value with the gifts I’ve been given. My knowledge and my voice are my tools to give back to the world and encourage all women to live life by design with deep fulfilment and love. A lifelong commitment to contribution runs through my veins and has organically become a huge part of our team culture at La Bella Medispa. Through a deep connection to our values and higher purpose, I am now so proud to have a team that is equally as involved and dedicated to making a difference to others in our community and beyond. In 2020, we set contribution goals for both our business and our team in our planning days. Supporting my 350km run for the Ripple of Kindness project, we raised over $100,000 for deserving charities. This was such an extraordinarily proud moment as a leader as the team initiated many creative ways to contribute to this cause whilst getting our community involved. Executing leadership at the highest level is not something that happens overnight. Even for me, it is a continual journey of growth, development and uncovering the truest version of myself. The best part of executing transformational leadership is that you can start any time and it will always have a life-affirming impact on not only yourself but those around you. Just remember abundance is a natural consequence of you delivering value and being of service to others.
My question to you as the salon business owner are you leading with your heart?
Have you articulated your Vision to your team so they are inspired to come on the journey with you?
Have you still got a fire in your belly to empower your team and change the lives of your customers?
Have you created meeting effective rhythms to create high levels of communication and execution?
If your current leadership style is no longer serving you, your team and your business or you’re ready to uncover the true leader inside you, let me hold your hand and lead you to greatness. It would be my honour.
